7 Interesting Facts about Kiswahili Language

Kiswahili, also known as Swahili, is the language of the native Swahili people. The Swahili people are a Bantu ethnic group. Kiswahili is the most spoken language in Africa, boasting over 200 million speakers, followed by Arabic. Kiswahili is widely spoken within East African communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, Benue-Congo part of the Niger-Congo. Tanzania is the only East African country that uses Kiswahili as its national and official language. Other African countries that speak some Kiswahili dialects include Zambia, Mozambique, and South Africa.

Image: Swahili language

1: International Language

The African population that speaks Kiswahili is over 200 million, making it the most internationally recognized African language. Kiswahili is taught as a second language in various international institutions globally. That adds to non- Africans who speak Kiswahili as a second foreign language.

2: Mix of Arabic

The birth of the Kiswahili language resulted from the Arab trade and influence on the coastal shores of East Africa. Therefore, the Arabic language and the Bantu-speaking language groups in the coastal regions of East Africa contributed some of the vocabularies that created the Kiswahili language. A lot of the Kiswahili vocabulary is derived from Arabic; for example, numbers sound similar in both Kiswahili and Arabic with differences in pronunciation variations.

3: Part of Indian Dialect

The Kiswahili language spoken by the Indians is an extinct Bantu language known as Sidi or Habsi (Abyssinian). Sidi is reported to still being spoken in the mid 20th century in parts of Gujarat and Kathiawar. The following are some of the common shared Kiswahili words: · Automobile is Gari

· Tea is Chai

· Sun is Jua

· World is Dunia

· Celebration is Sherehe

4: Proposed African Official Language

Recently some African leaders proposed to the African Union to settle for Kiswahili as Africa's official language to unify and enhance communication hegemony. Statistics reported that an estimated 90 million people speak Kiswahili in Africans as of 2015. Today, the over 200 million Kiswahili speakers are currently from the larger East African community, central and Southern African countries, including those who live overseas.

Image: Hakuna Matata wall art

5: Africa's Language of Romance

Kiswahili has a rich vocabulary and robust literature. Proverbs, similes, idioms, figures of speech, and composition techniques make it a beautiful rhetorical language. Its beautiful and straightforward grammar, logic, and persuasion form the art of discourse in poetry and music. Kiswahili music includes traditional folk and a mix of various native dialects. Taarab, a music genre influenced by the African Great Lakes, Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian subcontinent, is popular in Tanzania and the Kenyan Coast. Bongo is the mainstream urban derivative of American hip-hop and traditional Tanzanian music styles. Lingala, also known as Rhumba, is music by the Congolese popular in East Africa.

6: A Broader Diversity

Kiswahili is is divided under two major Bantu groups: Sabaki and Nyika.

i: Sabaki

Sabaki are the Bantus found along Sabaki River of the Swahili coast. They are the Pokomo, and Mijikenda of Tana River in Kenya, Mwani of Nothern Mozambique, and Comorian of Comoros island.

ii: Nyika

Nyika are found in Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi. Makwe or Macue, a close relative of Kiswahili, is widely spoken on the Cabo Dalgo coast of Mozambique across the border of Tanzania. Coastal Kiswahili is spoken by the inhabitants of Mombasa, Lamu, and Zanzibar.

Pemba Kiswahili spoken in Pemba Island and Mafia.

Sidi language is spoken in Pakistan and India among the Gujerat and Kathiawar.

Tikulu is spoken by the Somali/Bajuni who inhabit the Bajuni Island of coastal Kenya. Mwini/Chimwinii is spoken by the Bravese or Brava in Somalia.

Socotra Swahili that is spoken by the inhabitants of Socotra Island in Yemen.

There are other pidgins and creole Kiswahili languages.

A: Pidgins

The Pidgins include Kikeya, a form of pidgin Kiswahili spoken in Kings African Rifles (KAR) of British Colonial East Africa. Kisetla, known as settlers Kiswahili, is spoken in large European settlements in Kenya and Zambia. Ngwana/Congo Kiswahili, Katanga Kiswahili, and Lubumbashi Kiswahili.

B: Creoles

The Kiswahili Creoles include Sheng, an English-based mix of creoles originating among the urban youth of Nairobi, Kenya, as influenced by the many other ethnic dialects. Cutchi-Swahili is a Swahili-based Creole spoken by the Gujerat in the Kutchi District and among the Indian population of East Africa.

7: One of the Eight Languages on the Georgia Guidestones

Kiswahili language is also immortalized at the Guidestones in Georgia, on a granite monument erected in 1980 in Elbert County, United States. Other languages represented on the four stones are English, Russian, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Hebrew, and Chinese.

Image: Georgia Guidestones