Editing Swahili language (section)

{{Short description|Bantu language spoken mainly in East Africa}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Swahili
| nativename       = {{lang|sw|Kiswahili}}<br/>{{lang|sw|كِسوَحِيلِ}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|sw|kiswɑˈhili|lang|Kiswahili.ogg|lang}}
| ethnicity        = [[Swahili people|Swahili]]
| history          = 
| states           = [[Tanzania]], [[Kenya]], [[Uganda]], [[Mozambique]], the eastern part of the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], the [[Bajuni Islands]] and [[Barawa|Brava]], southern [[Somalia]]<ref>Thomas J. Hinnebusch, 1992, "Swahili", ''International Encyclopedia of Linguistics'', Oxford, pp. 99–106<br />David Dalby, 1999/2000, ''The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities'', Linguasphere Press, Volume Two, pp. 733–735<br />Benji Wald, 1994, "Sub-Saharan Africa", ''Atlas of the World's Languages'', Routledge, pp. 289–346, maps 80, 81, 85</ref><ref name=e27/>
| speakers         = [[first language|L1]]: {{sigfig|5.265080|2}} million (2019–2023)<ref name=e27/><br /> [[second language|L2]]: {{sigfig|92.393400|2}} million
| date             = 2019–2021
| ref              = e27
| speakers_label   = Speakers
| familycolor      = Niger-Congo
| fam1             = [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]]
| fam2             = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
| fam3             = [[Volta–Congo languages|Volta-Congo]]
| fam4             = [[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]]
| fam5             = [[Bantoid languages|Bantoid]]
| fam6             = [[Southern Bantoid languages|Southern Bantoid]]
| fam7             = [[Bantu languages|Bantu]]
| fam8             = [[Northeast Bantu languages|Northeast Bantu]]
| fam9             = [[Northeast Coast Bantu languages|Northeast Coast Bantu]]
| fam10            = [[Sabaki languages|Sabaki]]
| dia1             = [[Bravanese dialect|Bravanese]]
| dia2             = [[Bajuni dialect|Bajuni]]
| dia3             = [[Congo Swahili]]
| dia4             = [[Makwe language|Makwe]]
| dia5             = [[Mwani language|Mwani]]
| dia6             = [[Sidi language|Sidi]]
| dia7             = [[Socotra Swahili language|Socotra]] {{Extinct}}
| protoname        = '''Proto-Swahili'''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGwnDwAAQBAJ |title = The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society, 800–1500|isbn = 9781512821666|last1 = Nurse|first1 = Derek|last2 = Spear|first2 = Thomas|date = 10 June 2017|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lGwnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 50]| publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press }}</ref>
| script           = {{Plainlist}}
* [[Latin script]] ([[#Orthography|Roman Swahili alphabet]])
* [[Arabic script]] ([[Swahili Ajami|Arabic Swahili alphabet]])
* [[Swahili Braille]]
{{Endplainlist}}
| nation           = {{Collapsible list
  | expand = yes
  | titlestyle = font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;
  | title = 4 countries
  | {{flag|Tanzania}}
  | {{flag|Rwanda}}
  | {{flag|Kenya}}
  | {{flag|Uganda}}
  }}
{{Collapsible list
  | expand = yes
  | titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;
  | title=Organisations
  | {{flag|African Union}}
  | {{flag|East African Community}}
  | {{flag|SADC}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 August 2019 |title=Sadc Adopts Kiswahili as 4th Working Language |url=https://ec.europa.eu/education/knowledge-centre-interpretation/news/sadc-adopts-kiswahili-4th-working-language_en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018082045/https://ec.europa.eu/education/knowledge-centre-interpretation/news/sadc-adopts-kiswahili-4th-working-language_en |archive-date=18 October 2020 |access-date=21 February 2021 |website=European Commission}}</ref>
  }}
| minority         = {{Plainlist}}
* {{flag|Angola}}
* {{flag|Burundi}} 
* {{flag|DR Congo}} 
* {{flag|Mozambique}} 
* {{flag|Zambia}}
{{Endplainlist}}
| agency           = {{Plainlist}}
* {{lang|sw|[[Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa]]|italic=no}} (Tanzania)
* {{lang|sw|[[Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa]]|italic=no}} (Kenya)
* {{lang|sw|[[Baraza la Kiswahili la Afrika Mashariki]]|italic=no}} (Uganda)
{{Endplainlist}}
| iso1             = sw
| iso2             = swa
| iso3             = swa
| lc1              = swc
| ld1              = [[Congo Swahili]]
| lc2              = swh
| ld2              = Coastal Swahili
| lc3              = ymk
| ld3              = [[Makwe language|Makwe]] (?)
