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26 unusual facts about Swahili language


Actihema jirani

The species name is derived from jirani (the Swahili word for neighbour) and refers to the similarity to Actihema hemiacta.

Actihema msituni

The species name is derived from msituni (the Swahili word for in the forest) and refers to the name of the type locality and the habitat.

Arpan Sharma

Arpan Sharma (born 1997) is a British polyglot who at the age of 10 could speak 11 languages: English, Hindi, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Tamil, Swahili, Polish, Thai, Welsh and Sanskrit.

Dataz

While American hip hop is full of references that subjugate woman, Swahili rap doesn’t have the same language use towards women.

David Bwakali

As an entrepreneur, he is the founder and chairman of A-Soko (Swahili for market), Kenya's answer to eBay.

Equator Records

Equator Sound Studios, under direction from Worrod at that point, marketed and produced Fadhili's world-famous Swahili love-ballad, Malaika, after Worrod realised that the original poorly-recorded Malaika could have international appeal.

Flag of Kenya

The flag of Kenya (Swahili: Bendera ya Kenya) was officially adopted on December 12, 1963.

Geography of Comoros

Still widely known by their French names, the islands officially have been called by their Swahili names by the Comorian government.

Get It Done

There, three African shamans speaking Swahili, tell her she is the last slayer to guard the Hellmouth and try to infuse her with additional essence of the demon that give all the slayers their strength.

Hep Stars

Among the hits were "I natt jag drömde" (a Swedish version of "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream"), Mike Berry's "Tribute to Buddy Holly" (#4, Sweden), "Malaika" (with lyrics in Swahili), "Wedding", "Consolation", "Cadillac" (#1, Sweden), "Farmer John" (#2, Sweden), "No Response" and "Sunny Girl".

James Tupper

After high school, he lived on a coffee farm in East Africa and studied Swahili.

Julius von Soden

His objective was to train Swahili-speaking junior administrators who would help him in his policy of limiting administration to the coast and using the coastal people as his intermediaries in establishing trade links with the interior.

Kalamos

The Swahili word kalamu ("pen") comes from the Arabic qalam.

Kiosk

Despite some claims that the word kiosk originally came from the Swahili language, all evidence points to the Middle Persian word kōšk.

Martha Mvungi

Martha Mvungi, née Martha V. Mlangala is a Tanzanian writer in both Swahili and English.

Mawlānā

This word has been borrowed into the Swahili language, where it is used also as a title of respect for revered members of a community, religious or secular, roughly equivalent to the English "Sir".

Mzungu Kichaa

In Tanzania he learned to speak Swahili fluently and later on he got involved in music and particularly in the production of Bongo Flava at Bongo Records.

Nia Künzer

She was born in Mochudi, Botswana as Nia Tsholofelo Künzer (her first name being Swahili for "aim" or "intention"), where her parents were on a two year's tour with a development aid organization.

Nyika

Nyika is a Swahili word meaning "bush" or "hinterland" (of the East African coast).

R-Kal Truluck

His full name translates to "ruler of the lake" in Swahili.

Shamba

Shamba is a Swahili word for a small plot used for growing subsistence crops and fruit-bearing trees, often including the dwelling of the farmer.

Sumve

Therefore, many of the residents speak Kisukuma along with Swahili, the national language.

Terrat

One project is an FM radio station Orkonerei FM Radio Service, broadcasting primarily in Maa and Swahili.

Tukuyu

The local language is colloquial Nyakyusa together with the national language Swahili.

Vigna

—Bambara groundnut, Congo goober, hog-peanut, jugo bean, njugumawe (Swahili) (sometimes separated in Voandzeia)

Wasafiri

Its name derives from a word meaning "travellers" in KiSwahili (etymologically linked with the Arabic word "safari").


Abdilatif Abdalla

He later worked as a Swahili language at the University of Dar es Salaam (1972–1979) and collaborated editing a Swahili dictionary.

Bajuni dialect

Bajuni (Kibajuni), also known as Tikulu (Tikuu), is a variety of Swahili spoken by the Bajuni people who inhabit the tiny Bajuni Islands and coastal Kenya, in addition to parts of southern Somalia, where they constitute a minority ethnic group.

Chopteeth

Chopteeth vocalists sing in eight different languages including English, Nigerian Pidgin, Swahili, Wolof, Mande, Twi, Taita, and French.

Datooga language

The name is variously spelled Datog, Tatoga, or Tatog. The Sukuma name Taturu is also sometimes used in English; the Swahili name Mang'ati comes from Maasai, where it means "enemy".

Eligibility of international words in Interlingua

Many of these same words are found in non-Western languages, such as Arabic, Hindi, Swahili, and Japanese.

Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa

The lives of the Wahindi (Swahili for "Indians") were first fictionalized for a Western mass audience in V. S. Naipaul's A Bend in the River.

Khadja Nin

Her breakthrough, however, came in 1996 with her widely popular album Sambolera, which was sung in Swahili, Kirundi, and French.

Kitenge

Kitenges (plural vitenge in Swahili; zitenge in Tonga) serve as an inexpensive, informal piece of clothing that is often decorated with a huge variety of colors, patterns and even political slogans.

Makwe language

The Makwe (Macue) language, Kimakwe, is a close relative of Swahili spoken on the coast of the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, and across the border in Tanzania.

Milele

Milele, which means "forever" in Swahili has performed alongside gospel artists like Andrae Crouch and Helen Baylor and recorded four albums, Forever, Level up, Afrique and their most recent recording, Monday.

Ngulu people

The Ngulu people, also known as the Geja, Kingulu, Nguru, Nguu, Wayomba, (Swahili collective: Wangulu) are an ethnic and linguistic group from Dodoma Region, Tanga Region and Morogoro Region in Tanzania.

Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi

He there learned Swahili and improved his English in order to better perform his work as a scholar.

Shindana Toys

Shindana (a Swahili word roughly meaning "to compete") Toys was community-owned and founded by Louis S. Smith, II and Robert Hall.

Sonjo language

The Sonjo people number about 30,000 (2002 SIL); many of them are bilingual in Swahili, the local language of education.