The Swahili /Kiswahili

Language
 2

Topic Outline

• Phonetic sounds and Alphabet (Consonants and

vowels)
• Sound Pattern
• Lexical Categories
• Syntax (Phrase Structure Rules)
 3
Swahili language
swahili: Kiswahili.
A Bantu language spoken by over 98 million people worldwide.

Bantu language – a traditional branch of the Niger-Congo

language family. There are around 250 Bantu languages.

Swahili derives from the Arabic word sawāḥil which means

“of the coasts”.
 4
Swahili language
-Used as the official language in Tanzania, Uganda,
Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.

-Used as the Lingua franca throughout East and

some part of South Africa.
 5

Widely Spoken mainly in Tanzania, Uganda, DR Congo,

and Kenya.
As well as in Burundi, Mozambique, Oman, Somalia,
and South Africa.
 6

Swahili is born from the Arabic language and

a few other languages such as: Persian,
English, Hindi, Portuguese, and German.
 7

In the early 18th century, the Swahili

literature is written in Arabic script called
Ajami, but around the beginning of the 20th
century, it was replaced into the Roman script.
 8
Arabic Script Roman Script
 9

The Phonetic sounds and Alphabet

(Consonants/Konsonanti and Vowels/Vokali or Irabu)
 Alfabeti ya Kiswahili 10

(the Swahili alphabet)

• Only consist of 24 letters based on the Latin
alphabet and 9 digraphs, a sequence of two
letters to represent single sounds.

• Qq and Xx Letters are excluded.

• Letter C cannot stand alone. Only as a letter

combination “Ch”.
 Alfabeti Ya Kiswahili 11

24 Letters:
Aa Bb Chch Dd Ee Ff
Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm
Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu
Vv Ww Yy Zz
 12

9 Digraphs:
Ch Dh Gh Kh Ng’
Ny Sh Th Ng
- Letter C/Ch is considered as both a Letter and
a Digraph.
 13

Consonant/Konsonanti
• 19 letters
[Bb, Chch, Dd, Ff, Gg, Hh, Jj, Kk ,Ll, Mm,
Nn, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt,Vv, Ww, Yy, and Zz]
• 36 phonemes
/pʰ/, /tʰ/, /kʰ/, /tʃʰ/, /ᵐb/, /ᵑd/, /ᵑɟ/, /ᵑg/, /ᶬv/,
/ᵑz/, /ɓ/, /ɗ/, /ʄ/, /ɠ/, /p/, /t/, /k/, /l/, /r/, /f/, /s/,
/v/, /z/, /h/,/m/, /n/, /w/,/j/, /θ/, /ð/, /x/, /ɣ/, /ʃ/,
/tʃ/, /ɲ/, and /ŋ/
Consonants/ Konsonanti 14

Consonants Swahili words English English

Translation equivalent
Bb baa calamity bag

Chch chai tea chin

Dd dada sister dish

Ff fasihi literature fail

Gg gugu weed gift

Hh habari news/information hippo

Jj juzi day before jaw

yesterday
Kk kaa crab keen

Ll lala sleep law

 15
Consonants Swahili words English English
Translation equivalent
Mm mama mother man
Nn nane eight nurse

Pp pipi Candy(ies)/ pen

sweet(s)
Rr rudia repeat rain

Ss saa clock sea

Tt taa lamp ten

Vv vaa Weat/ dress up veil

Ww wanafunzi students way

Yy yaya nanny yes

Zz zaa Give birth zeal

 16

Digraphs
Consonants Swahili words English English
Translation equivalent
Dh dhahabu gold they

Gh ghasia commotion go

Ng’ Ng’ ombe cow king

Ny nyanya Tomato(es) new

Ng nguo Cloth(es) -

Sh shangaa Be surprised ship

Th thelathini thirty think

Kh khaa eat -
 17
M- and N- consonant combinations
Consonants Swahili words English
Translation

Mb mbao timber

Mp kampuny company

Mw mwalimu teacher

Nd ndimu lime

Nj njama Conspiracy/ plot

Nw anwai diverse

Nz anza Begin/ start

18
19
Place of Articulation 20

Bilabial: /p/, /pʰ/, /b/, /ᵐb/, /m/, and /w/.

