The swahili language, is basically of bantu african origin. This chapter outlines what is known and not known about the origins and initial development of the swahili language and its dialects, and what this tells us in. Note that if you mess up with the greetings, or anything else in the language, swahili people are not likely to become angry or offended, but instead to be somewhat amused, yet understanding and helpful of your language difficulties, especially if you are whiteskinned. Since swahili is a bantu language, its roots are ta be sought in africa, not the. Download english swahili dictionary windows for free.
The swahili people or waswahili are an ethnic and cultural group inhabiting east africa. English male given names of swahili language origin. The words listed below are not the most common words, but a broad sampling of words. Swahili is a language that fuses african bantu with arabic. Swahili had a lengthy and penetrating contact with the arabic and persian languages for centuries, and borrowed a number of words directly. In some varieties of swahili, the language prefix appears as chi, as in chimiini, which is spoken in somalia, or shi, as in shingazija, a variant spoken on the ngazija island of comoro.
What follows is an hypothesis about the origins of the swahili language. What is the origin of the swahili language, and how has it. Swahili may date back several thousand years, but it developed into the language we hear today with the arrival of arab and persian traders on the east african coast between 500 ad. Fundamental all languages english terms by semantic function names given names male given names from swahili. Swahili man and a little girl origin of kiswahili the swahili language, is basically of bantu african origin. Swahili is the most widely spoken language in subsaharan africa, and acts as the common tongue for most east africans although its not necessarily their first language. Swahili language, also called kiswahili, or kiswahili, 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. However, apart from linguists interested in africa, and general linguists interested in the com parative study of languages, not too many people actually know the origin and structure of the language we call kiswahili or swahili today, its e xtensive lite rature, and its.
Pdf on oct 16, 2017, martin walsh and others published the swahili language and its early history find, read and cite all the research you need on. Loan words in modern english and their features zhou lina china youth university of political studies, beijing, china english language, as a global language, is exerting greater influence on the world. Swahili, also known by its native name kiswahili, is a bantu language and the first language of. The ethnic label zinjibari in omani society has various connotations that depend on who is using the term and about whom it is being used. This includes names derived at an older stage of the language. Pdf the swahili language and its early history martin. Swahili or kiswahili as it is called when one is speaking the language is the most important and widely studied indigenous language of africa, the national and. Swahili is part of the bantu language family so similar languages are spoken across a huge swath of the continent. Googles free service instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between english and over 100 other languages.
Traders from the coast spread the language to the nearby islands, and then traders from those islands spread it deeper into the continent. It also includes some loan words from languages such as english, german, and portuguese. While only 510 million people speak swahili as their first language, as a second. It originated on the east african coast due to a rich and diverse history of trading and cultural exchange between arabic nations, coastal africans, and europeans.
Members primarily reside on the swahili coast, in an area encompassing the zanzibar archipelago, littoral kenya, the tanzania seaboard, and northern mozambique. Swahilicommon phrases wikibooks, open books for an open world. Swahili language simple english wikipedia, the free. In addition, many swahili words are borrowings from arabic and persian as a result of contact with arab and persian traders. Swahili or kiswahili, is an official language of tanzania, kenya english is the official language the government of kenya and is widely spoken in urban areas, the democratic republic of the congo, rwanda and uganda. Like many other languages, there are many theories explaining the origin and nature of swahili. The story of swahili ohio university press swallow press. Excursions complement the curriculum and may include dar es salaam, pemba island, one of tanzanias national parks, and cultural and conservation sights on the island of zanzibar and in mainland tanzania, such as spice plantations and. Swahili has become a language with which people communicate within east africa and the surrounding areas. A central thesis focuses on the emergence of a lost stateshungwayaout of which most swahili successor states emerged. It has borrowed words from other languages such as arabic probably as a result of the swahili people using the quran written in arabic for spiritual guidance as muslims. Africa where swahili now serves as either an official language or a national language and in some cases as both. The swahili language dates its origin to the bantu people of the coast of east africa. Swahili language to be spoken by the swahili people, who live on the coast of east africa and on the islands near the coast, including zanzibar, which is now a part of tanzania.
It is a bantu language swahili is spoken in a wide area from southern somalia to northern mozambique and in all of kenya, tanzania and burundi. Through participant observation and within the context of ethnolinguistic identity theory, this qualitative. The bantu languages form a subgroup of the benuecongo branch of the niger. He focuses on how the african element in their cultural patrimony was first modified by islam and later changed until many swahili themselves lost sight of it. Arab sailors and traders have established links and ties with east africa for centuries, their language strongly merged with the local language to produce a creole derivative.
Swahili terms formed by piecebypiece translations of terms from other languages. Swahili has a long written tradition and remarkable history. Pdf the swahili language and its early history researchgate. Students take one course on the political and cultural history of zanzibar and east africa as well as one swahili language course.
