Swahili Language: Bantu language spoken mainly in East Africa
The Swahili language is a language widely spoken in East Africa.
In the language, its name is Kiswahili. It is a Bantu language.
| Swahili | |
|---|---|
| Kiswahili | |
| Native to | Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Mayotte (mostly Comorian), Mozambique (mostly Mwani), Oman, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda |
Native speakers | 26 million (2007) 120 million L2 speakers |
Niger–Congo
| |
| Latin, Arabic | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | African Union Tanzania Kenya Uganda Comoros (as Comorian) |
| Regulated by | Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa (Tanzania) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | sw |
| ISO 639-2 | swa |
| ISO 639-3 | swa – inclusive codeIndividual codes: swc – Congo Swahiliswh – Coastal Swahili |
Guthrie code | G.42–43; |
| Linguasphere | 99-AUS-m |
 Areas where Swahili is spoken | |
Swahili is spoken in a wide area from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique and in all of Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi. Congo has five million first-language speakers and fifty million second-language speakers. Swahili has become a language with which people communicate within East Africa and the surrounding areas.
Swahili was first 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.
Swahili is an official language in Tanzania and Kenya. It has been influenced by many other languages like Arabic.
Sample words
- city - mji
- country - nchi
- earth - dunia
- no - hapana
- okay - sawa
- water - maji
- yes - ndiyo
- me - mimi
References
Other websites
- Kamusi Project Internet Living Swahili Dictionary
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