Swahili is the most spoken language in Africa. This language is considered native by 5 million people, 70 million know Swahili and use it as a second language. In , and Swahili is a state language, and in the African Union it is a working one. Almost the entire population of Tanzania and educated Kenyans prefer to communicate in Swahili, since the language is taught in all schools. Swahili retains ethnic neutrality, which allowed it to become pan-African. The Swahili script is based on the Latin alphabet.
History of Swahili
The language began to take shape in the 8th-10th centuries, along with the development of trade relations between the east coast and the Arab world. The influence of the Arabic language is evident in the vocabulary and grammar of Swahili. It is generally accepted that ethnic Swahili are descendants of Arabs, Hindus and representatives of the Bantu tribes. Two waves of migrations led to the formation of a new ethnic group with its own culture and language. By the 19th century, African traditions merged with Arab-Muslim ones. The writing of this period developed on the basis of the Arabic alphabet.
The first written monuments in the form of records of songs, poems and chronicles date back to the 18th century in the Old Swahili language. Some dialects of that period turned over time into independent languages. The modern standard language was formed on the basis of the Kiunguja language, which existed in Zanzibar.
When trade began to expand on the continent, Swahili became a means of interethnic communication in Africa. With the end of the period of colonization, this meaning was strengthened, Swahili pressed the languages of the colonialists, in particular, English.
In the second half of the 19th century, attempts were made to describe Swahili grammar, and textbooks and dictionaries went out of print by the end of the century. In the twentieth century, the language was actively spreading in all spheres of life, it was taught at universities, Swahili is studied and researched in many scientific centers in Europe and other countries. A research institute operates in Tanzania, a linguistic journal is published, covering the problems of culture, literature and language.
- In Swahili, it literally translates to “the language of the coast dwellers.”
- Safari is a word of international lexicon, meaning "journey" in Swahili.
- In the cartoon "The Lion King" the names of the main characters are taken from the Swahili language: Simba is a lion, Rafiki is a friend, Pumbaa is lazy, Sarabi is a mirage. "Hakuna matata" translated from Swahili - "No problem."
- The language of the aliens in the film "Hangar 18" is a modified fragment of the text from the Swahili phrasebook.
- There is a legend in Zanzibar about the spirit of Popobav. Evil Popobava comes into the house at night, commits sexual assault, and demands that the victim tell everyone about what happened. Refusal is punishable by a second visit. In Swahili, Popobawa means the wing of a bat.
- Swahili is rich in synonyms. For example, for the word "girl" in this language there are about 15 designations. If separate words for petite, beautiful, young and not so, etc.
We guarantee acceptable quality, as the texts are translated directly, without the use of a buffer language, using the technology
"Jumbo" is one of the most used words in Kenya. This is the simplest greeting in Swahili, and also the first word that tourists usually recognize.
Swahili (or Kiswahili as the locals call it) is the national language of Kenya. Swahili originated on the East African coast as a trading language used by both Arabs and coastal tribes.
The language, which includes elements of classical Arabic and Bantu dialects, became the mother tongue of the Swahili people, who originated from intermarriages between Arabs and African peoples.
The word "Swahili" comes from the Arabic word "sahel", which means "shore". The language began to spread rapidly and, turning into a regional language of interethnic communication, became widely used in Kenya and Tanzania.
Today, Swahili, which is the most spoken language in Africa, is spoken in Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and Zambia. Most Kenyans speak their tribal language at home, use Swahili as their everyday language, and use English for business communication.
Swahili is a relatively simple language, characterized by a high degree of phonetics and a rigid grammatical system. The only difficulty in learning Swahili comes from the extensive use of prefixes, suffixes, and infixes, and the class system of nouns.
The island of Zanzibar is considered the birthplace of Swahili, and the local dialect is the purest. The further you move from the coast, the less complex the language becomes, and its grammatical structure more flexible. Nairobi has recently introduced Sheng, a trendy dialect that is a mixture of Swahili, Kikuyu, English and local slang.
Even a little knowledge of Swahili will make your trip to Kenya more enjoyable. Therefore, it is worth taking some time to study it, especially since most Kenyans are very enthusiastic about the attempts of tourists to speak Swahili.
