Who speaks Swahili in the world?

Swahili has official language status in Tanzania and Kenya and is also widely spoken in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Comoros Islands. It’s also spoken by smaller numbers in Burundi, Rwanda, Northern Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.

Is Swahili famous?

Swahili is spoken by over 100m people in Africa so it’s pretty hard to ignore a language that’s spoken by so many people. Its importance as a lingua franca is recognised by foreign media organisations such as the BBC, which broadcasts radio programmes in Swahili.

Is Swahili a dying 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.

Are there Swahili people?

The Swahili people (or Waswahili) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting East Africa. Members of this ethnicity primarily reside on the Swahili coast, in an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago, littoral Kenya, the Tanzania seaboard, northern Mozambique, the Comoros Islands, and Northwest Madagascar.

How old is Swahili?

Around 3,000 years ago, speakers of the proto-Bantu language group began a millennia-long series of migrations; the Swahili people originate from Bantu inhabitants of the coast of Southeast Africa, in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. They are mainly united under the mother tongue of Kiswahili, a Bantu language.

Is Swahili part 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.

How do you say hi in Swahili?

There are basically five ways to say hello in Swahili:

Hujambo or jambo (how are you?) – Sijambo (seeJAmbo) (I am fine / no worries)
Habari? (any news?) – nzuri (nZOOree) (fine)
U hali gani? (oo HAlee GAnee) (how are you) – njema (fine)
Shikamoo (a young person to an elder) – marahaba.
For casual interactions: mambo?

Is Swahili similar to Zulu?

Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa (24% of the population), and it is understood by over 50% of its population. According to Ethnologue, it is the second-most-widely spoken of the Bantu languages, after Swahili. Like many other Bantu languages, it is written with the Latin alphabet.

What religion is Swahili?

religion of Islam

Why did many Swahili convert to Islam?

Arab traders first introduced Islam to the Swahili coast in the ninth century. Appreciating its religious value, the Swahili people also recognized that adopting their neighbor’s religion would help their trading relationships as well, granting them new access to trade networks.

What does Swahili mean?

1 : a member of a Bantu-speaking people of Zanzibar and the adjacent coast. 2 : a Bantu language that is a trade and governmental language over much of East Africa and in the Congo region.

What culture speaks Swahili?

Swahili culture is practiced at the coast of Kenya, Somali, Tanzania and the adjacent islands of Zanzibar, Comoros. Swahili culture and language can also be found in the interior of Kenya and Tanzania and further in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi.

What is the religion of Bantu?

Traditional religion is common among the Bantu, with a strong belief in magic. Christianity and Islam are also practiced.

What is the most spoken language in Africa?

Arabic

Is Swahili a click language?

Swahili is unusual in the Bantu language family for lacking clicking sounds. With the exception of the Mvita dialect spoken in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, Swahili is one of the only Bantu languages that does not feature the lexical “click” tone.

Is Zulu a click language?

Gciriku and Yei, which are Bantu languages of Botswana and Namibia, have incorporated the four-click Khoisan system, but Zulu and Xhosa (also Bantu languages) have incorporated only three clicks.

Is Xhosa pronounced with a click?

In English, Xhosa is pronounced Kosa (kɔːsə). That is just the English mispronunciation because English speakers have a hard time with click languages. Xhosa is a click language (and tonal too). It has 18 clicks that are used as consonants. .

Do Africans really click?

Khoisan languages share click consonants and do not belong to other African language families. They are now held to comprise three distinct language families and two language isolates. All Khoisan languages but two are indigenous to southern Africa and belong to three language families.

What is clicking your tongue called?

Linguists have distinguished five distinctive sounds, including dental clicks (as described above), lateral clicks (like the clucking sound made to horses), alveolar clicks (in which the tip of the tongue is on the ridge behind the upper teeth), postalveolar clicks, and, in some dialects, bilabial clicks (making the …

What can I say in Xhosa?

Useful Xhosa phrases

English	isiXhosa (Xhosa)
Welcome	Wamkelekile (sg) Namkelekile (pl)
Hello (General greeting)	Molo (sg) Molweni (pl)
How are you?	Unjani? (sg) Ninjani? (pl)
Reply to ‘How are you?’	Ndiphilile enkosi, unjani wena? (sg) Ndiphilile enkosi, ninjani nina? (pl)

Is Xhosa hard to learn?

Xhosa is an unusual, yet pretty-sounding, language. To many, it is difficult to learn because the consonants are uncommon and also densely populated. The sounds are relatively aggressive (as opposed to soothing and melodic). They comprise English sounds, 15 clicks, ejectives and an implosive.

How do you say good morning in Xhosa?

By using Xhosa greetings, we are showing respect to others in a very efficient way. Good Morning in Xhosa is Molo and Good Night in Xhosa is Ulale kakuhle.

How do they say hello in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe

English: Hello.
Shona: Mhoro (Hello)
Ndebele: Sawubona (Hello)

How do you say hello in Shona in Zimbabwe?

A collection of useful phrases in Shona, a Bantu language spoken mainly in Zimbabwe. Key to abbreviations: sg = singular (said to one person), pl = plural (said to more than one person)….Useful Shona phrases.

English	chiShona (Shona)
Hello (General greeting)	Mhoro (sg) Mhoroi (pl)
How are you?	Wakadini zvako? (sg) Makadini zvenyu? (pl)