Learn about bantu languages
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Intro |
|---|
| Antoni: What are Bantu languages? |
| Dianah: And how are they related to Swahili? |
| Antoni: At SwahiliPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha Lee reads some new facts about Swahili and then seeks her teacher’s confirmation that what she read was right. She asks, |
| "Is Swahili a Bantu language?" |
| Sasha Lee: Je, Kiswahili ni lugha ya Kibantu? |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha Lee: Je, Kiswahili ni lugha ya Kibantu? |
| Jane Wathinja: Ndiyo, ni lugha ya Kibantu. |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha Lee: Je, Kiswahili ni lugha ya Kibantu? |
| Antoni: "Is Swahili a Bantu language?" |
| Jane Wathinja: Ndiyo, ni lugha ya Kibantu. |
| Antoni: "Yes, it is." |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: In this lesson, we will learn about the Bantu group of languages and its relation to Swahili. The word “Bantu” means “the people,” or in Swahili, |
| Dianah: watu |
| Antoni: It is made of the stem |
| Dianah: -ntu |
| Antoni: which is used to refer to any entity, and the prefix |
| Dianah: ba- |
| Antoni: which is a classifier for people and could mean “they” or “them” in Bantu. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "Is Swahili a Bantu language?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dianah as Sasha Lee: Je, Kiswahili ni lugha ya Kibantu? |
| [Recall 2] |
| And do you remember how Jane Wathinja answers "Yes, it is?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dianah as Jane Wathinja: Ndiyo, ni lugha ya Kibantu. |
| Antoni: Sasha asks her teacher whether Swahili is a Bantu language. Her teacher affirms and says that, indeed, it is. Bantu is a group of African languages that contains hundreds of languages spoken by 120 million Africans in several regions including the following: |
| Dianah: Bonde la Kongo |
| Antoni: The Congo Basin, |
| Dianah: Jamhuri ya Afrika Kusini |
| Antoni: The Republic of South Africa, |
| Dianah: Msumbiji |
| Antoni: and Mozambique. The total number of languages belonging to the Bantu group is uncertain. What is certain is that Swahili is the most important of these languages. Spoken by millions of people, Swahili is the chief trade language of East Africa, and is widely understood outside of the borders of countries which adopted Swahili as an official language. |
| [Summary] |
| Antoni: So far, you have also learned that Bantu is a group of languages that includes hundreds of languages spoken by millions of people all over Africa. You have also learned that Swahili is the most important Bantu language spoken by over 30 million people. |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Antoni: As mentioned, Bantu is composed of hundreds of languages, with Swahili as one of them. Other significant languages that belong to Bantu are |
| Dianah: Isizulu |
| Antoni: or the Zulu language, and |
| Dianah: Isixhosa |
| Antoni: or the Xhosa language. But how is Swahili related to the rest of the Bantu languages? One important thing you need to understand about Swahili is that it is the lingua franca of the regions surrounding the African Great Lakes, or |
| Dianah: Maziwa Makuu ya Afrika |
| Antoni: as well as various parts of East and Southern Africa. Much of the language’s vocabulary has cognates, or words with common etymological origin, in Bantu languages like |
| Dianah: Kipfokomo |
| Antoni: or “Pokomo,” |
| Dianah: Taita |
| Antoni: and the Mijikenda languages. Not all experts agree, but it has been alleged that 20% of Swahili’s vocabulary is derived from loan words, mostly from languages like |
| Dianah: Kiarabu |
| Antoni: “Arabic,” |
| Dianah:Kiajemi |
| Antoni: “Persian,” |
| Dianah: Kireno |
| Antoni: “Portuguese,” |
| Dianah: Kimalesia |
| Antoni: and “Malay.” Now, here’s an interesting fact: all of the Bantu languages are tonal—all except for Swahili. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion (Optional) |
| Antoni: Swahili has many dialects and languages that it is closely related to. Modern Swahili, for instance, is based on the dialect, |
| Dianah: Kiunguja |
| Antoni: which is spoken in Zanzibar town, the main city of Zanzibar in Tanzania. Swahili is also closely related to |
| Dianah: Kimwani |
| Antoni: or the Mwani language, which shares a lexical similarity of up to 60% with Swahili. And then there’s, |
| Dianah: Chimwini |
| Antoni: also known as Bravanese, a variety of Swahili spoken by the people of the Barawa in Somalia. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Dianah: Nitakuona hivi karibuni! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Gertrude (Swahili, Kenya), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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