The guide below will help you memorize a few simple Swahili phrases:
| Greetings | |
|---|---|
| Jambo or Hujambo | Hello! Good afternoon! How are you doing? (multi-purpose greeting, literally meaning "Problems?") |
| Jambo or Sijambo | (answer) No problem |
| Khabari? | How are you? (literally "Is there any news?") |
| Nzuri | Great, good, amazing |
| Hodi! | Hello. Is anybody home? (used when knocking on a door or entering a room) |
| Karibu | Come in! Greetings! You are welcome! (used also when suggesting something) |
| Kwaheri/ ni | Goodbye! (one person / several people) |
| Asante/ni | Thank you! (one person / several people) |
| Sana | Very (underline) |
| Bwana | Mister (similar to "monsieur" in French) |
| Mama | Addressing adult women (similar to "madame" or "mademoiselle" in French) |
| Kijana | Young person, teenager (pl. vijana) |
| Mtoto | Child (pl. watoto) |
| Jina lako nani? | What is your name? |
| Unaitwaje? | What is your name? |
| Basic phrases | |
|---|---|
| My name / my name is | Jina langu ni/ Ninaitwa |
| Where are you from? | Unatoka wapi? |
| Where did you stay? | Unakaa wapi |
| Where did you stay? | Ninatoka |
| I stopped (stopped) at | Ninakaa |
| See you! | Tutaonana (lit. "see you") |
| Yes | Ndiyo (lit. "this is so") |
| Not | Hapana |
| I don't understand | Sifahamu / Sielewi |
| I don't speak Swahili, but | Sisemi Kiswahili |
| How do you say it in Swahili? | Unasemaje na Kiswahili |
| Could you repeat, please? | Sema tena (lit. say again) |
| Speak slowly | Sema pole pole |
| I don't know | Sijui |
| Where? | Wapi? |
| Here | Hapa |
| When? | Lini? |
| Now | Sasa |
| Soon | Sasa hivi |
| Why? | Kwa nini? |
| because | Kwa sababu |
| Who? | Nani? |
| What? | Nini? |
| Which? | Gani? |
| Right | kweli |
| I/s | na |
| Or | au |
| (this) (these) | Ni (connecting element when you can't find the right word) |
| Is not it? | Siyo? |
| I am English / American / German / French / Italian | Mimi Mwingereza / Mwamerika / Mdachi / Mfaransa / Mwitaliano |
| DAILY NEEDS | |
|---|---|
| Where can I stay? | Naweza Kukaa wapi? |
| Can I stay here? | Naweza kukaa hapa? |
| Room(s) | Chumba/vyumba |
| Bed(s) | Kitanda/vitanda |
| Chairs) | kiti/viti |
| Table(s) | meza |
| Toilet, bathroom | Choo, bafu |
| Washing water | Maji ya kuosha |
| Washing water | Maji moto/baridi |
| I want to eat | Ninasikia njaa |
| I'm thirsty | Nina kiu |
| Whether there is a...? | Iko… or Kuna…? |
| Yes, I have... | Iko… or kuna… |
| This is not | Hakuna |
| How much? | Ngapi? |
| Money | Pesa |
| What price? | Bei gani? |
| How much is it? | Pesa Ngapi? |
| I want... | Nataka |
| I don't want | Sitaki |
| Give me / bring me (can I...?) | Nipe/Niletee |
| Again | Tena |
| Enough | Tosha/basi |
| Expensive | Ghali/sana |
| Cheap (also "easy") | Rahisi |
| Fifty cents | Sumni |
| Lower your price, lower your price a little | Punguza kidogo |
| Score | Duca |
| Bank | Benki |
| posta | |
| Cafe Restaurant | Hoteli |
| Telephone | Simu |
| Cigarettes | Sigara |
| I'm sick | Mimi mgonjwa |
| Doctor | Daktari |
| Hospital | Hospitali |
| Police | Polisi |
| Transport and directions | |
