Swahili language

E2738
Bantu language lingua franca natural language

Swahili is a major Bantu language widely spoken in East and Central Africa, serving as a regional lingua franca and an official language in several countries including Tanzania and Kenya.

Observed surface forms (11)

Surface form Occurrences
Swahili 71
Kiswahili 5
Standard Swahili 2
Kenyan Standard Swahili 1
Mombasa Swahili 1
Swahili (Congo Swahili) 1
Swahili language continuum 1
Swahili macrolanguage 1
Tanzanian Standard Swahili 1
Zanzibar Swahili 1

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Bantu language ⓘ
lingua franca ⓘ
natural language ⓘ
developedAs trade language ⓘ
dominantWordOrder subject-verb-object ⓘ
family Niger–Congo languages ⓘ
surface form: Niger-Congo languages
glottologCode swah1253 ⓘ
hasAlternativeName Swahili language ⓘ
surface form: Kiswahili
hasEstimatedSpeakers over 15 million native speakers ⓘ
over 80 million total speakers ⓘ
hasMajorDialect Kiunguja ⓘ
surface form: Kiamu

Kimvita ⓘ
Kiunguja ⓘ
hasNounClassSystem true ⓘ
historicallyWrittenIn Arabic script ⓘ
iso639-1Code sw ⓘ
iso639-2Code swa ⓘ
iso639-3Code swh ⓘ
lexicalInfluenceFrom Arabic ⓘ
surface form: Arabic language

English language ⓘ
German ⓘ
surface form: German language

Portuguese language ⓘ
macrolanguage Swahili language self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Swahili macrolanguage
nativeName Swahili language self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Kiswahili
officialLanguageOf African Union ⓘ
Burundi ⓘ
Democratic Republic of the Congo ⓘ
East African Community ⓘ
Kenya ⓘ
Rwanda ⓘ
Tanzania ⓘ
Uganda ⓘ
originRegion East Africa ⓘ
surface form: East African coast
primaryRegion Central Africa ⓘ
East Africa ⓘ
spokenIn Burundi ⓘ
Comoros ⓘ
Democratic Republic of the Congo ⓘ
Kenya ⓘ
Mozambique ⓘ
Oman ⓘ
Rwanda ⓘ
Somalia ⓘ
Tanzania ⓘ
Uganda ⓘ
standardBasedOn Swahili language self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Zanzibar dialect (Kiunguja)
subfamily Bantu languages ⓘ
usedAsMediumOfInstructionIn Tanzania (primary education) ⓘ
usedIn broadcast media in East Africa ⓘ
popular music in East Africa ⓘ
writingSystem Latin script ⓘ

Referenced by (90)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Kiunguja → alternativeName → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Zanzibar Swahili
Kiunguja → ancestorOf → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Tanzanian Standard Swahili
Google Translate → availableLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kiunguja → basisFor → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Standard Swahili
Abdulrazak Gurnah → ethnicGroup → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kimvita → hasAlternativeName → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Mombasa Swahili
Swahili language → hasAlternativeName → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Kiswahili
Friends United Meeting → hasLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Islamic world → hasLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kasulu → hasLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kibondo → hasLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Savo → hasLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Samuel → hasLanguageForm → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Nicholas → hasLanguageOfUse → Swahili language ⓘ
Hadza language → hasNeighboringLanguages → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
African Union → hasOfficialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
this entity surface form: Swahili
this entity surface form: Kiswahili
this entity surface form: Swahili
this entity surface form: Swahili
Zanzibar → hasOfficialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
this entity surface form: Swahili
Niger–Congo languages → includesLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Arabic → influencedLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kimvita → influencedStandardVariety → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Kenyan Standard Swahili
Mombasa → language → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
UNECA → language → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Jambo House → languageOfName → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Sanaa → languageOfName → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
John → languageOfUse → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Diamond Platnumz → languageOfWorkOrName → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Voice of America → languageOfWorkOrName → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kidani Village → languageOriginOfName → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kisumu → languageSpoken → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Moshi → languageSpoken → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Rosemary Kariuki → languageSpoken → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Uvinza → languageSpoken → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Gigiri → languageUsed → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kigoma → languageUsed → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mwanza → languageUsed → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Rachuonyo District → languageUsed → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Tabora Region → languageUsed → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Western Zone of Tanzania → languageUsed → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Virunga National Park → languageUsedLocally → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Swahili language → macrolanguage → Swahili language self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili macrolanguage
Bantu languages → majorLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Bantu languages → majorLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Kiswahili
Kimvita → mutuallyIntelligibleWith → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Standard Swahili
Mawenzi → nameLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili