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Swahili, also known by its native name Kiswahili, is a Bantu language and the native language of the Swahili people. It is one of two official languages of the East African Community (EAC) countries, namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is a lingua franca of other areas in the African Great Lakes region and East and Southern Africa, including some parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, and Zambia. Swahili is also one of the working languages of the African Union and of the Southern African Development Community. The exact number of Swahili speakers, be they native or second-language speakers, is estimated to be between 50 million to 150 million.
Tanzanian Hip-hop, which is sometimes called Bongo Flava by many outside of Tanzania's hip hop community, encompasses a large variety of different sounds, but it is particularly known for heavy synth riffs and an incorporation of Tanzanian pop. There is some debate over whether Bongo Flava, which has emerged as a defined pop movement, can really still be qualified under the overarching term "hip hop" and not a movement unto itself, when it is beginning to develop a distinctive sound that differs from hardcore rap or, for example, the Maasai Hip hop of X Plastaz, who use the tradition of the Maasai tribe as the focal point for their sound and style. Tanzanian hip hop influenced the sound of the Bongo Flava genre. While Tanzanian hip hop retains many of the elements found in hip hop globally in terms of sound and lyricism, Bongo flava, derived from the Swahili word "ubongo", incorporates hip hop, Indian filmi, taraab, muzik wa dansi, and dancehall beats. It all began in the 1980s when Tanzanian teenagers were really interested in the American hip hop scene. At first, they took American beats and rapped to them. As the youth rapped, the hip hop in Tanzania began to develop into a mix of traditional and localized hip hop scene. As a result, it began a wave of interest from other people in Eastern Africa.
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.
The Gusii language is a Bantu language spoken in Kisii and Nyamira counties in Nyanza Kenya, whose headquarters is Kisii Town,. It is spoken natively by 2.2 million people, mostly among the Abagusii. The Bunchari dialect of the Ekegusii is also spoken among the Kuria as Kuria language and among the Suba people (Tanzania) and some other groups like the Suna-Girango and Simbete as well as other small splinter groups from Abagusii and Kuria in Migori County and Homa Bay County as Egesuba.
Kenya is a multilingual country. The Bantu Swahili language and English, the latter being inherited from colonial rule, are widely spoken as lingua franca. They serve as the two official working languages. Including second-language speakers, there are more speakers of Swahili than English in Kenya.
Gogo is a Bantu language spoken by the Gogo people of Dodoma Region in Tanzania. The language is spoken throughout Dodoma Region and into the neighbouring district of Manyoni.
Also known as muzungu, mlungu, musungu or musongo, mzungu is a Bantu language means “wanderer” originally pertaining to spirits. The term is currently used in predominantly Swahili speaking nations to refer to white people dating back to 18th century. The noun Mzungu or its variants are used in Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, Zimbabwe, Mayotte, Zambia and in Northern Madagascar dating back to the 18th century.
The Zinza are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group from the southwestern Islands on Lake Victoria Tanzania. The Zinza people also lived on the shores of Geita Region and Mwanza Region. In 1987, the Zinza population was estimated to number 138,000.
The Sumbwa are a Bantu group native to Bukombe District, Geita Region in central Tanzania. In 1987 the Sumbwa population was estimated to number 191,000.
Gweno is a Bantu language spoken in the North Pare Mountains in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. The people known as the Gweno are a Chaga ethnic and linguistic group. Since the Chaga people are Bantu speakers, the adopted language contains dialects similar to that of the Kenyan language Kamba. Gweno shares about 54% to 56% of its vocabulary with other Chaga dialects and 46% with Taita dialects. However, a large percentage of its vocabulary is not seen in the other dialects. Also at the start of the 11th century, the Chaga people descended and migrated from the Bantu group in which they migrated to the foothills of mount Kilimanjaro. The Gweno language is today spoken mostly by older adults, with younger generations having shifted to Asu and Swahili. Ethnologue considers Gweno to be moribund; the language is not being passed down because children have not been exposed to Gweno since the 1970s. The generational shift from Gweno to either Asu or Swahili has certainly created shifts in dialect, however Gweno speakers do not see this as a threat.
The Bondei People are a Bantu ethnic group based in Pangani District in east Tanga Region in northeastern Tanzania. Bondei speak a Bantu language and are related to the Shambaa ethnic group.
Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa is a Tanzanian institution responsible with regulating and promoting the Kiswahili language.
The Swahili Wikipedia is the Swahili language edition of Wikipedia. It is the largest edition of Wikipedia in a Niger–Congo or Nilo-Saharan language, followed by the Yoruba Wikipedia.
State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) is a public university located on Unguja Island in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The university was established by an act of House of Representatives of Zanzibar in 1999 and became operational in 2002.
Swahilization or Swahilisation refers to one of two practices:
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.
Tanzania is a multilingual country. There are many languages spoken in the country, but no one language is spoken natively by a majority or a large plurality of the population. Swahili and English, the latter of which was inherited from colonial rule, are widely spoken as lingua francas. They serve as working languages in the country, with Swahili being the official national language. There are more speakers of Swahili than of English in Tanzania.
Ikizu is a Bantu language spoken by the Ikizu peoples of Tanzania. Dialects are Ikizu proper and Sizaki. Maho (2009) treats Sizaki (Shashi) as a separate language. However, Ethnologue 16 retired the ISO code for Sizaki, merging it into Ikizu.
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.
Farouk Mohamedhusein Tharia Topan is the director of the Swahili Centre at the Aga Khan University. He is a specialist in the language and literature of the Swahili people. He has taught at the University of Dar es Salaam, the Institute of Ismaili Studies, and the School of Oriental and African Studies.
References
- ↑ Kahe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ↑ Kahigi, Kulikoyela K. (2008). Kikahe: Msamiati wa Kikahe-Kiswahili-Kiingereza na Kiingereza-Kikahe-Kiswahili (Kahe–Swahili–English and English–Kahe–Swahili Lexicon). Languages of Tanzania Project. ISBN 9987-691-15-3.
- ↑ Muzale, H. & Rugemalira, J. (2008). Researching and Documenting the Languages of Tanzania. LOT Project, University of Dar es Salaam
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