|---|---|
| Bus(es) | Bas,basi / mabasi |
| Vehicle(s), vehicle(s) | Gari/ Magari |
| Taxi | Teksi |
| A bike | Baiskeli |
| A train | Treni |
| Airplane | Ndege |
| Boat / vessel | Chombo / Meli |
| Petrol | Petroli |
| Way | Njia/ndia |
| Highway | Barabara |
| On foot | Kwa miguu |
| When does he leave? | Inaondoka lini? |
| When will we arrive? | Tutafika lini? |
| Slowly | pole pole |
| Fast | Haraka |
| Wait! Wait a second! | Ngoja! / ngoja kidogo! |
| Stop! | Simama! |
| Where are you going? | Unaenda wapi |
| Where? | Mpaka wapi? |
| Where? | Kutoka wapi? |
| How many kilometers? | Kilometa ngapi? |
| I'm going to | Naenda |
| Move forward, move a little | Songa! / songa kidogo! |
| Let's go go on | Twende, endelea |
| Straight | Moja kwa moja |
| Right | Kulia |
| Left | Kushoto |
| Up | Juu |
| Down | Chini |
| I want to get off here | Nataka kushuka hapa |
| The car broke down | Gari imaribika |
| Time, days of the week and dates | |
|---|---|
What time is it? | Saa ngapi |
| Four o'clock | Saa kumi |
| Quarter... | Na robo |
| Half... | Na nusu |
| Quarter to... | Kaso robo |
| minutes | Dakika |
| Early | Mapema |
| Yesterday | Jana |
| Today | Leo |
| Tomorrow | Kesho |
| Day | Mchana |
| Night | Usik |
| Dawn | Alfajiri |
| Morning | Asubuhi |
| Last/this/next week | Wiki iliopita/ hii/ ijayo |
| This year | Mwaka-huu |
| This month | Mwezi huu |
| Monday | Jumatatu |
| Tuesday | Jumanne |
| Wednesday | Jumatano |
| Thursday | Alhamisi |
| Friday | Ijumaa |
| Saturday | Jumamosi |
| Sunday | Jumapili |
| 1 | Moja |
| 2 | Mbili |
| 3 | tattoo |
| 4 | Nne |
| 5 | Tano |
| 6 | Sita |
| 7 | Saba |
| 8 | Nane |
| 9 | Tisa |
| 10 | kumi |
| 11 | Kumi na moja |
| 12 | Kumi na mbili |
| 20 | Ishirini |
| 21 | Ishirini na moja |
| 30 | Thelathini |
| 40 | Arobaini |
| 50 | Hamsini |
| 60 | Sitini |
| 70 | Sabini |
| 80 | Themanini |
| 90 | Tisini |
| 100 | Mia moja |
| 121 | Mia moja na ishirini na moja |
| 1000 | Elfu |
| Words you need to know | |
|---|---|
| Good | -zuri (with a prefix before the word) |
| Bad | -baya (with a prefix before the word) |
| Large | -kubwa |
| Little | -dogo |
| Lot | -ingi |
| Another | ingine |
| Not bad | Simbaya |
| Okay okay | Sawa |
| Great, great | Safi |
| Fully | Kabisa |
| Only, just | Tu (kitanda kimoja tu - just on the bed) |
| Item(s) | kitu/vitu |
| Problems, troubles | wasiwasi, matata |
| No problem | Hakuna wasiwasi/ Hakuna matata |
| Friend | Rafiki |
| Sorry | Samahani |
| Nothing | Si kitu |
| Excuse me (let me pass) | Hebu |
| What happened? | Namna gani? |
| All the will of God | Inshallah (often used on the coast) |
| You are welcome | Tafadhali |
| Take a photo of me! | Piga picha mimi! |
Swahili
a little about the language...
Swahili (Swahili kiswahili) is the largest of the Bantu languages and one of the most significant languages of the African continent. Being the language of interethnic communication, Swahili is distributed over a vast territory of East and Central Africa, from the coast of the Indian Ocean in the east to the central regions of Zaire in the west, from Somalia in the north to Mozambique in the south.
