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The development of Kiswahili into an international language in the 19th century was contributed by trade, wars, colonial administration policies, linguistic advantage of this language being related to Bantu languages in the mainland of E. Africa and religion, among other factors. Most of these factors have been given prominence, including the role played by Christian missionaries towards the development of Kiswahili like using Kiswahili in their activities of preaching, teaching and doing lexicographical research in the key dialects of Kiswahili leading to compilation of dictionaries. This helped a lot in the spread of Kiswahili in the interior. However, the role of Islam, which is arguably older than Christianity in E. Africa, has not been given much coverage. Therefore, this paper intends to highlight how historical interaction between the Swahili people and Islam contributed to the expansion of Kiswahili from the coast, therefore enabling this language to establish a stronghold in the interior of E. Africa. The subject has been approached from a diachronic perspective to expound on the nature of interactions, their consequences and contribution to the development of Kiswahili. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion attempts a pragmatics analysis of Kiswahili literary political discourse. Specific examples will be drawn from poetic texts; Chembe cha Moyo by Alamin Mazrui (1988), Sauti ya Dhiki by Abdilatif Abdala (1973) and Jicho la Ndani by Said Ahmed Mohamed (2002). A pragmatics account of literature assumes that in literary communication we not only have a text, but that the production and interpretation of such a text are social actions. Without this kind of cognitive analysis of literary communication, no serious insight can be gained into the emotive effects of literary interpretation involving the needs, wishes, desires, likings and feelings of the author. A text induces its interpreter to construct an image, or may be a set of alternative images. While the image construction and image revision is going on, the interpreter also tries to figure out what the creator of the text is doing- what the nature of the communication situation is all about. Considering that the reader only confronts the poem in the absence of the poet creates more confusion since the poet is not present to intervene for any misinterpretations of his propositions. For any successful interpretation then, the reader has no option than drawing up a set of inferences whereby the contextual implication can be derived. In other words, the critic has an advantage of inferring the meanings of the message surpassing the worldview of the author. Our understanding and interpretation of poetry requires understanding and appreciation of historical and social conditions and, ideological factors under which the writers find them in. Hence the pragmatic impact of the poem embraces the totality of the poem; combined with its emotional, intellectual and imaginative appeal. Kiswahili poets cited in this discussion have written on issues touching on their passion and desires, political aspirations, freedom, justice and social change, both meaningful to themselves and their social community. We detect the emphatic plea for justice and hope embodied in the poetic language, and the poets call for societal reformation. We realise a mutual intelligibility between the poet, the poetic sensibility and the poetic vision as the poets call upon solidarity amongst their audience to overcome stereotype vehement causing states of absurdities in the so called democratic societies. In conclusion this discussion notes that it is not easy to construct meanings not only from ambiguities realised in the texts but from contexts that are themselves constructs from writers knowledge, beliefs, experiences and assumptions about their world and the world of fiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about Kiswahili and its role in the integration of the East African diverse communities. It is argued in this paper that there is an evolving social-cultural matrix unique to East Africa. This culture is finding its expression in Kiswahili, which is a popular lingua franca in the region. This lingua franca enjoys goodwill not just as a communication tool but also as a symbol of regional identity and integration of the East African peoples and cultures. Kiswahili's role as one of the inner agents of East Africa faces great challenges by the mere fact of globalization enforcing on the spread of major world languages like English, French, German, Spanish and others. Globalization is likely to spark off even more of the allegiance of the East African inhabitants to their native languages. All these factors, not withstanding Kiswahili's ability to reinforce the East African integration is extremely significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phonemes have been identified by linguists as the main phonological inputs of all human spoken languages. These phonemes are divided mainly into two-consonants and vowels. Each language has selected from the universal phonetic pool its own type and number of phonemes for its communicative purposes. Most of them have more consonants than vowels. Several languages share the same phonemes but use them differently to perform a variety of language specific linguistic functions. Kiswahili being one of these languages that has been studied extensively presents an interesting, scenario with regard to its use of phonemes. Kiswahili has over thirty phonemes. Traditional Kiswahili phonologists have identified five as vowels (Current linguists have identified more vowels), yet any consonant with the exception of syllabic C, cannot be used alone without it forming