FratFiles

• Save Paper

Swahili


The name Swahili derives from an Arabic word Swahili, the plural of
sahel, which means coast. The Swahili are the descendants of the Arabs who came
to the East African coast and intermarried with the Local Bantu-speakers. Arab
traders sailed down to the coast on the north-east monsoon winds, between
November and April, and sailed back up to south-west on the reverse monsoon
winds, between June and October, already in pre-Islamic times.
The coast, the land of Zenj to the Arabs, was inhabited by peoples of
undetermined origin-perhaps by Bushmanoid groups, by Bantu speakers, perhaps by
Cushitic-speakers, perhaps even by people of Indonesian ancestry(who had settled
in Madagascar as early as the first millennium A.D. and conceivably could have
settled further north as well). Initially Arab immigration was scarce,
settlement was sparse and it was limited to the islands. But it did occur,
marriage with the women of the coast took place and the first seeds for the
eventual......

View the rest of this paper...

Approximate Word Count: 273
Approximate Pages: 2 (250 words per double-spaced page)

Similar Essays

1. Swahili
   

   Swahili. Swahili The name Swahili derives from an Arabic word Swahili, the plural
   of sahel, which means coast. ... Standard Swahili is based on the Kinguja dialect.

2. The Swahili Coast
   

   The Swahili Coast. 26 October 2002 The Swahili Coast Film by : Henry Louis Gates
   The Swahili people are a people that are very interesting. ...

3. History East &Amp;South Africa
   

   ... In involved movement over long distances, the major participants were the
   Swahili speaking peoples of East Africa and the Arabs. ...

4. Bantu Migrations
   

   ... the Bantu migrations. They also contributed to the start of many societies,
   including the Swahili city states. The adaptations the ...

5. None
   

   ... decoration and so on. There are many languages in Africa such as Yoruba,
   Igbo, Swahili, Arabic, and so on. The languages of different ...