Labiodental: /f/, /v/, and /ᶬv/.
Interdental: /θ/, and /ð/.
Alveolar: /t/, /tʰ/, /ɗ/, /ᵑd/, /s/, /z/, /ᵑz/, /n/, /l/, and
/r/.
Postalveolar: /ʃ/, /tʃ/, and /tʃʰ/.
Palatal: /ʄ/, /ᵑɟ/, /ɲ/, and /j/.
Velar: /k/, /kʰ/, /ɠ/, /ᵑg/, /x/, /ɣ/, and /ŋ/.
Glottal: /h/.
Vowels/vokali/irabu
21

• 5 Letters:
a, ε, i, ɔ, and u (a, e, i, o, and u)
- There is no diphthongs.
- There are sequencesFront of two to three
Central vowels: Back

High
Double vowels
i
(6): u

Similar: aa, ee, and ii.

Mid ε ɔ
Dissimilar: ai, ei, and ia.
Low
Three vowels (3): eua, oea, a
and uia.
22
 23

Vowels Swahili words English Translation English Equivalent

a Mama Mother As in father

jana yesterday

e/ε Nene Fat As in get

wewe you
i Bibi Grandmother As in be
kiti chair

o/ɔ Mtoto Child As in pot

moto fire
u Kuku Chicken As in put
bubu Dumb person
 24

Sound Pattern
 25

Sound Pattern
-the description of the systems and patterns of
speech sounds in a language.

A standard sound pattern is Consonant Vowel (CV).

Consonants/ Consonant clusters
-appear at the beginning of a word.
-maximum of 3 consonants.
-Not allowed at the end of a word.
-In the score form the syllables are indicated with a /./ at the
end of the syllable.
26
 27

Lexical category/ grammatical units

(Noun, Verb, Adjectives, Adverb, Pronoun, Preposition, and
Conjunction.)
 28

Noun
-Are classified, meaning every noun is belong to a
class. Every noun class ha a class prefix.

Ngeli za Kiswahili/ Noun classes

-consist of 9 classes and in each classes consist of
the singular(odd) and plural(even) form (18 classes).

Class prefix – letter or sound at the beginning of the noun.

Ngeli za Kiswahili/ Noun classes 29
 30

Class 1: m/mw and Class2: wa

Class 1 & 2:
M(C-root word)
Mw(V-root word) [Sing.]
Wa[Plural]
M/Mw Wa
merger rules(vowels): mwalimu - (teacher) walimu - (teachers)
a + a becomes “a” mwizi - (thief) wezi - (thieves)
a + e becomes “e” mke - (wife) wake - (wives)
a + i becomes “e” mdudu – (insect) wadudu – (insects)
mnyama – (animal) wanyama – (animals)
examples 31

M/Mw Wa Sentences:
Mwafrika Waafrika Mwanafunzi anasoma.
African Africans [The student is reading.]
Mwarabu Waarabu
Arab Arabs
Mfaransa Wafaransa
Wanafunzi wanasoma.
French person French people [The students are reading.]
Mholanzi Waholanzi
Dutch person Dutch people
When using a verb, this noun
Mhindi Wahindi
Indian -Indians class uses A- in singular and
mkulima – farmer wakulima – farmers WA- in plural for sentence
mchoraji – artist wachoraji – artists formation.
mwimbaji – singer waimbaji – singers
 32

Class 3: M/mw and Class 4: mi

Class 3 & 4:
M(C-root word)
Mw(V-root word) [Sing.]
Mi [Plural]
M/Mw Mi
mmea – (plants) mimea – (plants)
mbuyu – (Baobab tree) mibuyu – (Baobab trees)
mwezi – (month, moon) miezi – (months, moons)
mwembe – (mango tree) miembe – (mango trees)
examples 33

M/Mwa Mi Sentences:
Mwavuli
Umbrella
Miavuli
Umbrella
Mti ulianguka. [The tree fell.]
Mpera Mipera Miti ilianguka. [The trees fell.]
Guava tree Guava trees
Muhindi Mihindi
corn corn When using a verb, this noun
Muhongo Mihongo class uses U- in singular and I-
cassava cassavas
Muwa Miwa
in plural
sugarcane sugarcane for sentence formation.

Particular cases: singular prefix Mu-

 34

pronoun
• Personal pronouns • Possessive pronouns
 35

Possessive pronouns
- In Swahili, the possessive Example: My knife.
pronouns must agree with -angu
the noun class they
represent. Kisu-angu?

