With more than 50 million people speaking the Swahili language, it’s time to understand that the language is more than just Hakuna Matata. The East African natives mostly speak Swahili. Some interesting facts about the language are discussed in the following lines.
It’s A Mix of Languages
It might have crossed your mind that Swahili is a single language. Well, it’s not. Essentially, it is a combination of different languages such as Arabic and Bantu languages. Years of long-distance trade led to the mixing of many cultures. Besides influences from Arabic and Bantu, English, Portuguese, French, and German have also influenced it.
Words Adopted From English
About 35% of Swahili words are adopted from Arabic. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that most of its words have been adopted from English, including words such as televisheni, polisi, redio, baiskeli and several others.
Spoken in Many Nations
Swahili is spoken in several nations in Africa including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi, North Zambia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
International Reach
Besides being spoken in African nations, the language has an international reach in several programs including BBC Swahili.
It’s Easy to Learn
If you have been pondering about learning one of the African languages, then Swahili is the language you need to try. It is considered as one of the most natural languages to learn. Because it lacks a lexical tone, just like English. Hence, English speakers will find it easy to learn the language.
Easy to Read
Besides being easy to learn, it is also easy to read. Swahili words are read out just as they are written. There is nothing complicated about their pronunciation.
Indeed, there is a lot that needs to be learned about the Swahili language. This is a language spoken by more than 50 million people, and therefore, you ought to be curious about it. The above facts should give you a rough idea of what to expect from the language.
