Swahili lingua franca
swah-HEE-lee LING-gwuh FRAN-kuh
swɑːˈhiːliː ˈlɪŋɡwə ˈfræŋkəListen
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Dictionary meaning
the role of Swahili as a shared language of communication across East and Central Africa, enabling speakers of hundreds of different mother tongues to interact in trade, governance, education, and culture; Swahili, a Bantu language with substantial Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, and English loanwords reflecting centuries of Indian Ocean trade, is the national language of Tanzania and Kenya and a lingua franca in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, eastern DRC, Mozambique, and the Comoros; it is the most widely spoken African language and the only African language among the official languages of the African Union; as a lingua franca, Swahili has evolved many regional varieties and continues to absorb new vocabulary from urban youth culture and digital media
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