Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa

Last updated
National Swahili Council
Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa
Agency overview
Formed1967 (1967)
Superseding agency
  • Department of Languages, Ministry of Education
Jurisdiction Tanzania Republic
Agency executive
  • Consolata Mushi, Executive Secretary
Parent agencyMinistry of Education

Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa (National Swahili Council, abbreviated as BAKITA) is a Tanzanian institution responsible with regulating and promoting the Kiswahili language.

Contents

Background

Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the two constituents of modern Tanzania, had come under German colonial rule by the 1880s. The territory was inhabited by a large number of ethnic groups speaking different languages. The German colonial government decided to use Kiswahili as the language of administration after becoming fearful that use of German would introduce the local population to subversive Marxist texts. The British, who took over after the defeat of Germany in World War 1 continued this policy. [1]

Swahili has 17 dialects. The Interterritorial Language Committee in 1930 under British colonial rule in East Africa tasked with creating a standardized form of the language. The Kiunjuga dialect spoken in Zanzibar was chosen as the base. The committee was also involved in standardizing the spelling as well as coining new words. The committee was reorganized into a purely academic institution as Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili (TATAKI) in 1964 and integrated into the University of Dar es Salaam in 1970. [2]

Meanwhile, the Tanganyika African National Union, fighting for freedom from colonial rule, had adopted Kiswahili as a language of mass organization and political revolution. After coming to power, Kiswahili was made the national language and was seen as a tool for national integration and social development. Since Taasisi ya Uchunguzi was Kiswahili had transitioned into a purely academic institution, there was a void with respect to its standardization functions. Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa was founded to fill this void. [1] [3]

Foundation and activities

BAKITA was founded by a parliamentary act in 1967 as organization dedicated to the development and advocacy of Kiswahili as a means of national integration in Tanzania. Its mission was laid down in this act and further expanded in an amendment passed in 1983. Key activities mandated for the organization include creating a healthy atmosphere for the development of Kiswahili, encouraging use of the language in government and business functions, coordinating activities of other organizations involved with Kiswahili, standardizing the language [3]

BAKITA cooperates with organizations like TATAKI in creation, standardization and dissemination of specialized terminologies. Other institutions can propose new vocabulary to respond to emerging needs but only BAKITA can approve usage. [2] By the end of the 1970s, terminologies had been published in Tafsisru Sanifu, a BAKITA journal, for economics and business, administration and government, mathematics, science, social science and engineering among other fields. [4]

BAKITA coordinates its activities with similar bodies in Kenya and Uganda to aid in the development of Kiswahili. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swahili language</span> Bantu language spoken mainly in East Africa

Swahili, also known by its local name Kiswahili, is a Bantu language spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanzania</span> Country in East Africa

Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the 2022 national census, Tanzania has a population of nearly 62 million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator.

The modern-day African Great Lakes state of Tanzania dates formally from 1964, when it was formed out of the union of the much larger mainland territory of Tanganyika and the coastal archipelago of Zanzibar. The former was a colony and part of German East Africa from the 1880s to 1919 when, under the League of Nations, it became a British mandate. It served as a British military outpost during World War II, providing financial help, munitions, and soldiers. In 1947, Tanganyika became a United Nations Trust Territory under British administration, a status it kept until its independence in 1961. The island of Zanzibar thrived as a trading hub, successively controlled by the Portuguese, the Sultanate of Oman, and then as a British protectorate by the end of the nineteenth century.

"Mungu ibariki Afrika" is the national anthem of Tanzania. It is a Swahili language version of Enoch Sontonga's popular hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanzania national football team</span> Mens national association football team representing Tanzania

The Tanzania national football team represents Tanzania in men's international football and is controlled by the Tanzania Football Federation, the governing body for football in Tanzania, Tanzania's home ground is Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium in Dar-es-Salaam and their head coach is Adel Amrouche from Algeria. They are colloquially known as the Taifa Stars. Tanzania has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Before uniting with Zanzibar, the team played as the Tanganyika national football team, The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaaban bin Robert</span> Tanzanian poet, author, and essayist

Shaaban bin Robert, also known as Shaaban Robert, was a Tanzanian poet, author, and essayist who supported the preservation of Tanzanian verse traditions. Robert is celebrated as one of the greatest Tanzanian Swahili thinkers, intellectuals and writers in East Africa and has been called "poet laureate of Swahili" and is also known as the "Father of Swahili." He is also honoured as the national poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Tanzania</span> History and present of cultural life in Tanzania

Following Tanganyika's independence (1961) and unification with Zanzibar (1964), leading to the formation of the state of Tanzania, President Julius Nyerere emphasised a need to construct a national identity for the citizens of the new country. To achieve this, Nyerere provided what has been regarded by some commentators as one of the most successful cases of ethnic repression and identity transformation in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanzania Scouts Association</span> National Scouting organization of Tanzania

The Tanzania Scouts Association (TSA) is the national Scouting organization of Tanzania. Scouting in Tanzania was founded in 1917, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) in 1963. The coeducational association has 538,933.members as of 2010.

