Kiswahili
/ki.swaˈhi.li/noun
A Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa, and the language of the Swahili people.
Did you know?Kiswahili comes from Arabic sawāḥil, meaning “coasts,” because the name originally referred to the coastal people and their language along the East African shore.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
PB
*swahili?
“No secure Proto-Bantu ancestor is firmly established for the ethnonym; the later name is tied to coastal identity.”
Ancient Arabic
Arabic
sawāḥil
“coasts, shores”
Medieval Swahili
Swahili
swahili
“coastal people; of the coast”
Swahili
Swahili
ki-swahili
“the Swahili language (prefix ki- marking language names)”
Modern English
English
Kiswahili
“the Swahili language”