It's the national language of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It's a Bantu language in origin but it's heavily influenced by the Arabic spoken by spice traders who went up and down Africa's eastern coast and largely settled the island of Zanzibar. It's considered the easiest Bantu language to learn and is used as a lingua franca throughout much of east Africa today.
2007-01-26 17:11:30
·
answer #1
·
answered by XYZ 7
·
2⤊
0⤋
Kiswahili (or Swahili) is an African language spoken mainly by the people of eastern and central Africa. That is, people who live in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, eastern Zaire, northern Zaire, nothern Malawi, northern Mozambigue, nothern Zambia and Somali Republic. Although not widely as in the above mentioned countries, Kiswahili is also used by some people in Congo Brazavile, southern Sudan, the Comoro Islands, the northern part of malagasy Republic, and the Persian Gulf states.
Kiswahili is a national language in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
2007-01-27 01:12:36
·
answer #2
·
answered by Amer 2
·
1⤊
0⤋
From Wikipedia:
Swahili
Kiswahili
Spoken in: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo (DRC), Somalia, Comoros Islands (including Mayotte), Mozambique, Malawi, Oman
Total speakers: First language: perhaps 5 million
Second language: 30–50 million[citation needed]
Language family: Niger-Congo
Atlantic-Congo
Volta-Congo
Benue-Congo
Bantoid
Southern
Narrow Bantu
Central
G
Swahili
Official status
Official language of: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda (since 2005)
Areas where Swahili speakers are found:
Swahili (also called Kiswahili) is a Bantu language and the most widely spoken non-European language in Africa. Swahili is the mother tongue of the Swahili people who inhabit a 1500 km stretch of the East African coast from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique. It is spoken by over 50 million people, of whom there are approximately five million first-language speakers and thirty to fifty million second-language speakers. It is the Sub-Saharan African language with the most speakers and has become a lingua franca for East Africa and surrounding areas.
2007-01-27 01:15:17
·
answer #3
·
answered by HoneyBunny 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
Somewhere in Africa, it is a branch off from the native Swahili languages. There are several different varieties of Swahili spoken in Africa, but this Kiswahili is more than likely spoken around the Democratic Republic of Congo or areas in western Africa near the country of Cameroon.
2007-01-27 01:12:38
·
answer #4
·
answered by Matt R 3
·
0⤊
0⤋
You might want to start with the Ethnologue, a web version of a reference book dealing with the world's languages.
http://www.ethnologue.com/web.asp
2007-01-27 01:11:19
·
answer #5
·
answered by CMM 5
·
0⤊
2⤋
Africa
2007-01-27 01:13:20
·
answer #6
·
answered by Angel 2
·
0⤊
0⤋