Swahili is the official language in countries such as Tanzania, the Republic of Kenya and Uganda. It is also widely used in Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, the Comoros and Madagascar. Swahili is the only African language that has received the status of a working language of the African Union (since 2004).
According to various sources, Swahili is native to 2.5 - 5 million people. Another 50 - 70 million people use it as a second or third language of communication.
According to the genetic classification of J. Greenberg, the Bantu languages belong to the Benue-Congo group of the Niger-Congo family.
According to the internal classification of M. Gasri, Swahili is included in the G42 group: Bantu/Southern/Narrow Bantu/Central/G.
Modern Swahili uses the Latin alphabet as the alphabet.
Swahili in popular culture
The word safari, which has become international, is a word from the Swahili language (in turn, borrowed from Arabic), meaning "journey", "trip".
Swahili words were used in the names of the main characters of the Disney cartoon The Lion King. For example, Simba in Swahili is “lion”, Rafiki is “friend” (also an Arabic borrowing is - friend), Pumba is “lazy”. The name of the famous song from the cartoon - "Hakuna Matata" (English Hakuna Matata) in Swahili means "no problem."
In the sci-fi film Hangar 18, the "alien language" that can be heard from the ship's voice system in the film is a piece of text from a Swahili phrasebook, passed through some kind of voice converter.
In the computer game Sid Meier's Civilization IV, the main menu screen plays the song Baba Yetu (English) Russian, the lyrics of which are the Swahili translation of Our Father.
One of the most famous songs ever sung in non-European languages is "Malaika" ("My Angel") in Swahili. It was performed by many singers, incl. and the once famous Boney M group. The most popular version is performed by the American "King of Calypso" Harry Belafonte and the South African Miriam.
Tanzania
Comoros (Comorian language)
Swahili is the official language in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.
Swahili is the only African language to have the status of a working language of the African Union (since 2004) [ ] and the official language of the East African Community.
Modern Swahili uses the Latin alphabet to write.
self-name
Name Kiswahili comes from the plural of the Arabic word sahil ساحل: sawahilسواحل meaning "coast". with prefix wa- the word is used to refer to "coast dwellers", with the prefix ki-- their language ( Kiswahili- "the language of the inhabitants of the coast").
Classification
Linguistic geography
Sociolinguistic situation
Swahili is spoken by approximately 90% of the inhabitants of Tanzania (approximately 39 million). Most of the educated population of Kenya can speak it fluently, as it is a compulsory subject in school from the first grade. Swahili-speaking are 5 provinces. It is also used by relatively small populations in Burundi, Rwanda, Mozambique, Somalia, Malawi [ ] and northern Zambia.
Dialects
Modern Standard Swahili is based on the dialect of Zanzibar. It is rather difficult to separate dialects from each other, on the one hand, and dialects from languages, on the other hand, and there are a number of discrepancies regarding their list:
- kyunguja: dialect of the city of Zanzibar and its environs;
- kutumbatu and Kimakunduchi: a dialect of the areas of Zanzibar;
- pouch: A heavily pidginized variant of Swahili. Used for conversations with Europeans;
- Nairobi Swahili: Nairobi dialect;
- kipemba: local Pemba dialect;
- kingwana: dialect of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Writing
Modern Swahili uses Latin script (introduced by European missionaries in the middle of the 19th century). Earlier, from the 10th century, an Arabic alphabet (Old Swahili script) was used, the largest monument of which is the epic “The Book of Heraclius” of the 18th century. The first monument dates back to 1728.
The modern alphabet has 24 letters, no letters are used Q and X, and the letter C only used in combination ch.
Language history
The formation of Swahili refers to a period of intense trade between the peoples who inhabited the east coast of Africa and the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba (and others nearby) and Arab sailors. Today, the vocabulary and grammar of Swahili is clearly Arabic influenced, the extent of which is explained by the powerful cultural and religious influence of the Arabs. Ancestors of ethnic Swahili (or so-called waswahili), apparently, were descendants of Arab and Indian settlers (mainly traders) and inhabitants of the interior of East Africa, belonging to various Bantu tribes. Two powerful waves of resettlement belong respectively to the VIII - centuries. and XVII-XIX centuries, which allows us to name the approximate date of the beginning of the development of the language.
