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Actors don't listen to each other. You're so obsessed with what you're saying or doing that the other person could be talking in Swahili and you wouldn't know.
Toby Stephens

Meaning of "Swahili" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD SWAHILI

From Arabic sawāhil coasts.
info
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF SWAHILI

Swahili  [swɑːˈhiːlɪ] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF SWAHILI

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Swahili can act as a noun and an adjective.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

WHAT DOES SWAHILI MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of Swahili in the English dictionary

The first definition of Swahili in the dictionary is Also called: Kiswahili. a language of E Africa that is an official language of Kenya and Tanzania and is widely used as a lingua franca throughout E and central Africa. It is a member of the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family, originally spoken in Zanzibar, and has a large number of loan words taken from Arabic and other languages. Other definition of Swahili is Also called: Mswahili, Waswahili, -lis, -li. a member of a people speaking this language, living chiefly in Zanzibar. Swahili is also of or relating to the Swahilis or their language.


WORDS THAT RHYME WITH SWAHILI


campanile
ˌkæmpəˈniːlɪ
dele
ˈdiːlɪ
Ely
ˈiːlɪ
freely
ˈfriːlɪ
fusilli
fʊˈziːlɪ
Greeley
ˈɡriːlɪ
Healey
ˈhiːlɪ
Healy
ˈhiːlɪ
Ismaili
ˌɪzmɑːˈiːlɪ
Kiswahili
ˌkiːswɑːˈhiːlɪ
Lely
ˈliːlɪ
mielie
ˈmiːlɪ
Mswahili
əmswɑːˈhiːlɪ
Ofili
ɒˈfiːlɪ
seely
ˈsiːlɪ
steelie
ˈstiːlɪ
steely
ˈstiːlɪ
stele
ˈstiːlɪ
touchy-feely
ˈtʌtʃɪˈfiːlɪ
wheelie
ˈwiːlɪ

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE SWAHILI

Swahilian
swain
swaining
swainish
swainishness
swale
Swaledale

WORDS THAT END LIKE SWAHILI

Ali
Bali
Bengali
Cali
chili
deli
Dili
Eli
gingili
Holi
jinjili
kali
li
Mali
Napoli
nautili
pili
strobili
trochili
wili

Synonyms and antonyms of Swahili in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «Swahili» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF SWAHILI

Find out the translation of Swahili to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of Swahili from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «Swahili» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

斯瓦希里语
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

swahili
570 millions of speakers

English

Swahili
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

स्वाहिली
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

السواحلية
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

суахили
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

Swahili
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

সোয়াহিলি
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

swahili
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Swahili
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Swahili
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

スワヒリ語
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

스와힐리어
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Swahili
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

Swahili
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

சுவாஹிலி
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

स्वाहिली
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Svahili
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

Swahili
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

suahili
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

суахілі
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

Swahili
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

Σουαχίλι
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

swahili
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

swahili
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

swahili
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of Swahili

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «SWAHILI»

The term «Swahili» is very widely used and occupies the 10.068 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
96
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «Swahili» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of Swahili
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «Swahili».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «SWAHILI» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «Swahili» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «Swahili» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about Swahili

EXAMPLES

3 QUOTES WITH «SWAHILI»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word Swahili.
1
Giles Foden
To realise belatedly that there are Swahili epic poems which rival their European equivalents for sweep and power has been exciting.
2
Carlos Santana
I realised a long time ago that instrumental music speaks a lot more clearly than English, Spanish, Yiddish, Swahili, any other language. Pure melody goes outside time.
3
Toby Stephens
Actors don't listen to each other. You're so obsessed with what you're saying or doing that the other person could be talking in Swahili and you wouldn't know.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SWAHILI»

