Swahili - The Language of the Coast Quiz

Answer: Niger-Congo

Though linguists often disagree on the classification of the world's languages, everyone seems to agree on the existence of the Niger-Congo family - the largest in the world, with over 1,500 languages and an estimated 700 million native speakers. Swahili belongs to the Bantu subfamily, which accounts for about half of the Niger-Congo speaking population. Niger-Congo languages are spoken in most of sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal to eastern South Africa. In terms of number of speakers, Swahili (also known as Kiswahili) is the family's most widely spoken language. Niger and Congo are respectively Africa's second- and third-longest river.

As their name implies, Nilo-Saharan languages are also spoken in Africa, whereas Sino-Tibetan languages are found in East Asia, and Fenno-Ugric languages in Asia and Europe.

Answer: Arabic

The name Swahili comes from the Arabic "sawahil", meaning "of the coast". The language's original name was Kingozi, but the influence of Arab traders led to a large influx of Arabic vocabulary, as well as the use of Arabic script - which lasted until the mid-19th century, when the Roman alphabet was adopted. For a time, Swahili was thought to be a dialect of Arabic, or a mixture of Arabic and Bantu.

However, the presence of Arabic loanwords is common to most languages spoken in Muslim countries, and today most experts agree that Swahili is a Bantu language. Though the earliest written document in Swahili (an epic poem) dates from the early 18th century, the language is thought by some to be much older, possibly predating the arrival of Arab explorers.

Answer: Indian Ocean

Though not spoken exclusively in coastal areas, Swahili is the official language of Kenya and Tanzania, both of which border the Indian Ocean. Swahili is also the lingua franca of the African Great Lakes region, which - besides Kenya and Tanzania - includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Malawi.

In addition, Swahili is taught as an optional language in South Africa, though it is not one of the nation's 11 official languages. It is also the only African language among the official working languages of the African Union. Though only between 5 and 15 million people speak Swahili as their mother tongue, the number of those who speak it as a second language is estimated to be around 130 million.

Answer: Zanzibar

Zanzibar is the largest island in the archipelago of the same name, located off the coast of Tanzania - the sovereign nation which was created in 1964 by the union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika. The standard form of Swahili, adopted in the 1920s, is based on Kiunguja, the dialect spoken on the island of Zanzibar (Unguja). The other two main dialects of Swahili are Kimvita (spoken in Mombasa and other areas of Kenya) and Kiamu (spoken on the island of Lamu and other areas on the coast of Tanzania). Comorian (Shikomori), spoken in the Comoros Islands in the Mozambique Channel, is very closely related to Swahili, and considered by some to be a dialect of it.

The rock singer mentioned in the question is Freddie Mercury, frontman of the English band Queen, who was born in Zanzibar on 5 September, 1946. Two of the incorrect answers - Reunion and Mauritius - are islands in the Indian Ocean, while Tenerife is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Answer: Portuguese

The Swahili word "meza" comes from the Portuguese (and Spanish) "mesa", meaning "table". It is one of the words borrowed from the language of one of the main colonial powers in Africa: others are "gereza" ("prison", from the Portuguese "igreja", meaning "church"), "foronya" ("pillow case", from the Portuguese "fronha"), and "leso" ("handkerchief", from the Portuguese "lenço", meaning "linen cloth"). Since Tanganyika used to be under German colonial rule, a few words of German origin made their way into Swahili (such as "shule", meaning "school"); Dutch and French, however, have hardly had any influence on Swahili vocabulary.

Answer: karibu

Derived from the Arabic "qarib", "karibu" (plural "karibuni") means "welcome". In recent years, the meaning of "you're welcome" - a calque from English - has also been adopted. The animal referred to in the question is, of course, the caribou (which, incidentally, is called "karibu" in Finnish) - the North American name for reindeer.

"Asante" means "thank you", "kwaheri" means "goodbye", and "samahani" means "excuse me".

Answer: The Lion King

Set in the African savanna, "The Lion King" was inspired by William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" - though with a much happier ending. Most of the story's main characters have Swahili names: Simba, the title character, means "lion", Sarabi (his mother) "mirage", Rafiki (the loyal baboon) "friend", and Shenzi (a villainous hyena) "savage".

The title of one of the film's most famous songs, "Hakuna matata", literally means "there are no troubles", though in the film it has been translated as "no worries".

Answer: danger

"Hatari" (danger) is yet another Swahili word of Arabic origin, derived from "katar", which has the same meaning. Not surprisingly, the film "Hatari!" is set in the wilds of Tanganyika, near Mount Meru (a dormant volcano), and deals with the adventures of a group of professional game catchers. One of the film's most dramatic scenes involves our heroes chasing a rhinoceros, and being in turn attacked by it. Directed by Howard Hawks, "Hatari" stars John Wayne and Italian actress Elsa Martinelli.

The Swahili word for "peace" is "amani"; "love" is "upendo", and "war" is "vita".

Answer: Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Black Power activist Ronald McKinley Everett (Maulana Karenga) to allow African-Americans to celebrate their African heritage. This seven-day celebration is held from 26 December to 1 January, and culminates with a feast named Karamu Ya Imani (Swahili for "feast of faith"). The holiday's name comes from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza", meaning "first fruits of the harvest". Karenga was probably inspired by the first fruits festivals celebrated in parts of Southern Africa at the end of the year, which in the Southern Hemisphere coincides with the summer solstice. Most of the objects or concepts associated with Kwanzaa - such as "kinara", a ritual candle holder, or the core principles corresponding to each of the seven days - also have Swahili names.

Shavuot is the Jewish harvest festival, and Nawruz is the Persian New Year; the Celtic festival of Imbolc marks the beginning of spring.

Answer: chief

The original Jumbo was a huge male African elephant bought from London Zoo by showman P.T. Barnum, who took him to the US in 1882. Jumbo was one of the 21 elephants that crossed Brooklyn Bridge in 1884 to prove the bridge's safety. Sadly, in spite of his impressive size - which spawned the common English use of "jumbo" to mean "very large" - this iconic animal did not survive being hit by a locomotive in 1885.

The elephant's name's most likely origin is the Swahili word "jumbe", meaning "chief, leader".

Another possible derivation is "jambo", a word meaning "matter, thing", also used as a greeting. "Bwana", derived from Arabic "abuna" (father), means "boss, master".