Exploring Swahili

An Inquiry into East African Culture

Anthony Scaletta

Dr. Ako Inuzuka

Communication 0083

December 8, 2009

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There’s an old Swahili proverb that says, “Hurry, hurry has no blessing” (Haraka, haraka haina

baraka), which is roughly the equivalent of the English proverb; “Haste makes waste.” In Eastern Africa,

where Swahili is a widely spoken language, it is a commonly held belief that nothing good will come out

of hastily rushing around. This proverb is in fact a most accurate reflection of the East African way of

life. The relaxed cultural value orientation of time and overall laidback pace at which things move in East

Africa can be quite difficult for an American to get used to. I know this because I recently spent several

months in the East African country of Tanzania as a student-volunteer working in a rural village in the

northwestern district of Karagwe. During my time in Tanzania, I received a trial-by-fire introductory

lesson in the Swahili language. Although I could not understand the majority of what was being said to

me, I was instantly captivated by the beautiful melodic structure of the spoken language. Having been

deeply immersed in Swahili culture, and in an effort to better understand both the language and the

people, I sought desperately to know more about this wonderful language that was so foreign to me.

However, the isolation of the Karagwe district removed me from the luxuries of the library and the

conveniences of modernity (i.e. the internet) that I have become so accustomed to, thus I was afforded

very little opportunity to research my new found interest in Swahili. Now, I find myself back in United

States where virtually any information or knowledge that I may seek is right at my fingertips. My recent

experiences in Tanzania have sent me on a quest to know more about Swahili. I believe that by exploring

the language of a culture we can gain valuable insights into that culture. So that begs the question: What

does the Swahili language tell us about the culture of those that speak it? To better answer this question

and in the hope of gaining a better understanding of Swahili culture, let us explore the Swahili language

through a cursory examination of its history and its diffusion as well as take a closer look at the role that it

plays in contemporary Tanzanian and Kenyan culture.

Kiswahili, or Swahili as it is known in English, is one of the most widely spoken languages in all

of Africa. Its use is most prevalent in East Africa, where it is internationally recognized as the region’s

dominant language of communication. Swahili is the mother tongue of around four to five million people

and is spoken as a second or third language by another 40 to 50 million people (“Swahili,” 2004). For

this reason, Swahili is used as an effective means of intertribal communication, and has subsequently

become the lingua franca of the East African region (Polome, 1967). Swahili’s linguistic lineage reveals

that it is a Bantu language and a member of the Niger-Congo language family, with its name being

derived from the Arabic word for coastal, ‘sawahil’ (“Swahili,” 2004).

The development and diffusion of Swahili is an interesting story of contact between nations and

peoples and reflects the many political and social changes that have taken place in East Africa over time.

In their book, Swahili State and Society: The Political Economy of an African Language, Ali and Alamin

Mazrui (1995) emphasize that, “Missionaries, merchants and administrators, politicians as well as

educators, have all played a part in this drama of linguistic spread” (p. 1). Swahili’s origins can be traced

back as far as the 7th century to when it was first spoken by the indigenous people of the coastal mainland

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(present-day Tanzania and Kenya) and on the East African islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, where it was

used as the key language of communication for conducting trade along the coast. Indeed, many centuries

later Zanzibar City remains the nexus of the Swahili language. This is due in large part to the fact that in

1930 the International Swahili Language Committee to the East African Dependencies chose the coastal

dialect of Zanzibar to be used as the standard form of Swahili (Eastman, 1995, p. 174). From its early

origins as an indigenous coastal language Swahili diffused further inland and up and down Africa’s

eastern seaboard in the 19th century whenever the slave trade really began to flourish. The Dictionary of

Languages (2004) acknowledges that, “The rapid spread of Swahili is partly due to slavery and the need

for a lingua franca among the communities of captured slaves.” Due to a long history of spice and slave

trade in the region, we can see major influences of Arabic on the Swahili language and, to a lesser extent,

some super strata of Portuguese and English, linguistic reminders of the region’s colonial past.