Ethnic Swahili of the East African coast was created in the XIII-XIX centuries. its culture, which is a fusion of local African traditions and eastern (primarily Arab-Muslim) influences; they used the Arabic alphabet. Monuments of this time (poems, songs, historical chronicles and other documents, the earliest of which date back to the 18th century) reflect the so-called Old Swahili language (represented by a number of dialect varieties; some Swahili variants that arose in that era are now considered as independent languages, like , for example, Comorian is the language of the Comoros in the Indian Ocean). The formation of the modern common standard Swahili took place on the basis of the Kiunguja dialect (the island of Zanzibar; the Zanzibar version of Swahili is traditionally considered one of the most “clean” and “correct”).
With the expansion of continental trade, Swahili is gradually becoming the language of interethnic communication. This most important social role of Swahili was further strengthened in the post-colonial period, when the independent states of Africa began to consider Swahili as a real alternative to the languages of the former metropolitan countries (primarily English). The successful dissemination of the Swahili language is facilitated by the fact that it is perceived by most speakers as "pan-African", but at the same time also as a neutral language not associated with any narrow ethnic group; thus, at least in Tanzania (populated predominantly by the Bantu peoples), the Swahili language has managed to become a kind of symbol of national unity.
Linguistic characteristic
The syllable is open. Moreover, [m] and [n] can be syllabic. The most frequent syllabic structures: 1) С m/n, 2) V, 3) CV, 4) CCV/C m/n V, 5) CCCV/C m/n CC y/w V.
Vowels
Consonants
| labial | labiodental | dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
| Nasal occlusives | m | n | ny | ng' | ||||
| Prenasalized occlusives | mb | nd | nj ~ | ng | ||||
| Implosive stops | b | d | j [ʄ ] | g [ɠ ] | ||||
| Explosive stops | p | t | ch | k | ||||
| Aspirated stops | p | t | ch | k | ||||
| Prenasalized fricatives | mv[v] | nz | ||||||
| Voiced fricatives | v | (dh ) | z | (gh ) | ||||
| Voiceless fricatives | f | (th ) | s | sh | (kh ) | h | ||
| Trembling | r | |||||||
| Side | l | |||||||
| Approximants | y | w |
Prenasalization is typical of African languages. Aspirated velars are borrowings from Arabic.
Morphology
Swahili has a very rich nominal and verbal morphology. It, like most Bantu, is characterized by a complex system of nominal agreement classes.
Name
The system of concordant classes of Swahili has undergone significant changes during its existence, having largely lost its original semantic motivation. The original system contained 22 matching classes. Researchers identify 16 to 18 remaining at present. In the treatment accepted today, six of them denote nouns in the singular, five in the plural, one class for abstract nouns, a class for verbal infinitives, and three locative classes.
Nouns 1st and 2nd grade, mainly denote animate objects and, in particular, people: mtu watu, mtoto - watoto;
grades 3 and 4- the so-called classes of "trees", however, in addition to trees and plants, it also includes such physical objects as mwezi-" moon", mto-" river", mwaka-" year”, which calls into question the semantic motivation of the class;
Grade 15 on the ku- - class of infinitives; class 7 is often referred to as the "things" class, as it often includes items such as kitu-" thing" and kiti-" chair", but it also contains words such as kifafa - « epilepsy"; u- - prefix of abstract classes that do not have a plural.
Spatial relations in Swahili are expressed using locative classes.
The criterion for determining the nominal class to which the word form belongs is an agreement chain consisting of a class prefix, an adjectival indicator for this class, a verbal agreeer, a demonstrative pronoun agreeer and a possessive agreer.
For example, let's compare the chains of 3 and 1 classes:
This method makes it possible to identify 18 concordance classes and shows the increasing desemantization of the concordance class in Swahili.
Syntax
Standard word order in the SVO syntagm. The definition is in postposition to the word being defined.
The type of role encoding in predication is accusative.
The abundance of passive constructions also speaks in favor of the accusativity of the language.
