V. Selvam
Ph.D., Research Scholar
Dept. of English
Karunya University
Coimbatore – 114
e-mail:
The Swahili or Kiswahili: Language and Literary Culture
Any language with regard to linguistic structure, shares the same phonemes, which are identified as the main phonological inputs of all human spoken languages. It is well known that, in any language, vowels though fewer than consonants have the highest use frequency. The Linguists have found that any language which has 31 to 33 Phonemes is a perfect Language, claimed to be the classical too. The less and more in count show the incompletion and exaggeration, respectively. And, the grandeur and richness of language is identified to be present in Literature. One such Language still persists in this globe with old grandness and richness in its literature i.e., the Kiswahili, an African Language, seems to be the most classical Language in the African Continent and the relationship in terms of Phonological and Morphological structure between the Tamizh (the most classical Language in the Earth) and the Kiswahili, seems to be inter connected by gone ages.
The Swahili is one of the major languages spoken in Eastern and Central Africa; belongs to oral literature, having the oral traditions without the script. It is the official language of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The name Swahili comes from the Arabic word sawāhil (coasts) and the language contains a lot of vocabulary from Arabic, Persian, Malagasy, English, German and Portuguese. Swahili is also spoken in Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, and Somalia. There are over 11 varieties of Swahili spoken along the East African coast. Some of these dialects are Kiamu spoken in Lamu Island, Kiunguja spoken in Unguja Island (Zanzibar), Kimvita spoken in Mombasa. Standard Swahili is based on the Kiunguja variety. Swahili is being studied by linguistics for its richness. Washungwaya Bantus were the ancestors of latter day speakers of Swahili and its various dialects. The ‘Kingozi’ is believed to be one of the languages spoken by them. Present day Swahili is a descendant of Proto Kiswahili i.e., ‘Kingozi’.
In olden times Arabic language had a significant influence on Swahili; and, initially Swahili was written using Arabic script as early as the 17th century because of the Arabs who came to the East African coast as traders and rulers. Thus, Arabic traders played a vital part in developing Swahili, since the language was the medium of contact and communication between the people of Eastern Coast of Africa and the Arabic traders. It was replaced by the Roman alphabet by European missionaries in order to produce religious materials. Roman script was adapted and regularized in standard orthography in the 1930s. During the German and British colonial administrations, it’s mentioned that they encouraged the use of Swahili in public schools, civil service and other government areas, rather than suppressing the use of it. When Africa was under colonization, some local scholars and writers of Africa had a chance to be with the British authorizes. On working with them, it was determined by the British authorities that, the ‘Kiunguja’ dialect of ‘Zanzibar’ and Mainland Tanzania should serve as the basis for a standard Swahili. During the 19th century Swahili was used as the main language of administration by the European colonial powers in East Africa and under their influence the Latin alphabet was increasingly used to write it. The first Swahili newspaper, Habari ya Mwezi, was published by missionaries in 1895. The earliest known manuscript in Swahili, a poetic epic, was written in the Arabic script and dates from 1728.
To ascertain that the Swahili is the language of rich Tradition and literary contributions, though it lacks scripts, this presentation would be suffice to enable the readers to have some common idea about the language and basic knowledge in the phonemes too. To understand it to a better manner the Phonological structure and some of the literary translation with the transliteration of the same would be given in the following pages.
During my stay in Zambia an African Nation, the language fascinated and inspired to study about it. The following are my observations and few excerpts from its vast rich repository. Swahili is identified to have 31 to 33 phonemes. There are five (5) vowels and twenty six (26) consonants, which are classified by the earlier linguists. In modern period the five long vowels and two diphthongs were also identified and documented.
Equalling Latin alphabet to the Swahili Phonemes and pronunciation
Vowels
/a/, /ε/, /i/, /o/, & /u/
Sample text
Watu wote wamezaliwa huru, hadhi na haki zao ni sawa. Wote wamejaliwa akili na dhamiri, hivyo yapasa watendeane kindugu.
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Language borrowings
Due to long interaction with other language speakers, Swahili has many borrowed words like:
- Kitabu ‘book’ (Arabic) (plural vitabu)
- Shati ‘shirt’ (English) (plural mashati)
- Bendera ‘Flag’ (Portuguese)
- Serikali ‘Governemnt’ (Persian)
- Shule ‘School’ (German)
Swahili cultures
Unique to Swahili speakers is the way they communicate to each other indirectly using proverbial messages on the traditional cloth called ‘kanga’ also known as ‘leso’. Kangas are also given as gifts and they have multiple purposes.
