Swahili
Description
Swahili is a language which is widely spoken in East Africa. As a firstlanguage, it is spoken along the east coast, i.e. from southern Somalia to Mozambique- Tanzania border and the islands of Zanzibar, Pembe, Mafia,Lamu, and the Comores; and most of East African urban areas.
Swahili is a Bantu language. Other Bantu languages include Zulu which is spoken in South Africa, Kikuyu of Kenya, Kongo of Zaire, and Duala of Cameroon. Although Bantu languages are not mutually intelligible, they all derive from one common ancestral language, sharing vocabulary, word processes, and sentence structure. For example, the word for 'a person' is: Mtu (Swahili), Umuntu (Zulu), Mundu (Kikuyu), Muntu (Kongo), Moto (Duala). Because Swahili is spoken over such a wide, ethnically and linguistically diverse area, many local variations can be observed.
Swahili has borrowed a great deal of its vocabulary from Arabic and from other languages such as Portuguese, Indian (Persian and Hindi), German, and English. This is because of contact with Arab and Indian traders, missionaries, settlers, explorers, and colonialists. Borrowing is becoming common not only to Swahili but to other languages. Despite extensive borrowing, Swahili still remains a Bantu language in its basic structure and core vocabulary. This attests to the cultural flexibility of Swahili in adapting to new situations and circumstances. It is a factor which has contributed to Swahili being not only the national and official language in several East Africa countries, but it has also given it an international reputation.
(Source: African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania)
Instructor
Ms. Elaine Mshomba
Email
mshomba@hotmail.com