Congo Swahili, formerly sometimes known as Zaïre Swahili, are the varieties of the

Swahili language Swahili, also known as as it is referred to endonym and exonym, in the Swahili language, is a Bantu languages, Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East Af ...

spoken in the

Democratic Republic of The Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

.Ethnologue, entry for Congo Swahili
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Overview

Congo Swahili differs greatly from Standard Swahili. There is a common saying among Swahili speakers that goes: "Swahili was born in

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

, grew up in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, fell sick in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, died in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

and was buried in Congo", which highlights how speakers of other dialects often find Congo Swahili incomprehensible. One of the main reasons for the differences is that, unlike Standard Swahili, Congo Swahili is strongly influenced by French, rather than

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. It has also borrowed words from the local languages spoken in the

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, which are not found in other varieties of Swahili.

Grammar

These are some of the grammatical innovations of Congo Swahili that do not exist in Standard Swahili: * A distinction between near past and remote past. * A distinction between near future and remote future. * A distinction between present progressive and present habitual. * Loss of locatives in ''-ni'' ( Katanga dialect)

Dialects

The Katanga dialect is particularly noted for being extremely divergent and mutually unintelligible with other Swahili dialects and some consider it a

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...

Publications

The

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

(''Mashahidi wa Yehova'') regularly publish religious articles, videos and booklets in Congo Swahili. Translations of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into Congo Swahili have also been published: the first partial translation of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

was published in the Ituri Kingwana dialect in 1921, followed by a full translation in 1937.

References

{{Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Swahili culture Northeast Coast Bantu languages Non-tonal languages in tonal families Agglutinative languages Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Overview

Grammar

Dialects

Publications

See also

References