Swahili
Bantu language spoken mainly in East Africa
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Key Facts
- Influenced by: Arabic[3]
- Country: Tanzania[4], Democratic Republic of the Congo[5], Kenya[6], Rwanda[7], Uganda[8], Burundi[9], Somalia[10], South Sudan[11], Malawi[12], Mozambique[13], Comoros[14], France[15], Madagascar[16]
- Instance of: natural language[17], modern language[18], human language[19], literary language[20]
- Subclass of: Sabaki[21], Bantu[22]
- Writing system: Latin script[23], Swahili Ajami[24]
- Commons category: Swahili language[25]
- Wikimedia language code: sw[26]
- Has part(s): Bajuni dialect[27], Bravanese[28], Sidi[29], Socotra Swahili[30], Congo Swahili[31], Kiamu[32], Kiunguja[33], Kihadimu[34], Kingozi[35], Kiswahili[36]
- Topic's main category: Category:Swahili language[37]
- Language regulatory body: Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa[38]
- Number of speakers, writers, or signers: 15,437,390[39]
- Described by source: New International Encyclopedia[40], Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition[41]
- Topic has template: Q61684579[42]
- Used by: Swahili people[43]
- Has characteristic: agreement[44]
- Native label: Kiswahili[45], كِسْوَحِيلِ[46]
- Different from: Swahili people[47]
- Indigenous to: Swahili people[48]
Why It Matters
Swahili has Wikipedia articles in 30 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[49] Swahili is known by 49 alternative names across languages and contexts.[50]
Swahili has been cited as an influence by Kinyarwanda[51], a natural language[52], in Democratic Republic of the Congo[53] and Globasa[54], an international auxiliary language[55], founded in 2019[56].
FAQs
Who did Swahili influence?
Swahili has been cited as an influence by Kinyarwanda[51] and Globasa[54].