Swahili language

E2738

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.

All labels observed (15)

How this entity was disambiguated

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

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (345)

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

Savo hasLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kibondo hasLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Gombe primaryCountryOfficialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
State House of Kenya officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kampala officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Government of Uganda officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Rosemary Kariuki languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Chairperson of the African Union officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Uvinza languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mwanza languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kisumu languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kirundi neighboringLanguages Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Secretariat of the East African Community officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Kiswahili
World Communion of Reformed Churches hasOfficialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Auma Obama speaksLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Secretariat officialLanguage Swahili language
subject surface form: Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mombasa language Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Rachuonyo District languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Maasai language usedAlongside Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kikuyu usedAlongside Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Hadza language hasNeighboringLanguages Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Atlantic–Congo languages includesLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kikongo neighboringLanguages Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
John languageOfUse Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Tshiluba neighboringLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili (Congo Swahili)
Virunga National Park languageUsedLocally Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Diamond Platnumz languageOfWorkOrName Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Friends United Meeting hasLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Makhuwa neighboringLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Zanzibar hasOfficialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kilimanjaro Region officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Moshi languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mawenzi nameLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kigali officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Abdulrazak Gurnah ethnicGroup Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Jambo House languageOfName Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Gigiri languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kidani Village languageOriginOfName Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Sanaa languageOfName Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Tanzanian shilling languageOnCurrency Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
National Assembly of Tanzania languageOfWorkOrName Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Tanganyika commonLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
North Kivu Province languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Vuhovi languageUsedLocally Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mabalako Health Zone hasLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Beni Health Zone languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Dodoma languageMajority Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Dodoma officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Dar es Salaam language Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili