The Effect of the Meaning and the Message as Reflected in the Matatu Register in Kenya Public Transport Sector

Abstract

The main aim of this research was to analyze language in the communication between the matatu crew and the passengers. The study analyzed texts in the matatu register in the context of communication. The matatu service is vital to the passengers as it speeds up travel. It is therefore essential to understand language use in this register to understand how the participants communicate. An analysis of the matatu register in Swahili has not been carried out. Some scholars, for example Mbugua (2003), have studied the matatu culture from a sociological perspective. So far the researcher has not come across a linguistic analysis of this register. Such an analysis serves to provide the knowledge required to bring together the phonological, grammatical and lexical aspects to make communication effective.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s1p435