- Also called:
- kiSwahili, or Kiswahili
- Related Topics:
- Bantu languages
- Swahili literature
- Kimvita
- Kiunguja
- Kiamu
Swahili language
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What is the Swahili language?
Swahili is a Bantu language with significant Arabic influence that originated from the contacts of Arabian traders and East African inhabitants. The word Swahili comes from the Arabic term meaning "of the coast".
Today, Swahili is a lingua franca in East African countries, including Tanzania, Kenya, Congo, and Uganda. It serves as the language of administration and primary education in Tanzania. There are about 15 Swahili dialects, with the standard version based on the kiUnguja dialect.
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Where is Swahili spoken in Africa?
Swahili is a Bantu language with Arabic influences that is spoken across a wide area of East Africa. It serves as a mother tongue and a widely used lingua franca in several countries.
Swahili is the language of administration and primary education in Tanzania, where virtually all Tanzanians speak it. It is also a main language in Kenya for administration and primary education, second to English. In Congo (Kinshasa), Swahili is one of the administrative languages, with French being the main one. While English is the primary language in Uganda, Swahili is also present. The dialect Kiunguja is the base for Standard Swahili and is spoken in Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania. Other dialects include Kimvita, spoken in Kenya, and Kiamu, spoken on Lamu Island.
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What language family does Swahili belong to?
Swahili is a Bantu language spoken across the east coast of Africa. The Bantu languages form a subgroup of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. There are roughly 15 Swahili dialects, with the Kiunguja dialect serving as the base for standard Swahili. The grammar is characteristically Bantu, with many word roots traceable to a common Bantu origin.
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How has Swahili been influenced by other languages?
Swahili, a Bantu language, has been significantly influenced by other languages through centuries of interaction and trade along the East African coast. The most notable influence is from Arabic, with numerous Arabic loanwords integrated into the language, including the name Swahili itself, which comes from the Arabic word sawāḥilī, meaning "of the coast".
European languages, such as English, have also contributed to Swahili's vocabulary, particularly during the colonial era. Additionally, Swahili has been influenced by other Asian languages such as Gujarati, Kutchi, and Hindustani.
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Why is Swahili important in East Africa?
Swahili is important in East Africa because it serves as a lingua franca in multiple countries, including Tanzania, Kenya, Congo, and Uganda. In Tanzania, it is the national language used for administration and primary education. The language's origins can be traced back to the interactions between Arabian traders and East African inhabitants, with significant influence from Arabic, as reflected in its numerous loanwords. The spread of Swahili was further propelled by Arab ivory and slave caravans in the 19th century and later adopted by European colonialists. Today, Swahili is promoted through literature, drama, and poetry, solidifying its role in East Africa.
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How is Swahili used today in education, media, and government?
Today, Swahili is used in education, media, and government, notably in East Africa. In Tanzania, Swahili is the national language and is used as the medium of instruction for the first seven years of primary education. It is also the language of administration. Radio is a primary medium for news, with stations like Radio Tanzania broadcasting in Swahili. Newspapers such as Uhuru and Majira are published in Swahili as well. In Kenya, Swahili is, after English, the main language used in administration and primary education. Swahili is also one of the four languages of administration in Congo (Kinshasa).
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Swahili language, Bantu language spoken either as a mother tongue or as a fluent second language on the east coast of Africa in an area extending from Lamu Island, Kenya, in the north to the southern border of Tanzania in the south. (The Bantu languages form a subgroup of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family.)
People who speak Swahili as their sole mother tongue are usually referred to as Waswahili, but this name refers to their language only and does not denote any particular ethnic or tribal unit. Swahili is widely used as a lingua franca in: (1) Tanzania, where it is the language of administration and primary education; (2) Kenya, where it is, after English, the main language for these purposes; (3) Congo (Kinshasa), where a form of Swahili is one of the four languages of administration, the main language for this purpose being French; and (4) Uganda, where the main language is again English.
Swahili has been greatly influenced by Arabic; there are an enormous number of Arabic loanwords in the language, including the word swahili, from Arabic sawāḥilī (a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning “of the coast”). The language dates from the contacts of Arabian traders with the inhabitants of the east coast of Africa over many centuries. Under Arab influence, Swahili originated as a lingua franca used by several closely related Bantu-speaking tribal groups. In the early 19th century, the spread of Swahili inland received a great impetus from its being the language of the Arab ivory and slave caravans, which penetrated as far north as Uganda and as far west as Congo. Swahili was later adopted by European colonialists, especially the Germans, who used it extensively as the language of administration in Tanganyika, thus laying the foundation for its adoption as a national language of independent Tanzania. In Kenya and Uganda, other local languages also received official encouragement during the colonial period, but the tendency in these countries is now to emphasize the use of Swahili. The oldest preserved Swahili literature, which dates from the early 18th century, is written in the Arabic script, though the language is now written in the Roman alphabet.
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There are about 15 main Swahili dialects, as well as several pidgin forms in use. The three most important dialects are kiUnguja (or Kiunguja), spoken on Zanzibar and in the mainland areas of Tanzania; kiMvita (or Kimvita), spoken in Mombasa and other areas of Kenya; and kiAmu (or Kiamu), spoken on the island of Lamu and adjoining parts of the coast. Standard Swahili is based on the kiUnguja dialect.
Swahili is characteristically Bantu in its grammar, and it has a large vocabulary of word roots traceable to a common Bantu stock. Swahili nouns are divided into classes on the basis of their singular and plural prefixes; prefixes are also used to bring verbs, adjectives, and demonstrative and possessive forms into agreement with the subject of a sentence. Thus, in a sentence with wa-tu, “people” (singular m-tu, “person”), all the words begin with the w-/wa- prefix; e.g., wa-tu w-etu wa-le wa-kubwa wa-mekuja: “those big people of ours have come.” Verb stems may be extended by means of varying suffixes, each one with its particular nuance of meaning; e.g., funga (“shut”), fungwa (“be shut”), fungika (“become shut”), fungia (“shut for”), fungisha (“cause to shut”), and so on.