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Swahili

Swahili, also known as Kiswahili, is a Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral islands). Estimates of the number of Swahili speakers, including both native and second-language speakers, generally range from 150 million to 200 million. Most native speakers reside in Tanzania and Kenya.

AI overview

Swahili (also called Kiswahili) is a Bantu language spoken primarily along the East African coast in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique, with between 150 and 200 million speakers when counting both native and second-language speakers. It matters as a major regional language, particularly in Tanzania and Kenya where most of its native speakers live.

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Key facts

Language.name: Swahili
Language.states: Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Bajuni Islands and Brava, southern Somalia
Language.speakers: L1: million (2019–2023) L2: million
Language.date: 2019–2021
Language.ref: e27
Language.speakers_label: Speakers
Language.familycolor: Niger-Congo
Language.fam1: Niger–Congo
Language.fam2: Atlantic–Congo
Language.fam3: Volta–Congo
Language.fam4: Benue–Congo
Language.fam5: Bantoid

Article

40 sections

Contents

Classification
History
Etymology
Origin
Colonial period
Current status
Overview
Tanzania
Kenya
Congo
Burundi
Uganda
Somalia
Religious and political identity
Religion
Politics
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
Orthography
Grammar
Noun classes {{anchor|Noun classes}}
Semantic motivation
Borrowing
Agreement
Dialects and closely related languages
Dialects
Old dialects
Other regions
Pidgins and creoles
Swahili poets
Oral literature
19th-century collections
Additional proverbs
Sample text
See also
Notes
References
Sources
External links

Around 40% of Swahili vocabulary consists of Arabic loanwords, including the name of the language ( , a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning 'of the coasts'). Swahili also has a significant number of loanwords from Portuguese, English and German. The Arabic loanwords date from the era of contact between Arab slave traders and the Bantu inhabitants of the east coast of Africa, which was also the time period when Swahili emerged as a lingua franca in the region.