Present-day Swahili culture is made up of a diverse blend of ethnic ingredients borrowed from the

African, Asian, Arab, Indian, and European cultures (Mazuri & Mazuri, 1995, p. 5). When I strolled

through Zanzibar City, I quickly realized that it may be the quintessential example of the unique

patchwork that is Swahili culture, for this city is the pot in which all of these ethnic ingredients have been

melted. The city’s dominance as a coastal trade hub brought in traders from all over the world who in

turn brought elements of the their culture to the city, as evidenced in the ethnically speckled architecture

and the plethora of ethnic eateries that constitute the city’s unique built environment. The vestiges of the

region’s ancient commercial dominance are equally apparent in the ethnic make-up of the people that

inhabit the coastal areas. In “Tourism in Kenya and the Marginalization of Swahili,” Eastman (1995)

notes that, “On the coast, Swahili has a glorious history of trade and interaction with the Middle East and

it is the decedents of these (early merchant) families that one sees on the coast, modern remnants of some

mysterious past” (p. 173).

Today, Swahili is the national language of both Tanzania and Kenya, while it is also widely used

in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and the eastern portions of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as

the Indian Ocean islands of Comoros and Zanzibar. Additionally, there are some Swahili speakers as far

north as the southern regions of Ethiopia and Somalia and as far south as the northern regions of Zambia

and Mozambique. Gleaning this pattern of diffusion really helps to illustrate the geographic extent of the

once burgeoning coastal trade network that spanned most of the East African shoreline. When

considering the vast geographic area in which Swahili is used, it is not difficult to imagine that the

language has a seemingly endless variation of dialects. These dialects are often distinguished by their

regional differences and can often be further differentiated between urban and rural (“Swahili,” 2004).

Interestingly, even my untrained ears were able to detect some of these variations as I traveled to different

parts of Tanzania and Uganda. When I spoke Swahili in the coastal regions of Zanzibar and Dar es

Salaam I was typically easily understood, but the further inland I traveled my attempts to speak the

standard coastal dialect to rural Tanzanians generated both confusion and laughter.

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To better understand Swahili’s role in contemporary East African culture, we should examine its

use as a language of wider communication in the countries of Tanzania and Kenya. While both countries

have declared Swahili its national language, this has had clearly divergent effects on each country. In

Tanzania, the country’s promulgation of Swahili as a national language has had a unifying effect on the

state, however in Kenya it has acted as a centrifugal force. In both countries, the diffusion of Swahili

occurred prior to independence, as it was the intention of the colonial powers to use this ‘common’

indigenous language to quell intertribal conflicts. This strategy led to widespread acceptance of Swahili

in Tanzania because there were fewer dominant tribes than in Kenya, and therefore less tribal conflict.

Upon gaining independence in 1961, President Julius Nyerere decided that continuing to promote the use

of Swahili could only further unify the newly formed country. Indeed, Tanzania’s nationalization of

Swahili and the subsequent unification of its people has proven quite successful, as it is generally

considered to be one of the most stable and peaceful nations in all of Africa. In 1973, following

Tanzania’s lead and amid some social and political resistance, President Kenyatta declared Swahili the

national language of Kenya (Harries, 1976, p. 153). In contrast to Tanzania however, Kenya has not

shared the same level of harmonious linguistic amalgamation as its neighbor to the south.

The standardization of Swahili in Kenya has been problematic for several reasons. Polome

(1967) asserts that, “In Kenya, the situation is more complex: whereas Tanzania counts dozens of tribes,

with only few numerically quite important ones, Kenya has several nationalistically minded tribes with

their own language and cultural background” (p. 4). This has led to what Polome (1967) defines as a

“definite trend to favor the tribal language” among many Kenyans whose first language is not Swahili (p.

5). Amazingly, in a country that is only about twice the size of the state of Nevada there are over 40

different indigenous languages that are spoken as either “mother tongues or languages of intra-ethnic

communication and solidarity” (Musau, 1999, p. 120). It is also interesting to note that some tribal

Kenyans have resisted using Swahili, albeit an indigenous African language, because of its association

with the former colonial power.