syllabicity with a vowel. Any user (speaker or reader) of Kiswahili language will notice that vowels though fewer than consonants have the highest use frequency. This indicates that its habitual users creatively use them to perform a variety of linguistic functions. This paper then, seeks to discuss and analyze the nature and functions of Kiswahili vowels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the processes that loanwords undergo when they are adapted from Arabic into Kiwahili. The data used is from Bosha (1993) and a constraint-based analysis is used in this paper. Although a number of studies have been carried out on Kiswahili loanwords, none that I know of has used Optimality Theory. This therefore makes the paper different from the others. Issues tackled herein include pitting the faithfulness of Kiswahili's open syllabicity (NOCODA) against the markedness of the sonority hierarchy (SON-SEQ) in borrowed words. For example, the paper discusses whether to maintain NOCODA when syllabifying "sultani" (chief, ruler, king) as /su.lta.ni/ or whether to look at the sonority of /l/ and /t/ vis-a-vis syllable margin (SONSEQ) and thus syllabify it as /sul.ta.ni/. Occasionally in casual speech this is resolved by inserting a vowel between the consonants thus producing /su.lu.ta.ni/, but at other times prestige overrides well-formedness. Furthermore, this paper also shows that Kiswahili mainly uses vowel epenthesis to repair syllables but other procedures like consonant deletion, cluster tolerance and feature change are also used. It has also been confirmed that Kiswahili is susceptible to consonant clusters within syllables because of its long association with non-Bantu languages, mainly Arabic and English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the effects of 'Sheng' in the education institutions of Kenya, and gives a general overview of its development at the expense of the official languages, that is, Kiswahili and English. While some people have advocated the growth of 'Sheng' as an indication of societal growth in Kenya, others, including scholars, researchers and educationists are on the opinion that the spread of this code impacts negatively on the learners in Kenyan schools and colleges. They base their arguments on the fact that other international languages did not achieve their sophistication through breaking their morpho-syntactic or grammatical rules at the pace in which 'Sheng' is infiltrating Kiswahili. Indeed, according to some, this code should be left to hip hop musicians, public transport touts, drug peddlers and school drop outs. The paper recommends specific researches to be done on the language situation in Kenya especially as far as the spread of 'Sheng' and its impacts on education are concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The peoples of East Africa have a long history of a rich and diverse regional heritage. Perhaps one of the most renowned aspects of this heritage is Kiswahili, the language widely spoken and understood across Eastern Africa. As the numbers of people who are proficient in the language continue to grow year after year, there have been numerous enriching perspectives on the anthropological, historical, literary and sociolinguistic aspects of Kiswahili. In this article, we offer a fresh perspective on how Kiswahili can be tapped as a resource for mobilizing popular support for the East African regional integration process across the five member-states of the current East African Community: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. Kiswahili should be elevated to the position of a regional broadcasting language for a proposed regional broadcasting network operating under the aegis of the East African Community in Arusha, Tanzania. This is the main argument of the article. The argument is grounded on three main points, namely, media studies indicate that ICT and FM radio stations have become very popular mass media across Africa in the past two decades; radios are ubiquitous media of communication, entertainment and education across East Africa, especially in the rural areas where the vast majority of the people still live; and a regional broadcasting service, using the popular FM mode, can be mooted by the EAC Secretariat in Arusha to promote the programs of the EAC and harness the popular support for its intentions. Kiswahili should be given priority as the chief broadcasting language, as it is a rich symbol of the shared regional heritage. The paper concludes with a proposed framework that offers a basis for further thought and action towards the realization of the foregoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the educational system in the Comoro Islands. The Comoro Islands are situated in the south-east of the African continent in the Mozambique Channel. The four islands, namely, Ngazidja, Ndzuwani, Mawore, and Mwali are clustered half-way between Madagascar and East Africa. According to the 1985 census, the population of the Comoros has been estimated at 4,54,000 inhabitants. The concept of a Comorian nation has been based on a real unity of language, religion and culture. The Comorian language is divided into four local varieties. Today, many Comorians, whether of noble or humble birth, are Arabic scholars. This is the result of the introduction of Koranic schools in the islands as early as the sixteenth century. The Koranic school is a tradition of vital importance in all Islamic communities wherever they may be located. Its objective is to initiate the children in Islam. From the 1970s, a shift towards a more functional knowledge of Arabic has been be noted. The teaching of Arabic as a secular subject as well as the running of the Koranic school has become an important part of the Comorian educational system.