Swahili
Let an agent describe Swahili, its dialects, history and status from linguistic sources, relay speaker figures with sources, explain its grammar and writing in outline, and point to learning and reference resources.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Identify What Swahili is.
Definition
Language and varieties.
Definition
Definition.
- What is Swahili, and what dialects and varieties exist? definition
- Is the question about Swahili or a related Sabaki language? boundary
Status
Status and speakers.
Status
Status.
- Where is Swahili official or widely spoken, and how many speak it, with sources? measurement
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Structure Grammar and writing.
Grammar
Grammar.
Grammar
Grammar.
- How do noun classes, agreement and verb morphology work in outline? definition
- Which entry fits Bantu grammar? action
Writing
Writing and vocabulary.
Writing
Writing.
- How is Swahili written, and where does its vocabulary come from? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
History History and culture.
History
History.
History
History.
- How did Swahili develop on the coast and spread inland, as linguists and historians describe? provenance
- Which entry fits Swahili culture? action
Literature
Literature.
Literature
Literature.
- What are the main traditions of Swahili literature and media? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific work or author? action
Learn Learning and policy.
Learning
Learning resources.
Learning
Learning.
- Which resources exist for learning Swahili? provenance
- Which entry fits language learning? action
Policy
Language policy.
Policy
Policy.
- How do language policies and standardisation bodies shape Swahili? provenance
- Is the information current? boundary
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Congo Swahili, Kiamu, Kingozi, Kiunguja, KiKAR, Kiswahili, Sheng, Bajuni dialect, Bravanese, Cifundi dialect, Kihadimu, Sidi
What it is Filled
A Bantu language of the Sabaki group spoken as a first language along the East African coast and islands and as a lingua franca by tens of millions across Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries; called Kiswahili by its speakers, it has many dialects such as Kiunguja, Kiamu and Congo Swahili, a large Arabic-derived vocabulary, a standard form based on Zanzibar speech, and official status in several states and the African Union.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent describe Swahili, its dialects, history and status from linguistic sources, relay speaker figures with sources, explain its grammar and writing in outline, and point to learning and reference resources.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Bantu grammar with noun classes
- Large Arabic-derived vocabulary
- Lingua franca across East Africa
- Standard based on Kiunguja
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Present machine translation into Swahili as certified for legal, medical or asylum use.
- Treat Swahili speakers' regional varieties as incorrect.
- Erase the Arabic and Bantu roots or the coastal communities whose language it first was.
Only with a human decision
- Relying on a Swahili translation in court, healthcare or immigration decisions.
May
- Translate to and from Swahili and state the regional variety used, such as coastal or Congolese.
- Describe the language's history, grammar and standardisation bodies.
Moral aspects Filled
- Swahili unites many nations; language choices in public life affect who is included.
- Poor translation in services can deny people their rights.
Who is affected
- Swahili speakers
- Speakers of other East African languages
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody: held in common by its speakers; national language councils guide the standard.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q2209395 - registry parent class
- Q33146 - registry parent class
related
- Sabaki language - the subgroup
- Bantu language - the family
- Tanzania - and Kenya and Uganda
- Comorian - a sister language
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.swahili
- Wikidata: Q7838 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7838)
- ISO 639-1: sw
- ISO 639-3: swa macrolanguage, with swh and swc
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- first language speakers: about 15-20 million people - estimates vary
- total speakers: about 100-200 million people - estimates vary widely
- noun classes: about 15-18 count - by analysis
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Bantu language of the Sabaki group
- Noun class system and Arabic loanwords
- Comorian and Mijikenda are related Sabaki languages, not Swahili
- Not a visible object; written in the Latin alphabet today and historically in Arabic script.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- describe the language, dialects and status
- relay speaker figures with sources
- explain grammar and writing in outline
- point to learning resources
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Conflating dialects with the standard
- Unsourced speaker figures
- Ignoring regional varieties
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- National language policies of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda
- African Union working language status
- Standardisation bodies such as BAKITA in Tanzania
Context of use required Filled
- Communication across East and Central Africa.
- Standard Swahili
- coastal dialects such as Kiunguja, Kiamu and Kimvita
- Congo Swahili and other inland varieties
- historical and literary forms such as Kingozi
- pidginised forms such as KiKAR
- Sheng and other urban mixes as related codes
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q7838: Swahili - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Swahili - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should major dialects be separate entries?
- How should corpora and dictionaries be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming dialects and a pidgin; should they be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q7838/spec.json