• by IPS Correspondents (dar es salaam)
• Tuesday, December 20, 1994
• Inter Press Service

DAR ES SALAAM, Dic 20 (IPS) - Kiswahili, one of the oldest languages in Africa, is set to become an important medium of communication in the modern world, according to linguists in Tanzania.

On Jan. 3, linguists from Africa, Europe and Asia will meet for the first time here to discuss how Kiswahili can be spread across the globe.

Now spoken by more than 100 million people, Kiswahili is the official language for the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and the lingua franca for adjoining nations.

"So far, we haven't given it the prominence it deserves. It's up to all of us to ensure the spread of the language," says Peter Mtesigwa, head of the language and literature department of the Tanzania Kiswahili Development Council. "We've declared Jan. 1 'Kiswahili Day' in an effort to popularise it."

Kiswahili is mainly a combination of Bantu languages. It also draws some of its words from other languages such as German, Latin, Hindi, Arabic and Portuguese.

The language is spoken in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, parts of Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Mozambique, Rwanda, The Comoros, Madagascar, Somalia and southern Sudan.

"Our aim," says Mtesigwa, "is to make Kiswahili one of the major global languages."

Major radio stations throughout the world use Kiswahili in their daily programmes. These include the British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle of Germany, Radio Netherlands, Voice of America, South Africa's Channel Africa, Radio Beijing and All India Radio.

Already, Kiswahili is taught in universities in several African, Asian and Latin American states, the United States and Canada.

"The future is promising, since Kiswahili is simple, direct and easy to comprehend," says Mohamed Mwinyi, a language expert.

In Tanzania, a country with more than 120 dialects, Kiswahili plays an important role as the lingua franca, being spoken by the 29 million inhabitants.

The Tanzanian government is now planning to replace English with Kiswahili as the medium of instruction in higher learning institutions.

Many language experts have in recent years been visiting Tanzania to study Kiswahili. (MORE)

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© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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