Discover the use of Swahili in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to Swahili and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Swahili
Presents a comprehensive introduction to the Swahili language.
Living Language, 2007
2
Swahili-English, English -Swahili Dictionary
A gude for the most widely spoken African language contains over five thousand dictionary entries, terms and phrases for daily life siuations, a pronunciation guide, and cultural information.
Nicholas Awde, 2002
3
Swahili Origins: Swahili Culture & the Shungwaya Phenomenon
James de Vere Allen, who was curator at Lamu Museum, set out to give modern Swahili evidence of their shared history during a period of eight centuries.
James De Vere Allen, 1993
4
Modern Swahili Grammar
At a descriptive level, the book covers phonology, morphology and syntax.
Mohamed Abdulla Mohamed, 2001
5
The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an ...
"As an introduction to how the history of an African society can be reconstructed from largely nonliterate sources, and to the Swahili in particular, . . . a model work."—International Journal of African Historical Studies
Derek Nurse, Thomas Spear, Thomas T. Spear, 1985
6
Swahili
This series examines where in the world each language is spoken, who speaks it, differences and similarities between the language and English, and interesting facts about the language, including how it is used in everyday contexts such as ...
Catherine Chambers, 2013
7
The Rise and Fall of Swahili States
This book documents the growth of Swahili civilization on the eastern coast of Africa, from 100 B.C. to the time of European colonialism in the sixteenth century.
Chapurukha Makokha Kusimba, 1999
8
Swahili Phrasebook
Whether you're sailing on a dhow off Zanzibar, scaling the heights of Kilimanjaro or having a quiet drink with your host in Nairobi, this book will help you communicate the way you want to - understand the correct Swahili greetings; - ...
Martin Benjamin, Charles Mironko, Anne Geoghegan, 1998
9
Three Swahili Women: Life Histories from Mombasa, Kenya
"This is altogether a most worthwhile book, a fine example of a growing genre of African literature... " -- Choice "Mirza and Strobel let these women speak about their lives in their own words, and the results are wonderful.
Sarah Mirza, Margaret Strobel, 1989
10
Swahili Beyond the Boundaries: Literature, Language, and ...
Swahili Beyond the Boundaries: Literature, Language, and Identity addresses the moving frontiers of Swahili literature under the impetus of new waves of globalization in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Alamin M. Mazrui, 2007

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SWAHILI»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term Swahili is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Tanzania replaces English with Swahili as official school language
Back in April, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete's administration announced that Kiswahili (Swahili) will be the primary language used in his country's ... «Daytona Times, Jul 15»
2
Teens Make Film In Broken English To Explain Why They'll Fail …
But their primary school education was all in Swahili. Now that their high school is taught in English, as the law requires, the students can hardly read the ... «NPR, Jun 15»
3
Swahili Blonde - "Discover Aurora" (audio) (premiere)
Led by singer and musician Nicole Turley, Swahili Blonde featured such guests as John Frusciante and members of Devo, Duran Duran, and Warpaint on past ... «PopMatters, Jun 15»
4
Centuries old Swahili cultural fete steeped in controversy
There was great excitement at Mombasa's Allidina Visram High School when the Swahili community gathered to mark Kigunza, an annual ceremony steeped in ... «The Standard Digital News, Jun 15»
5
Sudeep's tryst with Swahili
One of his films Eega has been released in some African countries after being dubbed in Swahili language. Eega has now been dubbed in Swahili language ... «Times of India, Mar 15»
6
Tanzanian Schools Will Teach Students in Swahili, Not English
An article about the policy shift posted on Facebook by Oliver Stegen, a Swahili speaker of German origin and a linguistic advisor at language development ... «Global Voices Online, Feb 15»
7
M-Net Closes Maisha Magic turns focus to Maisha Magic Swahili
M-Net regrets to inform DStv viewers that after much deliberation, a business decision was taken to make changes to the Maisha Magic channels in East Africa. «Capital FM Kenya, Feb 15»
8
Veteran Swahili scribe Bob Roberts Okoth breathes his last at KNH
Mr Okoth, 66, had an illustrious career spanning over a decade with the then East African Standard's swahili publication - The Baraza newspaper until 1979. «The Standard Digital News, Jan 15»
9
Lamu bets on Swahili festival to boost tourist numbers
Takwa ruins are the remains of a thriving 15th and 16th century Swahili trading town before it was abandoned in the 17th century. It is important because of its ... «The Standard Digital News, Jan 15»
10
Report From the Successful Swahili International Tourism Expo (site)
The first Swahili International Tourism Expo (SITE) finally took off at the Milimani City Convention Center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The event was organized ... «AllAfrica.com, Oct 14»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Swahili [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/swahili>. Apr 2024 ».
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