| lc4              = wmw
| ld4              = [[Mwani language|Mwani]] (?)
| lingua           = 99-AUS-m
| guthrie          = {{Plainlist}}
* G.42–43;
* G.40.A–H (pidgins & creoles)
{{Endplainlist}}
| glotto           = swah1254
| glottorefname    = Swahili (G.40)
| map              = Maeneo penye wasemaji wa Kiswahili.png
| mapcaption       = Geographic-administrative extent of Swahili. Dark: native range (the [[Swahili coast]]). Medium green: Spoken by a majority alongside indigenous languages. Light green: Spoken by a minority.
| notice           = IPA
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym
| person = Mswahili
| people = [[Swahili people|Waswahili]]
| language = Kiswahili
}}
'''Swahili''', also known as '''{{lang|sw|Kiswahili}}''' as it is referred to [[endonym and exonym|in the Swahili language]], is a [[Bantu languages|Bantu language]] originally spoken by the [[Swahili people]], who are found primarily in [[Tanzania]], [[Kenya]], and [[Mozambique]] (along the [[East Africa]]n coast and adjacent [[littoral]] islands).<ref>{{cite web|last=Mugane|first=John|url=https://www.ohioswallow.com/extras/9780896804890_chapter_01_and_toc.pdf |title=The Story of Swahili|work=Center for International Studies, Ohio University |date=21 June 2022 |access-date=21 June 2022}}</ref> Estimates of the number of Swahili speakers, including both native and second-language speakers, vary widely. They generally range from 150 million to 200 million;<ref name="speakers"/> with most of its native speakers residing in Tanzania and Kenya.

Swahili has a significant number of [[loanword]]s from other languages, mainly [[Arabic]], as well as from [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[English language|English]] and [[German language|German]]. Around 40% of Swahili vocabulary consists of Arabic loanwords,<ref name="bbc.com">{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60333796 | title='It's time we move from the coloniser's language' | work=BBC News | date=17 February 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Schadeberg |first=Thilo C. |title=1. Loanwords in Swahili |date=2009-12-12 |work=Loanwords in the World's Languages |pages=76–102 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110218442.76 |access-date=2025-03-07 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |doi=10.1515/9783110218442.76 |isbn=978-3-11-021843-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref> including the name of the language ({{lang|ar|سَوَاحِلي}} {{lang|ar-Latn|sawāḥilī}}, a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning 'of the coasts'). The loanwords date from the era of contact between [[Arab slave trade|Arab trade]]rs and the [[Northeast Bantu languages|Bantu]] inhabitants of the east coast of Africa, which was also the time period when Swahili emerged as a [[lingua franca]] in the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Swahili-language|title=Swahili language|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|access-date=30 January 2021|archive-date=23 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723004044/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Swahili-language|url-status=live}}</ref>

Due to concerted efforts by the government of Kenya and [[Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa|Tanzania]], Swahili is one of three official languages (the others being English and French) of the [[East African Community]] (EAC) countries, namely [[Burundi]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Kenya]], [[Rwanda]], [[Somalia]], [[South Sudan]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Uganda]]. It is the lingua franca of other areas in the [[African Great Lakes]] region and [[East Africa|East]] and [[Southern Africa]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mazrui, Ali Al'Amin.