Inter- and Intra-Sentential Switching: Are they really Comparable?
Dr. Hilda Kebeya

Abstract
Kenya is an African country where English and Swahili serve as the official languages. In addition, there are over forty two indigenous languages spoken in the country, usually as ‘home’ languages. Some of these ethnic languages are Luo, Gikuyu, Kalenjin, Luyia, Maasai, Kamba, Giriama, Gusii and Pokot. Generally, this paper sought to determine the code switching patterns during Luo/Luyia and Luo /Gusii contact. We found out that both inter- and intra-sentential switching were present in the two language contact situations. The paper also explored conceptual issues relating to intra-sentential switching and found out that there were various challenges analysts faced when trying to determine the Matrix and Embedded languages of code switched utterances. Unlike in the case of inter-sentential switching, certain issues affecting intra-sentential switching are shrouded in controversy. Therefore, this study concluded that inter- and intra- sentential switching are not really comparable.

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