Language Description
Swahili came into scientific use relatively late - from the second half of the 19th century, when the first attempts were made to describe its grammatical structure. By the end of the XIX century. the first practical grammars and dictionaries already existed.
In the XX century. interest in Swahili has increased significantly. Currently, Swahili is taught and studied in almost all major universities and research centers in Germany, England, France, Italy, Belgium, Japan, China, the USA and other countries. African scientists are also engaged in its research. In Tanzania, there is an Institute for Swahili Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, which publishes a journal of scientific papers on various issues of the Swahili language, literature and culture. For example, Our Father, E. B. Demintseva. Moscow: Institute for African Studies RAS, 2007, pp. 84-93.
Kenya
Tanzania
Uganda
Swahili, self-name Kiswahili- a language spoken by about 100 million people in East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, etc.).
Swahili is the largest of the Bantu languages and one of the largest languages of the African continent. Being the language of interethnic communication, Swahili is distributed over a vast territory of East and Central Africa, from the coast of the Indian Ocean in the east to the central regions of the DRC in the west, from Somalia in the north to Mozambique in the south.
Swahili is the official language in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. It is also widely used in Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, the Comoros and Madagascar. Swahili is the only African language that has received the status of a working language of the African Union (since 2004).
According to various sources, Swahili is native to 2.5-5 million people. Another 50-70 million people use it as a second or third language of communication.
According to the genetic classification of J. Greenberg, the Bantu languages belong to the Benoit-Congo group of the Niger-Congo family.
According to the internal classification of M. Gasr, the Swahili language is included in the G42 group: Bantoid / Southern / Narrow Bantu / Central / G.
Modern Swahili uses the Latin script.
1. Self-name
The name kiswahili comes from a plurality of the Arabic word sāhil ساحل: sawāhil سواحل meaning "coast", which was used as an adjective for "coast dwellers" or with the addition of the prefix ki, their language (kiswahili, "the language of the coast dwellers").
2. Linguistic geography
2.1. Sociolinguistic situation
In Tanzania (1967) and Kenya (1974), Swahili is the official language. The government of Uganda introduced it as a compulsory subject for elementary school in 1992 and also made it official in 2005. Swahili is also used by small groups in Burundi, Rwanda, Mozambique, Somalia, Zambia, and by the majority of the population of the Comoros.
Swahili is spoken by approximately 90% of the inhabitants of Tanzania (more than 39 million). The majority of the educated population in Kenya can speak Swahili fluently, as it is a compulsory subject in school from the first grade. Swahilimovnima are 5 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2.2. Dialects
Modern Swahili is based on the dialect of Zanzibar. Distinguishing the status of a dialect or language is not always universally accepted, so lists of dialects of Swahili tense have some differences:
3. Writing
Modern Swahili uses the Latin alphabet, introduced by European missionaries in the middle of the 19th century. Previously, the Arabic script was used (Old Swahili script), the greatest attraction of that time is the epic "The Book of Heraclius" of the 18th century. The first sight of the Swahili language dates back to the year.
The table shows the graphemes of the Arabic and current Latin Swahili alphabets
| Arabic alphabet Swahili | Latin alphabet Swahili |
|---|---|
| ا | aa |
| ب | bp mb mp bw pw mbw mpw |
| ت | t nt |
| ث | th? |
| ج | j nj ng ng "ny |
| ح | h |
| خ | kh h |
| د | d nd |
| ذ | dh? |
| ر | rdnd |
| ز | z nz |
| س | s |
| ش | sh ch |
| ص | s, sw |
| ض | ? |
| ط | t tw chw |
| ظ | z th dh dhw |
| ع | ? |
| غ | gh g ng ng " |
| ف | f fy v vy mv p |
| ق | kg ng ch sh ny |
| ك | |
| ل | l |
| م | m |
| ن | n |
| ه | h |
| و | w |
| ي | y ny |
4. History of language
With the expansion of continental trade in the 19th century, Swahili gradually became the language of interethnic communication. This most important social role of Swahili was especially strengthened in the post-colonial period, when the independent states of Africa began to perceive Swahili as a real alternative to the languages of the former metropolitan countries (primarily English and French). The successful spread of the Swahili language is facilitated by the fact that it is perceived by the majority of speakers as a "common African", but at the same time an ethnically neutral language, not associated with any narrow ethnic group. Therefore, at least in Tanzania, populated mainly by the Bantu peoples, the Swahili language managed to become a kind of symbol of national unity. Behind its eternal range, Swahili appears in various forms - from national variants of the literary language to pidgins, such as kisetla, kihindi, etc.