Although, this resistance can more likely be chalked up to the fact that Swahili has facilitated the

rural to urban migration of a large number of tribal Kenyans by providing the ethnically mixed tribesman-

turned-urban-dwellers with an interethnic language of communication, thus it has in effect become an

agent of ‘detribalization.’ The first time that I saw evidence of this rural to urban migration of tribal East

Africans I was not sure what to make of the fact that there were warriors from the Maasai tribe, dressed in

their traditional Kente cloths and wielding spears, standing in the middle of the bustling downtown of

Arusha City. Indeed, they had left their rural pastoral lifestyles behind and migrated to the city in search

of work. Swahili was likely their only means of communication with other urban East Africans. Mazuri

and Mazuri (1995) contend that, “Swahili has played a part in making the network of loyalties among

Kenyans more complex and more diversified and has indeed facilitated ‘detribalization,’ but it is also

relevant to remember that Swahili has significantly facilitated the transformation of many Kenyans from

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peasants to proletarians, from independent rural cultivators to being members of the urban workforce” (p.

2). This rural to urban transformation has been more pronounced in Kenya than in other parts of East

Africa because its capital city of Nairobi is one of the fastest growing cities, both economically and

demographically, in the world.

Professor Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize,

admires the Tanzanian indigenization of Swahili and believes that, “Swahili has not been sufficiently

indigenized by Kenyans to make it more functional and unless Swahili is treated with pride and

conviction, that it is ‘our language,’ it will continue to be seen as foreign by speakers of other indigenous

tongues in Kenya” (Abu, 2004, p. 28). Furthermore, Professor Maathai has openly expressed her

frustration with Kenya’s promotion of the non-African language of English and she readily acknowledges

that, “To show that we are sophisticated we speak English” (Abu, 2004, p. 28). Professor Maathai’s

statement provides us with a glimpse into one of the fundamental reasons for Kenya’s abysmal success in

nationalizing Swahili. At around the same time Kenya made the move to nationalize Swahili it also

declared English to be the country’s other ‘official’ language. This has proved to be problematic for the

promotion of Swahili, as it has worked to weaken Swahili’s standing as Kenya’s national language

because “English has higher prestige than Swahili and all other Kenyan languages” (Musau, 1999, p.

120).

Eastman (1995) grants that while the government ‘officially’ acknowledges both languages,

“Most bureaucrats have a decided preference for English, and this is a tendency which is likely to

continue to expand” (p. 174). Additionally, Eastman (1995) notes that, “Even though Swahili is the

national language, it is used only in restricted domains” (p. 175). For example, Swahili is only used as

the language of instruction in primary school and then a switch is made to English for both the secondary

and university levels (Eastman, 1995). Through the design of its education system and the

implementation of a English standard in the media, the Kenyan government has been quite effective at

suppressing the use of Swahili, which is paradoxical considering that it is supposed to be the country’s

national language. Another factor that has worked to marginalize Swahili in Kenya has been the rapid

expansion of the country’s tourism industry. Tourism’s effect on Swahili should not be overlooked

because it is tourism that forms the basis of Kenya’s economic development strategy and the Kenyan

government decided that the language of the tourism industry should be English rather than Swahili.

Eastman (1995) refers to this as a critical “misfit between Swahili language and culture and Kenyan

tourism” and she notes that, “With the growth of tourism in Kenya, there is little emphasis put on the role

of Swahili or on using the language, despite the fact that it is still being promulgated as the language of

nation-building” (p. 172). So, the marginalization of Swahili culture in Kenya can be attributed to the

role that English plays in not only the country’s tourism industry but also its education and administrative

systems as well. These factors collectively promote the widespread use of English in Kenya and in turn

suppress the use of Swahili.

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Not only is Kenya’s widespread use of English a reflection of the fact that those in power have a

preference for English, but it is also a reminder that English is the world’s lingua franca. If Kenya wants

to compete in the globalized market, it is advantageous for its government to promote the use of English.

