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.

Kenya → nationalLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Tanzania → nationalLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Uganda → nationalLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Swahili language → nativeName → Swahili language self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Kiswahili
Makhuwa → neighboringLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Tshiluba → neighboringLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili (Congo Swahili)
Kikongo → neighboringLanguages → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kirundi → neighboringLanguages → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
African Union Commission → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
this entity surface form: Swahili
EAC → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
subject surface form: East African Community
this entity surface form: Swahili
East African Community → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Government of Uganda → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kampala → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Katavi Region → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kenya → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kigali → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kigoma Region → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kilimanjaro Region → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Nairobi → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Rwanda → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
this entity surface form: Kiswahili
Secretariat → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
subject surface form: Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community
this entity surface form: Swahili
this entity surface form: Swahili
State House of Kenya → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Tanzania → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Uganda → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Western Zone of Tanzania → officialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kiunguja → partOf → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili language continuum
Gombe → primaryCountryOfficialLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
this entity surface form: Swahili
Auma Obama → speaksLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Swahili language → standardBasedOn → Swahili language self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Zanzibar dialect (Kiunguja)
Kimvita → subdivisionOf → Swahili language ⓘ
Whisper → supportsLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kikuyu → usedAlongside → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Maasai language → usedAlongside → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Islamic music → usesLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
East Africa → widelySpokenLanguage → Swahili language ⓘ
this entity surface form: Swahili
Latin alphabet → writingSystemFor → Swahili language ⓘ