Today, Swahili functions alongside the small native languages of the local ethnic groups and the European languages of the former colonial powers.
5. Phonology
The most important difference between the Swahili phonological system and other languages of the area is the absence of phonological tones. The exception is the particular Mvita dialect. The composition is open. In this case, [m] and [n] can be components. The lowest frequency components of the structure: 1) C m / n, 2) V, 3) CV, 4) CCV / C m / n V, 5) CCCV / C m / n CC y / w V.
5.1. Vowels
Literary Swahili contains 5 vowel phonemes: /ɑ/, /ɛ/, /i/, /ɔ/ and /u/. The sound corresponding to the phoneme /u/ in the alphabet of the International Phonetic Association is between [u] and [o] (as, for example, in Italian). There is no reduction. The pronunciation does not depend on the position relative to the stressed syllable. There are no diphthongs. Gaping is eliminated by glottalization.
5.2. Consonants
| labial | labiodental | dental | Alveolar | Postalveolarni | Palatal | Velar | Glottalni | |
| Nasal breakthrough | m/M/ | n/N/ | ny / Ɲ / | ng" / Ŋ / | ||||
| Prenasalization breakthrough | mb/MB/ | nd/nd/ | nj/Ɲɟ/ ~ /ndʒ/ | ng / Ŋɡ / | ||||
| Breakthrough implosions | b / Ɓ / | d / Ɗ / | j / ʄ / | g / Ɠ / | ||||
| Actually Breakthrough | p/p/ | t/T/ | ch/tʃ/ | k/K/ | ||||
| Pridihalni breakthrough | p/pʰ/ | t/Tʰ/ | ch/tʃʰ/ | k/Kʰ/ | ||||
| Prenasalized and fricative | mv/Ɱv/ | nz/nz/ | ||||||
| Calls fricative | v/V/ | (Dh / ? / ) | z/z/ | (Gh / Ɣ / ) | ||||
| Voiceless fricative | f/F/ | (Th / Θ / ) | s/S/ | sh / Ʃ / | (Kh/x/) | h/H/ | ||
| Trembling | r/r/ | |||||||
| Side | l/l/ | |||||||
| Approximant | y/J/ | w/w/ |
Prenasalization is typical of African languages. The predicamental velar are borrowings from Arabic.
6. Grammar
6.1. Morphology
Swahili has a very rich nominal and verbal morphology. This language, like most Bantu languages, is characterized by a complex system of nominal agreement classes.
6.1.1. Noun
The Swahili concordance class system has undergone significant changes during its existence, having largely lost its original semantic motivation. The original system contained 22 matching classes. Researchers identify from 16 to 18 classes that are left now. In the current interpretation, six of them denote nouns in the singular, five in the plural, one class for abstract nouns, a class for verbal infinitives, and three locative classes.
Nouns 1st and 2nd grade mainly denote nouns - the names of creatures and especially people mtu watu, mtoto - watoto; grades 3 and 4- the so-called classes of "trees", however, in addition to trees and plants, it also includes such physical objects as mwezi - month, mto - river, mwaka - year, as a result, the semantic motivation of the class is called into question, Grade 15 on ku - infinitive class; class 7 is often referred to as the "things" class because it includes names such as kitu - thing and kiti - chair, however, it also contains words such as kifafa - epilepsy; u - prefix of abstract classes that do not have a set.
Spatial relationships in Swahili are expressed using locative classes.
The criterion for determining the nominal class to which the word form belongs is a conciliatory chain consisting of a class prefix, adjective indicators for this class, pre-diesel consonants, demonstrative pronoun consonants and possessive consonants (ownership relations). For example, let's compare the chains of 3 and 1 classes:
This method makes it possible to identify 18 matching classes and shows the increasing Desemantization of the matching class in Swahili.