Ali Muhsin Al-Barwani was a Zanzibari politician and diplomat under the Sultanate of Zanzibar. He was the only Arab foreign minister of an independent Zanzibar before the establishment of the People's Republic of Zanzibar. When his government was overthrown in January 1964 Barwani was held in detention centers across Tanzania until his release in 1974, when he fled to Kenya as a refugee. After obtaining refugee status, Barwani moved to Cairo then back to Kenya then to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. In the UAE, Barwani translated the Qur'an into Swahili Qur'an for which he is most prominently known.

Baraza la Muziki la Taifa was a national council created in 1974 by the government of the newly independent Tanzania. Its purpose was to regulate the music business in the country, in the context of a wider programme intended to create a solidified national identity. This, in turn, was a crucial element in Ujamaa, President Julius Nyerere's version of african socialism. Similar institutions were founded to rule over other aspects of the nation's culture, including the nationwide adoption of Swahili language and the development of Tanzanian art (BASATA). The overall idea was to build a new popular culture for the workers and peasants of the country, free from the heritage of colonialism and bourgeoisie culture.

Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa is a Kenyan institution founded in 1998 responsible for the promotion of the Swahili language in Kenya. The Founding Chair is Prof. Kimani Njogu, a graduate of Yale University's department of Linguistics.

Vijana Jazz Orchestra is a Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band that reached its peak of popularity in the 1980s. As with many other dansi bands of the times, it was sponsored by a government institution, namely the Umoja wa Vijana, i.e., the youth wing of Tanzania's ruling party Tanganyika African National Union (TANU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathias E. Mnyampala</span> Tanzanian writer

Mathias E. Mnyampala (1917–1969) was a Tanzanian writer, lawyer, and poet. Mnyampala was born on 18 November according to a personal record form of 1956, but he wrote in his autobiography that he only knew the year with accuracy. He was born in the hamlet of Muntundya depending on the village of Ihumwa in Chamwino District in Dodoma region at the time part of German East Africa. He died on 8 June 1969 in Dodoma city, Tanzania. Mnyampala wrote in Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa, not Cigogo, the native language of his ethnic group.

Taasisi ya Taaluma za Kiswahili, known by its acronym TATAKI, is a research body dedicated to the research of the Kiswahili language and literature at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

The Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation is a television network. It is Tanzania's national network and is government-owned and operated.

Hashil Twaibu Abdallah is a Tanzanian academic Lecturer of Law and currently Permanent Secretary of Trade and Industry in Tanzania. He was a deputy Permanent Secretary of Trade and Industry appointed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan on April 6, 2021. He was the Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Law and Head of Department of Criminal Law at the Open University of Tanzania for more than ten years.

Haji Gora Haji was a Swahili-language poet, lyricist, and writer from the Zanzibar archipelago. He channeled his expansive knowledge of the culture and society of the Swahili coast, especially his homeland of Tumbatu, into his works. For his work inspired by the seascape of his home, he has been called "The Old Typhoon". He worked in a multitude of forms, from songs, stories, and epics to a full-length novel. His compositions and verse were frequently on Tanzanian radio.

Mwene Mbonwean Sultanate of Ujiji or Busonga is a subnational Monarchy in Ujiji town, Kigoma Region, western Tanzania. The seat of the local Sultanate is Busaid which was called so from the name of the dynasty of both the Zanzibar Sultanate and Oman which once ruled Ujiji under Arab-Swahili Liwalis, the post Arab name of Busaid for Ujiji proper is still used by the locals as "Busaidi".

UN Swahili Language Day is observed annually on 7 July. This began when the United Nations declared 7 July as Swahili Language Day in 2022. On 7 July 1954, Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) leader Julius Kambarage Nyerere, the eventual first President of Tanzania, adopted the Swahili Language as a unifying language for African independence struggles. Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya, followed suit and also used the Swahili language to mobilize and unify the people of Kenya in the struggle against colonialism through the use of the popular “Harambee” slogan.

References

  1. 1 2 Askew, Kelly (2002). Performing the Nation: Swahili Music and Cultural Politics in Tanzania. Vol. 1. University of Chicago Press. pp. 181–182. ISBN   9780226029801.
  2. 1 2 Yambi, Josephine (Fall 2000). "Planned and spontaneous vocabulary expansion in Tanzanian Kiswahili". Studies in the Linguistic Sciences. 30 (2): 212. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.188.6044 .
  3. 1 2 Massamba, David PB (1989). "An assessment of the development and modernization of the Kiswahili language in Tanzania". In Coulmas, Florian (ed.). Language Adaptation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.  64–65. ISBN   0-521-36255-5.
  4. Antia, Bassem (2000). Terminology and Language Planning: An Alternative Framework of Practice and Discourse. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 21. ISBN   9027223254.
  5. Schadeberg, Thilo C. (2009). "Loanwords in Swahili". In Haspelmath, Martin; Tadmor, Uri (eds.). Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 76.