Forget completely about these issues of yours achilia mbali mambo yako hayo chacha, masomo 372. It is a lingua franca of the african great lakes region and other parts of eastern and southeastern africa, including kenya, tanzania, uganda, rwanda, burundi, some parts of malawi, somalia, zambia, mozambique and the democratic republic of the congo drc. Swahili is a bantu african origin language with a large arabic influence. The bantu languages are spoken in a very large area, including most of africa from southern cameroon eastward to kenya and southward to the southernmost tip of the continent. Swahili people, language, culture, village, city states. Every language has an origin that attributes different factors that make such specific language grow.
List of swahili words of arabic origin the baheyeldin dynasty. Swahili speakers can also be found in surrounding countries, such as burundi and mozambique. Phonological and semantic change in language borrowing the. Swahili is a word the arabs used to describe the coast and only later did it come to apply to east african coastal culture specifically. Swahili basics and useful phrases for travelers to east africa.
Translation for swahili language in the free englishswahili dictionary and many other swahili translations. The swahili speak the swahili language, which belongs. Although the history of the penetration of swahili language from the coastal inland of east africa practically coincides with that of arab trade towards central africa, the origin of the language itself remains disputed. The bantu languages form a subgroup of the benuecongo branch of the nigercongo language family. The swahili people are made up of around 500,000 people who also go by the name of waswahili. The kamusi project englishswahili dictionary a abandon verb, acha. This simple and effective introduction to swahili will teach you everything you need to speak, understand, read, and write in swahili. Swahili, also known by its native name kiswahili, is a bantu language and the first language of the swahili people. Swahilicommon phrases wikibooks, open books for an open. In kenya and uganda, it is the national language, but official correspondence is still conducted in english.
There are many benefits of knowing the swahili language, including the fact that it serves as a good vehicle to accessing swahili culture. However, the most common ones include 1 the theory that views swahili as an arabic language or. Since swahili, like english, has risen to a position of national integrity, i will heretofore refer to it as a bantu language rather than a dialect. Congo has five million firstlanguage speakers and fifty million secondlanguage speakers. Most of us know swahili is the language spoken in the east coast countries of africa, such as kenya and tanzania, and a few can say things like habari gani, but fewer still know the whole language is based on arabic. The language has also borrowed extensively from portuguese and german during the colonial period, and most recently from english. Swahili was originally spoken along the coast of tanzania and kenya. Its name is derived from arabic sawahil coast, hence waswahili people of the coast and kiswahili language. The swahili language is a language widely spoken in east africa. Arabpersian geographers referred to the inhabitants of the east african coast as the zanj. The remarkable adaptability of swahili has allowed africans and others to tailor the language to their needs, extending its influence far beyond its place of origin. Its symbolic as well as its practical power has evolved from its status as a language of contact among diverse cultures, even as it embodies the history of communities in eastern.
The origins of swahili swahili kiswahili is a bantu language, and so a member of the wider nigercongo family, one of the four main african language phyla nurse and philippson 2003. From modest beginnings as the speech of a small group of mixed farmers, swahili has become the lingua franca of millions of people in eastern africa and beyond lewis et al. Swahili is an official language in tanzania and kenya. Waswahili, or shore people, designates the inhabitants of the east african coastline, and signifies above all a culture with a common language, kiswahili, and the same religion, islam.
Kiswahili is a language which is better known in the world as swahili. Arabic is a semitic language spoken by between 350400 million speakers across the globe, while kiswahili, a bantu language, is spoken by about 100 million speakers mainly in the eastern and southern regions of africa. Bantu languages, a group of some 500 languages belonging to the bantoid subgroup of the benuecongo branch of the nigercongo language family. The kamusi project english swahili dictionary a abandon verb, acha. Swahili, choosing swahili as its official language and creating the kwanzaa celebration. It is his major study of the origin of the swahili and of their cultural identity. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. In kenya and tanzania, swahili is an official language alongside english, and primary school children are usually taught in swahili. Description using a wide range of historical and anthropological evidence, the author traces the origins and substance of swahili culture along the east coast of africa. This culture has been around for thousands of years, dating back to at least 100 ad when a greek traveller wrote about the inhabitants and culture he found when he visited a place in east africa.
However, it is generally accepted that swahili developed as a result of trade between the. Education software downloads swahili english dictionary by tshwanedje hlt and many more programs are available for instant and free download. Swahili is the national as well as the official language of tanzania almost all tanzanians speak swahili proficiently and are unified by it. This is not true for swahili existed even before the arrival of the first visitors on the east africa coast who were arabs as noted by historians. As regards the formation of the swahili culture and language, some scholars attribute these phenomena to the. Often the responder will immediately continue by beginning the following exchange. They abandoned their homes after the storm waliacha nyumba zao baada ya dharuba abandon verb, achilia mbali applicative. Many ugandans understand some swahili, although its rarely spoken outside the capital.
The language that is primarily spoken by the swahili is. A sampling of swahili greetings call response context notes shikamoo alt. Excursions complement the curriculum and may include dar es salaam, pemba. Swahili language has been influences by a variety of other language, including arabic, portuguese and german. It ha s been enlarging along with the development of the society, the progress of science and technology by the way of borrowing from other. Swahili is a bantu language with a lot of borrowed words from arabic. Pdf the swahili language and its early history martin walsh. Swahili is the most widely spoken language of eastern africa. List of swahili words of arabic origin the baheyeldin.