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Swahili Language Facts
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| Extinct: no |
| Family: Niger-Congo |
| Branch: Bantu |
| Continent: Africa |
| Country: Tanzania |
| Region: Zanzibar, coastal areas. Also spoken in Burundi, Kenya, Mayotte, Mozambique, Oman, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Uganda, UAE, USA. CONGO: Throughout the Katanga, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, and Maniema provinces and the southeastern part of the Orientale Province. There are other varieties of Swahili in East Africa. |
| Countries Where Spoken: 313,200 monolinguals or 1.8%, 93.4% bilinguals in Tanzania (1982 Polomé). Population total all countries 5,000,000 first language speakers (1989 Holm); 30,000,000 second language users (1989 Holm). Burundi, Kenya, Mayotte, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Uganda. CONGO: There may be a few mother tongue speakers in cities. Second language for 9,100,000 (1991 UBS). |
| Countries Where Official: Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Native Speakers: 5,000,000 |
| Speakers Total: 30,000,000 |
| Phrasebase members who speak this language at a native level: 4 |
| Phrasebase members who speak this language at a conversational level: 4 |
| Phrasebase members primary language they are trying to learn: 7 |
| Phrasebase members secondary language they are trying to learn: 50 |
| Three Letter Code: SWA |
| Alternative Names: KISWAHILI, KISUAHELI, ZAÏRE SWAHILI |
| Dialects: |
| Summary: Rural people are second language users; they use the local language for most activities, but Swahili with outsiders. National language. Dictionary. SVO. Used through secondary education and in some university courses. Muslim. Bible 1891-1996. CONGO: Kingwana is a pidgin Swahili which functions sociolinguistically as a dialect. There are several regional dialects, with that of eastern Kivu being closest to Swahili of Kenya and Tanzania. About 30% lexical similarity to Lingala and to the Lega group, 15% to 20% with Bira-Huku group, Bali, and Lika. National language. Bible 1960-1997. |
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