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Swahili Language



Countries

Countries
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya

Total No. Of Countries
4 11

National Language
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries

Speaking Continents
Africa

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries

Regulated By
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)

Interesting Facts
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.

Similar To
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages

Derived From
Arabic Language

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Swahili-Alphabets.jpg#200

Alphabets
24 6

Phonology

How Many Vowels
5 2

How Many Consonants
21 11

Scripts
Latin

Writing Direction
-

Hard to Learn

Language Levels
3 2

Time Taken to Learn
36 weeks 13

Greetings

Hello
Habari

Thank You
Asante

How Are You?
Habari gani?

Good Night
Usiku mwema

Good Evening
Habari za jioni

Good Afternoon
nzuri Alasiri

Good Morning
Habari za asubuhi

Please
tafadhali

Sorry
pole

Bye
bye

I Love You
nakupenda

Excuse Me
Samahani

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kiunguja

Where They Speak
Zanzibar island

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00 12

Dialect 2
Kimrima

Where They Speak
Dar es Salaam

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00 10

Dialect 3
Kimgao

Where They Speak
Kilwa

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00 9

Total No. Of Dialects
12 12

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
150.00 million 13

Speaking Population
0.42 % 34

Native Speakers
15.00 million 40

Second Language Speakers
75.00 million 14

Native Name
Kiswahili

Alternative Names
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili

French Name
swahili

German Name
Swahili

Pronunciation
[swaˈhili]

Ethnicity
Swahili people or Waswahili

History

Origin
6th century

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family

Subgroup
Benue-Congo

Branch
Bantu

Language Forms

Early Forms
No early forms

Standard Forms
Swahili

Language Position
21 19

Signed Forms
Swahili Sign Language

Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage

Code

ISO 639 1
sw

ISO 639 2

ISO 639 2/T
swa

ISO 639 2/B
swa

ISO 639 3
swa

ISO 639 6
swa

Glottocode
swah1254

Linguasphere
99-AUS-m

Types of Language

Language Type
Living

Language Linguistic Typology
-

Language Morphological Typology
-

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Origin of Swahili language

In order to communicate with each other, the origin of language was the essential part. Various languages are spoken all over the world. Swahili language is one of the Easiest Languages to Learn. The origin of Swahili language states that it was put to use in 6th century. The history of Swahili language reveals that the language is old and used since many years. Check out in brief about Swahili Language History. Swahili has no early forms. Swahili is the standard form of Swahili language and it is used in government centers. Know all About Swahili Language.

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Swahili population

Swahili population gives us the total count of number of people speaking Swahili language. Swahili language is spoken by 150.00 million people in the world. Most of the Swahili population lies in the Swahili Speaking Countries. Swahili language is spoken as first language by 15.00 million people and as second language by about 75.00 million people. Get to know Swahili speaking population in detail.

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Swahili writing system

There are numerous writing systems but most widely used scripts are Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic. Swahili writing system decides the alphabets, vowels and consonants i.e. the written form of Swahili language. Some languages share common writing systems. Latin script is used by Swahili language. Learn more about . 

Information about Swahili language

Check out all the information about Swahili language here. You may find it interesting to learn Swahili Alphabets or the vowels and consonants of this language. Also knowing about Swahili Speaking Countries, Swahili speaking continents and Swahili Dialects will help in improving your knowledge about this language. Also while travelling to Swahili countries knowing common Swahili Greetings will help you in communicating with Swahili people.

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