"SWAHILI METHOD FOR BEGINNERS"

I stumbled upon what looks to be great website for learning Kiswahili. Back in the 60s there was talk about making Kiswahili an official pan-African language of communication. [1] Although Kiswahili has official status in the African Union and is still promoted by Maulana Karenga and other pan-Africanists, the pan-African language initiative is nearly dead. I still think its a useful idea that we might revisit. Currently there are probably over 100 million Kiswahili speakers on the African continent--primarily in East and Central Africa. But you can also study the language at West African institutions like the University of Ghana. Muriel and Tom Feelings [2] have published several children's books on Kiswahili [3][4].

Notes

[1] There is a misconception that Kiswahili is not really an African language. This is false. Kiswahili is 100% Bantu in structure with Arabic loans words. See The Swahili: reconstructing the history and language of an African society (p. 15)

[2] Tom Feelings (1933-2003) was an African American cartoonist and a political dissident in the 60s. He resided in Ghana along with Maya Angelou and others during the Nkrumah years. See American Africans in Ghana by Kevin Gaines and Middle Passages by James Campbell.

[3] Jambo Means Hello (see image above)

[4] Moja Means One

Also dig:

     • The Kamusi Project

     • Google in Kiswahili

     • Africa is Rising: Kiswahili becomes Kenya's official language

tags: Swahili language, east africa, Languages of Africa, maulana karenga, bantu, arabic

Africa is rising: "Kiswahili becomes Kenya's official language" (dap @ Jacky)

Image via Wikipedia

Language map of Kenya

Asante sana (many thanks) to my good friend and favorite Luo, Jacky, for this article about Kenya's new constitution and the adoption of Kiswahili as the official language of that nation. Sister Jacky reports that there is a "lot of euphoria about the new constitution."

 
So why does Kiswahili matter?
 
Kiswahili matters for several reasons. The founding fathers of African liberation touted Kiswahili as the pan-African language of communication and a symbol of pan-African pride. Kiswahili was originally a translocal trade language on the Swahili coast of East Africa. Because it was spoken in several countries and could not be traced to a single ethnic group, so the assumption went, Kiswahili would more likely be embraced by African people throughout the continent. This was a big idea that never caught on because the Founding Fathers were more concerned with protecting their sovereignty and consolidating political power than promoting pan-African ideas that might diminish their individual authority. 

There are now over 100 million speakers scattered across East (and to a lesser degree Central and Southern) Africa, but there is little support for the initiative. However, the dream was revived recently when the outgoing president of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, delivered his farewell speech to the African Union (AU) in Kiswahili. Kiswahili also has "official working language" status in the African Union.


Beyond East Africa

Kiswahili is taught at the University of Ghana (or at least this was true the last time I checked a few years back). And across the Atlantic, African Americans were introduced to Kiswahili in the late 60s by way of Kwanzaa, an African American celebration of African cultural roots developed by Maulana Karenga and other cultural nationalists. Afrocentric African Americans have adopted the Kiswahili word Maafa (translated as "great suffering") to describe the Afrikan Holocaust of enslavement. 

Is Kiswahili an Arabic language? 
 
A major misconception about Kiswahili is that it is an Arabic language. This is incorrect. Kiswahili is an African (Bantu) language with a rich lexicon of Arabic loan words. Languages are classified by their structure (e.g. syntax or rules of word order and morphology which includes how a single word is modified to convey different meanings. For example, adding "s" to indicate plurality in English) and only secondarily by their vocabulary. Structurally, Kiswahili is 100% African (Bantu).


The African Renaissance 

I am predicting that this will be Africa's century. The recent events in Kenya will be one of many new developments coming out of Africa. GI

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Kiswahili becomes Kenya's official language

By Wahome Thuku

Kiswahili is now an official language, meaning you can demand to be addressed in it in any office. With the promulgation of the new Constitution, Kiswahili has become one of the two official languages in Kenya. Section 7 of the new Constitution declares Kiswahili and English as Lugha Rasmi (official languages) in Kenya. And under Section 7 (1), Kiswahili retains its previous status as Kenya’s national language. For this language, the journey to its new status has been long and grueling.

Kiswahili had to overcome all odds in the 1960s and 70s even to be accepted as the national language. On July 25, 1969, then Attorney General Charles Njonjo strongly objected to the introduction of Kiswahili as an official language. Then Embu East MP Kamwithi Munyi had tabled the Motion to have Kiswahili declared the official language in Government offices and in the National Assembly.

But according to Mr Njonjo, only 40 per cent of Kenyans then could competently speak in Kiswahili and a lot of work would have to be done to encourage the other 60 per cent to accept the language. Njonjo argued Kiswahili was an Arabic language [this is false. Kiswahili is an African language. see my explanation above. GI] and if all foreign languages were to be done away with then it should be among them. "Nearly every MP has his own way of speaking Swahili and to use it here would make the House like the Tower of Babel where nobody would understand whatever the other said," Njonjo told Parliament. And he could not comprehend how laws would be made in Kiswahili.

On July 4, 1974 President Jomo Kenyatta declared Kiswahili a Parliamentary language, the following day, Parliament was treated to drama as MPs attempted to make contributions in the language. It was even news when Kenyatta addressed Parliament in Kiswahili. Cabinet minister Robert Matano, himself a Swahili speaker, was among those who pushed hard for its recognition.

Read more @ The Standard | Online Edition


tags: kenya, Languages of Africa, african renaissance

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Update #1  8/31/2010

      

       • Journal of Pan-African Studies essays on Kiswahili

Update #2  8/31/2010  Does Kiswahili have official language status in other African nations? Kiswahili and English are co-official languages in Tanzania. Mzee Julius Kambarage Nyerere was hugely important on that score. The distinction is that Kenya is the only country that has declared Kiswahili the official language in its constitution.

Update #3  9/4/2010 A Kenyan comrade just informed me that the new constitution legalizes dual-citizenship. My comrade thought the amendment was good in the sense that is easier for Kenyans to opt for US citizenship because they have "nothing to loose." But he thought the previous ban on dual citizenship was good in the sense that it encouraged patriotism among Kenyans.

How To Install kasahorow African language fonts for Mac OSX and PC/Windows

Image via WikipediaLast night I was FINALLY able to download African language keyboards to my Mac! (dap @ Mighty African). I am now motivated to study Akan (Twi) more regularly. I am also hoping to pick up a some Hausa and Ewe. Below is an instructional video for installing the keyboards to  Macs and PCs/Windows.

NB: When you click on the link at step 2 on the video, you will both Mac and PC options. The instructions are not difficult and I am not very knowledgeable about computer stuff. At some point the instructions say you have to close and reopen something (I forget what). This was confusing to me. You will get the prompt to close the thingy, which I did. But I didn't see how to "reopen," so I just bypassed that step and it worked out fine. Once you have checked off the langages, look at the up right hand corner of your screen, click on the flag symbol to toggle back and forth between the languages you have selected. You may select "show keyboard viewer" to learn the keys for the characters you need to type. For example, if you toggle to the Akan keyboard, the letter "x"is converted to the letter "ɔ." GI






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How To Install kasahorow Keyboard for Mac OSX

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