Swahili

Introduction

Swahili (also called Kiswahili) is a member of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The name Swahili comes from the Arabic word sawahil "coasts" plus the suffix -i "-ish". It is the native language of the some 5 million people who inhabit the East African coast from Somalia to Mozambique and serves as a lingua franca for most of East Africa.

The main dialects of Swahili are Kiunguja, Kimvita, and Kiamu. Kiunguja is considered to be the standard. It originated on the island of Zanzibar. The dialects are mutually intelligible.

The oldest surviving documents written in Swahili date back to the early part of the 18th century. They were transcriptions of oral Swahili epic poetry and were written in the Arabic script, reflecting the influence of Islam in East Africa.

Swahili is spoken by an estimated 5 million people as a first- and by over 30 million people as a second language. After Arabic, it is the most widely used language in Africa. Along with English, it is the official language of Tanzania and Kenya where it serves as the medium of instruction in the primary schools, while English is used in secondary schools and universities. Swahili is also spoken in Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, and USA (Ethnologue). Most people who speak Swahili are native speakers of one or of several other African languages. They learn Swahili as a second language for purposes of wider communication.

While English still plays a vital role in post-colonial East Africa, Swahili is gaining in importance in politics, commerce, culture, education, and the media.

Structure

Sound System

Swahili child

The phonology of Swahili is characterized by a relatively small number of vowels and consonants. Among the unusual sounds are implosives, i.e., sounds that are produced by inhaling rather than exhaling the air. Swahili does not have tones, unlike other Bantu languages. Stress normally falls on the penultimate syllable.

Click here to listen to the pronunciation of some common phrases in Swahili from PBS.

Grammar

Swahili shild

Swahili children

Swahili Cloth

Swahili is an agglutinative language, i.e., grammatical functions are expressed by adding prefixes and suffixes to stems.

Noun phrase
Swahili nouns belong to 15 different classes, roughly based on semantic features, e.g., there are classes for human beings, animals, plants, objects of various shapes, etc. Not all noun classes can be easily defined. Each class has a different set of prefixes for marking numbers (singular and plural), e.g., mtoto "child", watoto "children". The same prefixes are attached to adjectives and numerals that follow nouns, e.g., mtoto mmoja "child one", watoto wawili "children two". Modifiers follow nouns.

Verb phrase
Many notions that are expressed in English by words, are realized in Swahili by prefixes and suffixes. As you can see from the examples below, the verb complexes subsume subjects.

ninakata "I am cutting"
ni-	-na-		-kata
"I"	"present progressive"		"cut"
*ninakatai* "I am not cutting"
ni-	-na-	-kata-	-i
"I"	"present progressive"	"cut"	"not"
umekata "you have cut"
u-	-me-		-kata
"you"	"past perfect"		"cut"
ukimekata "if you had cut"
u-	-ki-	-me-	-kata
"you"	"if"	"had"	"cut"

Word order
The normal word order in Swahili is Verb Complex-Object.

Vocabulary

Swahili child

The bulk of Swahili vocabulary is Bantu in origin. In addition, many Swahili words are borrowings from Arabic and Persian as a result of contact with Arab and Persian traders. The language has also borrowed extensively from Portuguese and German during the colonial period, and most recently from English.

Writing

Swahili book

Swahili was originally written in the Arabic script that was replaced by a Roman-based alphabet in the mid-nineteenth century. The alphabet was standardized in the 1930s.

Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Swahili.

What does the text tell you about the syllable structure of Swahili?
Do you see any words that look familiar to you?

Kifungu cha 1.
Watu wote wamezaliwa huru, hadhi na haki zao ni sawa. Wote wamejaliwa akili na dhamiri, hivyo yapasa watendeane kindugu.

Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Swahili has a long literary tradition influenced by Arabic, Persian, and Urdu writing that dates back to the middle of the 17th century. Many works of Western writers have been translated into Swahili. The most famous contemporary Swahili author is Shaaban Robert, a Tanzanian writer known for his novels, poetry and books for children.

Click here to listen to Swahili poetry.

Swahili words in English
Perhaps the best-known Swahili phrase is Hakuna Matata! that means "no worries" in Swahili
(music by Elton John and Tim Rice for Lion King)

Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze.

It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!

Resources

Swahili Language and Culture Study Resources
UCLA Language Materials Project (Swahili Profile)
UCLA Language Materials Listing for the Less Commonly Taught Languages
University of Minnesota Less Commonly Taught Languages Database
The Internet Swahili Living Dictionary (The Kamusi Project)
Archives of Popular Swahili
Kiswahili Resource Page
Language LInks - Swahili
Swahili Culture (UNESCO)
Swahili on the Internet
Yamada Language Center Guides - Swahili
Swahili Online Study Aids