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.

Urambo hasOfficialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Ashraf usedInLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Sukuma language usedAlongside Swahili language
Urambo District languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Igunga languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mbeya Region languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mpanda Airport hasLanguageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mpanda District hasOfficialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Singida Region languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Simiyu Region languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Rukwa Region officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kasulu District hasOfficialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kasulu District hasDeFactoLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Central Province, Kenya language Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Swahili Wikinews language Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kagera Region languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Nairobi County hasOfficialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
NBO hasOfficialLanguageEnvironment Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kenya Airports Authority languageOfWork Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Capital Markets Authority of Kenya hasOfficialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Embakasi languageMajority Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Cabinet of Uganda hasLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Uganda Police Force alsoUsesLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
State House Road, Nairobi hasOfficialLanguageEnvironment Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Uhuru Kenyatta languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Raila Odinga languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mombasa Campus languageOfInstruction Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Moses Wetang'ula languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kiambu County languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Kibera languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Chiromo Campus hasLanguageOfInstruction Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mathare languageUsed Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Nairobi Metropolitan Region dominantLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Ngethe Njoroge languageSpoken Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Xinhua News Agency officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
SOAS University of London languageTeaching Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
East African languages includesLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
East African languages includesLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Kiswahili
East African languages hasLinguaFranca Swahili language
this entity surface form: Kiswahili
Ajami script usedFor Swahili language
Stella usedInLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Nyanza region of Kenya language Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Mwanza City Council operatesInLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Tanzania Railways Corporation hasLanguageOfOperation Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Uvinza District in Kigoma Region languageUsed Swahili language
subject surface form: Uvinza District
this entity surface form: Swahili
Luo people of Tanzania countryOfficialLanguageContext Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Nyanza region hasLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Ruiru River hasLanguageRegion Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili
Zaramo people usesLinguaFranca Swahili language
Gitega officialLanguage Swahili language
this entity surface form: Swahili