Swahili speakers have a unique way of telling the time:
- 1st hour of the day begins after sunrise and not after midnight
7am = saa moja asubuhi
‘hour one morning’
- 1st hour of the night begins after sunset
7pm = saa moja usiku
‘hour one night’
Words in English from the Swahili language:
Samba (lion) uhuru (freedom) Bwana (Master)
Safari (trip) Toto (small child, young animal)
Sentence Formation
Swahili verbs always carry with them the subject (and sometimes the object) and the tense. For example, Ninakula, is a complete sentence which means "I am eating". Ni- prefix stands for the subject "I", the -na- affix stands for "am" showing the tense i.e. the "present continuous" tense, and -kula is the root of the verb "eat".
Another example, Alitupa zawadi which means "He / She gave us gifts". First of all note that in the Swahili language, the pronouns are the same for all the genders - he, him, she, and her are not distinguishable in Swahili - same words, prefixes, affixes and suffixes are used. The well sought after "gender equality" is in-built in the Swahili language!! Now back to the sentence. The prefix A- stands for the subject "He" or "She", the -li- affix indicates the past tense, the -tu- affix stands for the object "us", and -pa is the root of the verb "give".
More examples:
Nilikula - I ate
Nimekula - I have eaten
Ninakula - I am eating
Nitakula - I will eat
Common Dialogue
Sentence/phrase Response
Habari! Nzuri!
(Hello/Hi) (Good/ Fine)
Ninaitwa Selvam. Wewe unaitwaje? Ninaitwa ... Nimefurahi KukuJua....
My name is Selvam. What’s your Name?) (My name is....)
Try Swahili
English: Hello My name is
Swahili: Jambo Jina langu ni
Pronunciation: JAM-bo JEE-na LAHN-goo nee
Transliteration and Translations of the Swahili Poems
1. (Transliteration of) “Umoja”
Rasilimali ya mnyonge ni Umoja
Wananchi wote tulinde mashamba kwa pamoja
Wananchi wote tufanye kazi zetu kwa pamoja
Umoja ni nguvu
Wanyonge tuungane
Shirikiane wote kwa pamoja
Rasilimali ya Mnyonge ni Umoja
(Translation of Umoja) Unity
The wealth of the oppressed is Unity
Countrymen let's all guard the farms together
Countrymen let's all do our work together
Unity is strength
Oppressed let's unite
Let's cooperate all together
The wealth of the oppressed is Unity
2. (Transliteration of) Watoto Wetu (by TX Seleleka)
Mungu huwaisaidia wale wanaojisaidia wao wenyewe
Mungu huwaisaidia wale wanaojisaidia wao wenyewe
Ni kweli ni kweli ni kweli ni kweli
Watoto Wetu wote tuligawanya
Matabu za dunia tulizopata
Mwaka hadi mwaka tunateseka
Mke wangu nilishindwa kukuvalisha na nilizoea kuhazirika
Ukweli sasa katunyoshee mambo
Wandugu na jamaa wapate kula
(Translation of Watoto Wetu) Our Children
God helps those who help themselves
God helps those who help themselves
It's true it's true it's true it's true
Our children we are raising together
The problems of this world that we got
Year in year out we are suffering
My wife I failed to properly dress you while I used to save money
Really now He has to get things straight for us
That our brothers and relatives get food
(Songs Reproduced from: Lyrics Mania, Corrections and new translation: © Mwanasimba)
In Fine, However this presentation has shown some significant features of the Kiswahili Language and its system. Swahili is present and ever-growing language, still progressing with its linguistic conquest internationally.
Thank you!
Asante!
Thank you very much!
Asante sana!
References
Ø Standards for Learning Swahili as a Foreign Language in the 21st Century: A project of the National African Language Recourse Center (NALRC) in collaboration with the African Language Teachers Association (ALTA) (For questions, please contact, Alwiya S. Omar ,)
Ø http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.1893/Map-of-the-Swahili-speaking-community.html
Ø http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_songs.htm
Ø http://www.jpanafrican.com/docs/vol2no8/2.8_UnderstandingKiswahiliVowels.pdf
Ø http://www.glcom.com/hassan/lessons/useful_swahili_words.html
Ø http://www.glcom.com/hassan/takiluki.html
Useful Links to Study Swahili
Information about the Swahili language
http://si.unm.edu/linguistics/swahili/swahili
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_language
http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Swahili
Online Swahili lessons
http://www.glcom.com/hassan/
http://www.glcom.com/cyberswahili/swahili.htm
http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_index.html
http://www.africa.uga.edu/Kiswahili/doe/
http://www.jambokenya.com/swahili.html
http://www.africa.uga.edu/Kiswahili/doe/unitSelect.html
http://www.digitaldialects.com/Swahili.htm
https://www.glovico.org/en/swahili
Jambo Kenya Network ~ Swahili Reference and Resources
http://www.jambokenya.com/swahili.html
Online Swahili dictionaries
http://www.kamusiproject.org/
http://africanlanguages.com/swahili/
http://www.swahili.it
Online Swahili radio and news
http://www.kbc.co.ke
http://www.bbc.co.uk/swahili/
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