What is Swahili language called?

What is Swahili language called?

kiSwahili
Swahili language, also called kiSwahili, or Kiswahili, Bantu language spoken either as a mother tongue or as a fluent second language on the east coast of Africa in an area extending from Lamu Island, Kenya, in the north to the southern border of Tanzania in the south.

Which country speaks Swahili language?

With its origin in East Africa, Swahili speakers spread over more than 14 countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Comoros, and as far as Oman and Yemen in the Middle East.

What language is Swahili similar to?

Arabic
Swahili is predominantly a mix of local Bantu languages and Arabic. Decades of intensive trade along the East African coast resulted in this mix of cultures. Besides Arabic and Bantu, Swahili also has English, Persian, Portuguese, German and French influences due to trade contact.

What is the most spoken African language?

Swahili
The most widely spoken languages of Africa, Swahili (200 million), Yoruba (45 million), Igbo (30 million), and Fula (35 million) all belong to the Niger-Congo family.

What is the easiest African language to learn?

How hard is it to learn? Swahili is said to be the easiest African language for an English speaker to learn. It’s one of the few sub-Saharan African languages that have no lexical tone, just like in English. It’s also much easier to read as you read out Swahili words just the way they are written.

Is Swahili a dead language?

When you move across the East African region, you will be shocked by the way the language is slowly dying. In Tanzania where Swahili is still comparatively strong—there are signs that the youth are more inclined to speak English.

Is Swahili a beautiful language?

Swahili is spoken primarily in Kenya and Tanzania, but speakers of this beautiful language can be found right across the continent of Africa.

Is Xhosa a dying language?

With no other fluent speakers in the world apart from this family, the language is recognised by the UN as “critically endangered”.