Many Kenyans realize that in an ever increasingly interconnected world English proficiency is a sure-fire

way to achieve professional advancement; therefore they will often choose to learn and use English over

Swahili when they have the opportunity. In this sense, English provides most Kenyans and East Africans

for that matter, with an economic opportunity that Swahili simply cannot. However, when it comes to the

historical significance and cultural value that Swahili provides most East Africans, English falls well

short of the mark. It is certainly worth asking if English, through the process of globalization, will

eventually choke out the Swahili language much like Swahili has choked out the use of many of East

Africa’s indigenous languages. Eastman (1995) would argue that, “Socioeconomically, the Swahili

lifestyle does not lend itself to Western style business or industry (including tourism),” therefore the

“internal organization of Swahili society (will) continue as if things have not changed” (p. 176). Indeed,

it is difficult to imagine that a language and culture that has been around for thousands of years will one

day buckle to the pressures of Western world.

Mazuri and Mazuri (1995) believe the following:

The issue is not one of turning one’s back on European languages. Western leadership in science

and technology is likely to last well into the next century. East Africans will continue to need

important stimulus from Western, as well as other foreign sources. But technological and

scientific interdependence requires that East Africans in turn begin to make a contribution to the

new world culture of the future. The development of Swahili itself, on one side, and the

contributions of Swahili to the development of East African societies, on the other, are part of

Africa’s preparation for a fuller involvement in a world culture which is indeed compatible with

the present stage of human knowledge. (p. 34)

In conclusion, I believe that the Swahili language is here to stay. Although its use has diminished

in parts of inland East Africa (especially Kenya), the coastal Swahili culture is too strong and proud to let

it simply give way to outside forces. It is through the Swahili coastal region that this unique culture, with

its storied past and its beautiful language, will be upheld. It is also interesting to see the magnitude to

which a language has the ability to either divide or unite a people. As we have seen, Swahili has done

plenty of both over the years. We must not forget that the need to use Swahili as tool to unify tribal East

Africans is a direct result of colonialism. The fact that a group of white Europeans had the audacity to

carve up the African continent in any manner that they saw fit has created a lot of artificial boundaries

that most Africans have no reason to recognize. However, what has been done is done; and the people of

East Africa have been left to try and unite themselves within the borders of a superficially created state.

Using an indigenous African language to do so is testament to both the resilience and ingenuity of the

East African people in the face of a difficult problem that was forced upon them. Indeed, I can assure you

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that they are an extremely industrious people and as they continue to progress they will surely become

major contributors to what the Mazuris have referred to as “Africa’s full involvement in (the) world

culture.” Perhaps, the greatest lesson that I have learned from Swahili culture is the “pole pole” concept,

which similar to the previously quoted proverb, means to take things slowly and steadily and allow life to

come to you rather than the other way around. Certainly this is a valuable lesson for many Americans, for

we are a culture based on the hustle and bustle of striving for success and often we forget to simply be. I

am sure that we could all learn a lot from Swahili culture if we would just “pole pole.”

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References

Abu, E. (2004). Kenya a shining example. New African, (434), 28-29. Retrieved November 22, 2009,

from http://www.africasia.com/icpubs

Eastman, C. M. (1995). Tourism in Kenya and the marginalization of Swahili. Annals of Tourism

Research, 22(1), 172-185.

Harries, L. (1976). The nationalization of Swahili in Kenya. Language in Society, 5(2), 153-164.

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4166868

Mazrui, A. A., & Mazrui, A. M. (1995). Swahili state and society political economy of an African

language. Nairobi: East African Educational, James Currey.

Musau, P. M. (1999). Constraints on the acquisition planning of indigenous African language: The case of

Kiswahili in Kenya. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 12(2), 117-127. doi:

10.1080/07908319908666572

Polome, E. C. (1967). Swahili language handbook. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.

Swahili. (2004). In Dictionary of Languages. Retrieved November 22, 2009, from

http://www.credoreference.com/entry/dictlang/swahili.