|title=Swahili state and society : the political economy of an African language|date=1995|publisher=East African Educational Publishers|isbn=0-85255-729-9|oclc=441402890}}</ref><ref>Prins 1961</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Development and Promotion of Extractive Industries and Mineral Value Addition|url=http://www.eac.int/treaty/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=206&Itemid=331|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021151552/http://www.eac.int/treaty/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=206&Itemid=331|archive-date=21 October 2016|access-date=20 July 2016|publisher=[[East African Community]]}}</ref> Swahili is also one of the working languages of the [[African Union]] and of the [[Southern African Development Community]]. The [[East African Community]] created an institution called the ''East African Kiswahili Commission'' (EAKC) which began operations in 2015. The institution currently serves as the leading body for promoting the language in the [[East Africa|East African region]], as well as for coordinating its development and usage for regional integration and sustainable development.<ref name="Press Release on EAKC">[https://www.eac.int/press-releases/138-education,-science-technology-news/738-east-african-kiswahili-commission-discusses-strategy-implementation-plan#:~:text=About%20the%20East%20African%20Kiswahili,Operations%20Plan%20for%202016%2D2017. Press Release on EAKC]</ref> In recent years [[South Africa]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-09-17-kiswahili-gets-ministers-stamp-to-be-taught-in-sa-schools/|title=Kiswahili gets minister's stamp to be taught in SA schools|newspaper=[[The Sowetan]]|last=Sobuwa|first=Yoliswa|date=17 September 2018|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-date=18 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918231128/https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-09-17-kiswahili-gets-ministers-stamp-to-be-taught-in-sa-schools/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Botswana]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.languagemagazine.com/2020/10/12/botswana-to-introduce-swahili-language-in-local-schools/ |title=Botswana to Introduce Swahili Language in Local Schools |date=12 October 2020 |access-date=21 February 2021 |archive-date=22 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322162812/https://www.languagemagazine.com/2020/10/12/botswana-to-introduce-swahili-language-in-local-schools/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Namibia]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://neweralive.na/posts/pandemic-disrupts-kiswahili-adoption-plans |title=Pandemic disrupts Kiswahili adoption plans |date=3 November 2020 |access-date=21 February 2021 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205223846/https://neweralive.na/posts/pandemic-disrupts-kiswahili-adoption-plans |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ethiopia]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=AAU to Start Teaching Kiswahili Language – Ethiopian Monitor |date=9 February 2022 |url=https://ethiopianmonitor.com/2022/02/09/addis-ababa-university-to-start-ma-ba-degrees-in-kiswahili-language/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[South Sudan]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mbamalu |first=Socrates |date=2019-03-13 |title=Tanzania to send Kiswahili teachers to South Sudan |url=https://thisisafrica.me/arts-and-culture/tanzania-to-send-kiswahili-teachers-to-south-sudan/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=This is africa |language=en-US}}</ref> have begun offering Swahili as a subject in schools or have developed plans to do so.

[[Comorian language|Shikomor]] (or [[Comorian language|Comorian]]), an official language in [[Comoros]] and also spoken in [[Mayotte]] ([[Shimaore]]), is closely related to Swahili and is sometimes considered a dialect of Swahili, although other authorities consider it a distinct language.<ref>Nurse and Hinnebusch, 1993, p.18</ref><ref>Nurse and Hinnebusch, 1993</ref> In 2022, based on Swahili's growth as a prominent international language, the [[United Nations]] declared [[UN Swahili Language Day|Swahili Language Day]] as 7 July to commemorate the date that [[Julius Nyerere]] adopted Swahili as a unifying language for African independence struggles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO declares July 7 World Kiswahili Language Day |url=https://www.uonbi.ac.ke/news/un-declares-july-7-world-kiswahili-language-day |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730061449/https://www.uonbi.ac.ke/news/un-declares-july-7-world-kiswahili-language-day |archive-date=30 July 2022 |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=unesco.org |language=en|date=2021-11-24 }}</ref>