TY  - BOOK
AU  - Jefwa, G. J.
TI  - Sructural borrowing : : the case of Kenyan sign language (KSL) and kiswahili contact signing. 
SN  - 19981279
PY  - 2009///
CY  - Nairobi
PB  - USIU
KW  - Sign Language
KW  - Kiswahili--Kenya
N1  - -
N2  - Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) is a visual gesture language used by members of the deaf community in Kenya. Kiswahili on the other hand is a Bantu language that is used as a national language of Kenya. The two are world's apart, one being a spoken language and the other a signed language and thus their ''...basic structural units are of necessity fundamentally very different...'' (Valli and Lucas:1996).However, preliminary investigations have revealed that sometimes Kenyan signers use KSL signs while mouthing in Kiswahili sign language since KSL is a natural language with its own autonomous grammar distinct from that of any spoken language.
In this paper, we shall argue that ythe Kiswahili mouthed KSL signs are an outcome of contact between KSL-Kiswahlil bilinguals and their hearing Kiswahili bilingual counterparts. Following Valli and Lucas (1996). We will further argue that there are no contact situation where a sign language is in contact with a spoken language this being due to the fact that spoken languages do not have signed forms and thus no new signs are formed due to this contact signing. The paper further argues that as a result of interaction between KSL and Kiswahili, KSL users sometimes code switch/code mix in contact situation that involves hearing Kiswahili users and surprisingly in some deaf-deaf contact situations. This interaction has led to what Davis(in Valli and Lucas op cit) call ''unique phenomenon'' that manifests itself in-mouthing, finger spelling, code switching/mixing and contact signing.
ER  -