The Swahili language is one of the most interesting languages in Africa and internationally. In Africa, it is the second most spoken language after Arabic, which Swahili heavily borrows from, with up to 35% of the Swahili vocabularies tracing origin to the Arabic language. The language is spoken as either a mother tongue or a second language in the east coast of Africa.

Here are nine of the most amazing facts you should know about the language. 

The origin of the name Swahili

The name Swahili is an Arabic loan word sawāḥilī used by the Arab visitors to describe ‘the coast’. In the long run, the name came to be applied to the people living in the coastal region as well as to the language itself. The language became a trade language in the coastal region and still is to date.

Swahili is an old language 

In one of the earliest known documents, the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea that narrates the history of the East African coast documented in the Second Century AD, it is stated that early merchants who visited the East African coast from Southern Arabia would speak to the natives in their local language. And thus, scholars who have suggested that Swahili is an old language, cite this as their evidence for belief.

Swahili is a language, not a tribe

Native speakers of Swahili are usually referred to as Waswahili, but this name only refers to their language and does not stand for any tribe or any specific ethnic unit. 

Swahili is a Bantu language

Despite the fact that the Swahili language has heavily borrowed from the Arabic language, Swahili is a member of the Bantu Group. The language started as a lingua franca adopted by Bantu- speaking tribal groups in the coastal region and Arab traders. Linguistically, the syntax of the language’s grammar is Bantu. Arab, Persian, English, and other varieties of languages only influenced the vocabulary of the Kiswahili language.

For instance, the numbers denoted to Swahili are a mixture of Bantu and Arabic. Numbers one(moja), two (mbili), three(tatu), four (nne), five(tano), eight(nane) and ten(kumi) are purely Bantu, except for six(sita), seven (saba) and nine(tisa) which are Arabic loan words. Swahili also borrows from the English language as in vocabularies such as Redio (Radio) Baiskeli (Bicycle) Televisheni(Television) among others.

First African language to be recognized by Twitter

As of 2018 a USA-based networking site, Twitter added the capability to detect Swahili words in tweets and the ability to translate them. Making Swahili the first African language to achieve that accomplishment. Initially, Twitter supported only 34 languages, none of which was African. Tweets written in the Swahili language were recognized as Indonesian and would be translated into unintelligible language. Currently, Twitter can translate the Swahili language into English. 

Swahili’s first written records.

It is believed that the first-ever written records in Swahili language were written in the year 1711 in the region called Kilwa. The fourteen letters were sent to the Portuguese people living in Mozambique and locals as well. The document was an epic poem called Utendi wa Tambuka. The original copies of the letters initially written in the Arabic script are preserved in the historical archive of Goa in India

The first lines of utendi wa tambuka

Swahili is widely used in media.

Kiswahili is widely used in media and technology. A number of Radio stations in East Africa and internationally broadcast in Swahili language. In East Africa we have stations like Redio Citizen in Kenya, Redio Tanzania in Tanzania, Sauti ya Zanzibar in Zanzibar. Internationally stations like DW, Voice of America, and BBC broadcast in Swahili, thus making Swahili an internationally accessible language.

Some Famous Swahili words

Swahili has a rich variety of words that have been used internationally. Words like Hakuna Matata used in the animated movie Lion King and Mr. Bones have been used world over. Foreigners who visit Africa occasionally say: "Hakuna Matata", which when translated into English simply means ‘no worries’. Simba is another popular Swahili word, English for Lion. So is Safari, which comes from Arabic origin safar referring to an overland journey by tourists. The word entered the English language in the 1850s but traces its origin to Swahili.

Swahili is easy to learn

Swahili has been said to be the easiest African language to learn for English speakers. Unlike the many sub-Saharan African languages, Swahili does not have the distinctive pitch carried by a single syllable called lexical tone, thus making it easy to speak. The language is also easy to read since the words are read just as they are written. 

Conclusion
The exact number of people speaking Swahili in Africa is still unknown and is a matter of debate, nonetheless, Swahili has gained an international scope through the mainstream media and social media platforms. It is widely used in Kenya in social media. As a matter of fact, Swahili speakers are ranked number one among Facebook users. Currently, the language is majorly spoken in East African countries of Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, and some parts of Malawi, Somalia, Zambia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. With the rapid development of the Swahili language, Could it be possible that soon enough the language will become Africa’s mother tongue?

Sources:
1. https://www.safari254.com/interesting-facts-about-the-swahili-language-and-culture/
2. https://theculturetrip.com/africa/kenya/articles/11-fascinating-facts-about-the-swahili-language/
3. http://www.glcom.com/hassan/swahili_history.html
4. https://www.onehourtranslation.com/translation/blog/swahilis-borrowed-words
6. https://www.africanews.com/2018/05/09/swahili-makes-history-as-first-african-language-recognized-by-twitter//
7. https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/magazine/swahili-first-african-language-to-get-twitter-recognition-1393388
8. http://blogjam.name/sid/?page_id=881
9. https://www.iconicafrica.com/what-exactly-is-a-safari/
10. https://www.jpanafrican.org/docs/vol10no7/10.7-5-Okombo-final.pdf
11. https://org.uib.no/smi/sa/15/15Zhukov.pdf