Lugha ya kiSwahili = (ki) Swahili
Language
Kiswahili, or Swahili is most common language in East Africa. It is what I would really call the International Language, not that it is spoken around the world. But because it is made up from many languages of the world. Here are a few basic words and phrases you may want to know.. surprise your self... read more Swahili and you will find out you already know so much of it.
If its the first time you are visiting this page then please read on. If you have visited before and you just want to know vocabulary on specific subject then please click on the following link and go to 'Learners Index'.
The word 'Swahili' is derived from Arabic word 'Sawahil' which means, coastal area. In Swahili, our language is called 'Kiswahili' meaning 'of Swahili'. American English language when referred to in Swahili is called 'Kimarekani' meaning 'of America(ns)'
I was never good in Swahili / Kiswahili as far as grammar was concerned so what I am going to give you here is just the layman's language. That does not mean what I write is necessarily wrong, it only means that I cannot describe things in a grammatical way... hell I don't even know what the word 'noun' is in Swahili.
Pronunciation tips... Swahili is read and spoken just the same way as it is written, so Americans should find it much easier to read (especially those speaking Spanish)
The biggest difference in pronunciation lies in the way the
vowels (a, e, i, o and u) are pronounced in Swahili (very
similar to Spanish)
(click on the vowel to hear Swahili pronunciation)
| A, a | ah | as in Africa |
| E, e | eh | as in Trey |
| I, i | ee | as in Miss |
| O, o | oh | as in Tone |
| U, u | uh | as in Flu |
Here it is in one go a, e, i, o, u /A,E,I,O,U
Most often sentence structure is very simple just as in basic English, so if you were translating word to word, and following the English structure the sentence would still remain correct in Swahili.