We would have to place a prefix

Knife - kisu = Ngeli ya Ki-Vi before the stem –angu.
Ch – singular
Vy – Plural Kisu Changu
Visu Vyangu
 36

verb
Subj. prefix/pronoun + Tense marker + obj. pronoun infix+ verb
stem

• Present Tense [ prefix – na-]

ananipa kitabu ( he gives me the book)
• Past Tense [prefix -li-]
alinipa kitabu ( he gave me the book)
• Future Tense [prefix –ta-]
atanipa kitabu ( he will give me the book)
 37

adverb
Base form of adj. + prefix “vi”
Vi + -zuri(good) = vizuri (well)
Vi + -baya(bad) = vibaya (badly)

Nouns + prefix “kwa”

Kwa + siri(secret) = kwasiri (secretly)
 38
• Time
English Swahili

Now Sasa
Later Baadaye
Tonight Usiku huu
Last night Jana usiku

• Place
English Swahili
Here Hapa
There Kule
Everywhere Kila mahali
Anywhere Mahali popote
 39
• Manner
English Swahili
Carefully Kwa makini
Alone Pekee
Very Sana
Really kweli

• Frequency
English Swahili
Always Kawaida
Sometimes Mara kwa mara
Rarely Mara chache
Never kamwe
 40

adjective
Comparatives and comparative adjectives have the same use in Swahili
as in English, to compare two nouns to each other.

Two main categories of comparatives:

1. Comparatives of equality where two things are compared to show that
they have an equal quality to each other.
2. Comparatives of superiority/inferiority where two things are compared
to show one as superior or inferior to the other.
• Comparatives of equality 41

Kama = “as . . . as,”:

Kijana huyu ni shujaa kama mwanajeshi.
[This youth is as brave as a soldier.]

sawa na = “equal to.”:

Miwani yangu ya jua ni sawa na yako.
[My sunglasses are the same as yours.]

sawasawa – same:
Televisheni na kompyuta zinatumia kiasi sawasawa cha umeme.
[A television and a computer use the same amount of electricity.]
• Comparatives of superiority/inferiority 42
Kuliko = “…than” + hodari = “clever”
Mtoto wangu ni hodari kuliko mtoto wako.
[My child is cleverer than your child.]

bora =“better” or “best” + kuliko

Afya ni bora kuliko mali. [Health is better than wealth.]

afadhali and heri(used at the start of the sentence)=“better” + kuliko

Heri kununua heri nyumba kuliko kununua gari.
[Better to buy a house than to buy a car.]
Afadhali kuchelewa kuliko kukosa.
[Better late than to miss (it).]
 43

• Superlatives
Superlatives have the same use in Swahili as in English, to show that
something has the maximum degree of a quality compared to anything
else in that context.
In Swahili superlatives are formed by using one of the words, -ote or -o
-ote, also sometimes kuliko can be used, for example:

Baba yangu ni bora kuliko baba wote.

[My dad is better than all dads. (My dad is the best). ]
 44

The adjective zaidi ya or the verb zidi:

• Mfuko wangu ni mpana zaidi ya mifuko yote.
[My bag is wider than all bags.]
• Bei ya chakula imezidi bei zote.
[The price of food has increased more than all prices.]

The verbs shinda and pita:

• Timu ya mpira ya Hispania imeshinda timu zote.
[The Spanish soccer team has beaten all teams.]
• Unafahamu Kirusi kupita lugha nyingine zote.
[Your understanding of Russian exceeds all other languages.]
 45
preposition
English preposition Swahili preposition

In/ into katika

inside ndani
from kutoka
For/ to kwa
on juu
Till/ until mpaka
With/ by na
without bila
via kupitia
this hii
that hio
 46

conjunction
English Swahili
if kama

Maybe labda

By the way Kwa njia

finally hatimaye

therefore Kwa hiyo

Right now Sasa hivi

 47

Syntax-Phrase Structure Rules(PSRs)

(Word Order and Syntactic Categories)
Word Order: 48

-SVO or Subject-Verb-Object.
-A subject, verb and object can be express into one
word.
S V O
(Subject + Object pronoun infix) + (Tense marker + Verb )+ Object

Tembo wanakula nyasi

(Elephant they) (Present marker eat) grass

[Elephants eat grass]
 49
Ex.
The child is eating food
Mtoto anakulaa chakula.
S V O

Students are learning/ reading Swahili

Wanafuzi wanasoma Kiswahili
S V O
 50

Ex.
I will come.
Nitakuja
SV O

I am reading.
Ninasoma
S V O
 51

Syntactic Categories
Noun Phrase (NP) 52
Verb Phrase (vP) 53
 54

Thank you!
The Swahili /Kiswahili
Language