6.1.2. Adjective
The verb includes single-valued and polysemantic morphemes of the paradigmatic and non-paradigmatic order. Single-valued morphemes are represented by Pr (hu - habitual marking) In (-ta, -li - time indicators, -ji - reflexive indicator), Sf (-ua/-oa - Reversive indicator, -e - mode indicator). Syncretic: Pr (-ha - indicator of negation, tense and manner), Pr (subjective negotiators - person, number, class), In (-a, -na, -me, -ka-, nge, -ngali, -si - indicators of tense, aspect, mode, negation), In (objective matchers - person, number, class; relative indicator - person, number, class, relativity), Sf (verb state and aspect), Sf (relative matchers - person, number, class, image), Sf (- i - indicator of negation, time, method, b only in the circumfix ha ... - ... i).
Thus, paradigmatic characteristics of person, number, class, tense, type, mode, state, relativity, objection are characteristic of verbs. Non-paradigmatic characteristics include grammatical characteristics of the meaning of all suffixes of derivative forms, except for the suffix -wa, which expresses the meaning of the state.
Swahili has a developed system of actant derivations and transformations of estate constructions:
They died for firewoodDecausative:
6.2. Syntax
Standard word order in Syntagma SVO. The definition is in postposition to the word being defined. Marking in predication is vertex, which is typical for the languages of this area. Coordination with the object is possible, but not required. Dependency markings are also observed in the noun phrase:
The type of role coding in predication is acusative.
A large number of passive constructions also indicates the acusative nature of the language.
7. Vocabulary
The Swahili vocabulary is rich in borrowings, which is associated both with the intensive contacts of Swahili speakers with other peoples, and with the colonial past of this region. As already mentioned, especially in Swahili Arabic (up to 40%), for example, lugha, "language", safari, "journey", saa, "hour" or "hours", kufikiri, "think", kitabu, "book". Arabic origin and the name of the language is Swahili. Swahili is also characterized by numerous anglicisms, for example: kompyuta, "computer", stampu, "postage stamp", televisheni, "television", penseli, "pencil". In addition, there are borrowings from Portuguese (meza, "table", gereza, "prison"), Persian (sheha, "leader"), German (shule, "school"). In general, words of foreign origin are not subject to the rules for specific words of Bantu languages, so, for example, loanwords do not have the typical suffixes for singular and plural.
8. Language research
The Swahili language came into scientific circulation relatively late - from the second half of the 19th century, when the first attempts were made to describe its grammatical structure. By the end of the XIX century. the first practical grammars and dictionaries already existed.
In the century, interest in Swahili grew significantly. Now Swahili is taught and studied in almost all major universities and research centers in Germany, England, France, Italy, Belgium, Japan, China, the USA and other countries. African scientists are also engaged in its research. In Tanzania, there is the Swahili Research Institute at Dar es Salaam University, which publishes a journal of scientific papers on various issues of the Swahili language, literature and culture.
9. Swahili in popular culture
The word that has become international is safari - a word from the Swahili language (in turn, borrowed from Arabic), which means "journey", "trip". Swahili words were used in the names of the main characters of the Disney cartoon The Lion King. For example, Simba in Swahili is "lion", Rafika is "friend" (also an Arabic borrowing - - one), Pumba is "lazy". The name of the famous song from the cartoon - "Hakuna Matata" (Eng. Hakuna Matata) in Swahili means "no problem." In the sci-fi movie "Hangar 18", the "alien language" that can be heard from the ship's voice system in the movie is an excerpt from a Swahili phrasebook that was passed through a voice converter.
In the computer game Sid Meier's Civilization IV, a song is played on the main menu screen, the text of which is a translation of "Our Father" in Swahili. The word "Ubuntu" (humanity) has become the name of a popular operating system.
Notes
- - wikisource.org/wiki/Baba_yetu
- Data on the formation and development of Swahili according to the edition: Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary, M. 1990, p. 493.
- Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary, ibid.
