World Kiswahili Language Day

{{Short description|New United Nations Swahili Language Day}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox holiday | holiday_name = World Kiswahili Language Day ''{{lang|sw|Siku ya Kiswahili ya Umoja wa Mataifa}}'' | type = international | longtype = | image = | caption = | official_name = | nickname = | observedby = | duration = 1 day | frequency = annual | scheduling = same day each year | date = 7 July | celebrations = | observances = | relatedto = [[International Mother Language Day]], [[UN Arabic Language Day]], [[UN Chinese Language Day]], [[UN English Language Day]], [[UN French Language Day]], [[UN Portuguese Language Day]], [[UN Russian Language Day]], [[UN Spanish Language Day]] | firsttime = {{start date and age|2022|7|df=yes}} }} '''World Kiswahili Language Day''' ({{Langx|sw|Siku ya Kiswahili ya Umoja wa Mataifa}} ''duniani'') is observed annually on 7 July.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Kiswahili Language Day |url=https://www.uonbi.ac.ke/news/un-declares-july-7-world-kiswahili-language-day |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730061449/https://www.uonbi.ac.ke/news/un-declares-july-7-world-kiswahili-language-day |archive-date=30 July 2022 |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=unesco.org |language=en}} [https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2022/kiswahili-language-speaks-both-past-and-present Alt URL]</ref> This began when [[UNESCO]] declared 7 July as Kiswahili Language Day in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2022/kiswahili-language-speaks-both-past-and-present |title=Kiswahili is a language that speaks to both past and present|date=6 July 2022 |accessdate=2022-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=World Kiswahili Language Day |date=10 July 2023 |url=https://unesco.go.ke/world-kiswahili-language-day/ |publisher=Kenya National Commission for UNESCO}}</ref> On 7 July 1954, [[Tanganyika African National Union|Tanganyika African National Union (TANU)]] leader [[Julius Kambarage Nyerere]], the future first president of [[Tanzania]], adopted the [[Swahili language]] as a unifying language for [[African independence movements|African independence]] struggles. [[Jomo Kenyatta]], the first president of [[Kenya]], followed suit and also used the Swahili language to mobilize and unify the people of Kenya in the struggle against colonialism through the use of the popular "[[Harambee]]" slogan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uonbi.ac.ke/news/un-declares-july-7-world-kiswahili-language-day |title=UNESCO declares July 7 World Kiswahili Language Day |accessdate=2022-08-09}}</ref>

World Kiswahili Language Day marks the first [[United Nations]] designation of an African-originated language for a {{section link|Official languages of the United Nations|Language Days at the UN}}, the other language days were from the six (6) [[official languages of the United Nations]] which are [[Modern Standard Arabic|Arabic]], [[Mandarin Chinese]], [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Union Nation Official Languages |url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/official-languages |access-date=9 May 2018 |archive-date=18 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518162859/http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/official-languages/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Swahili language is in the [[Niger-Congo]] language group and originated as a [[trade language]] amongst the people of the eastern African coast and the northern coast of [[Madagascar]]. Sixteen to twenty percent of the Swahili vocabulary are [[Arabic]] loanwords, including the name of the language ({{Lang|ar|سَوَاحِلي}}, sawāḥilī, a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning 'of the coast'). The loanwords date from contact with Arabic-speaking traders with the [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] inhabitants of the east coast of Africa from the 1500s to [[Scramble for Africa|European colonization]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Swahili-language|title=Swahili language|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|access-date=30 January 2021|archive-date=23 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723004044/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Swahili-language|url-status=live}}</ref> Swahili is currently a prominent language spoken in a variety of locations along the [[African Great Lakes|African Great Lakes Region]] and is spoken by upwards of 200 million people as a [[second language]]. <ref>{{cite news |title=Swahili's bid to become a language for all of Africa |work=BBC News |date=17 February 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60333796 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518162859/http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/official-languages/ |archive-date=18 May 2018 |access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref> == Swahili Poets== * [[Shaaban Robert]] * [[Christopher Mwashinga]] * [[Mathias Mnyampala]] == See also == * [[International Mother Language Day]] * [[International observance]] * [[Official languages of the United Nations]] * {{section link|African Union|Languages}} * [[East African Community]] * [[Southern African Development Community]] * [[Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa]] * [[Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa]] * [[African Great Lakes|African Great Lakes Region]]

{{Portal|Language|Politics}} * [[List of official languages]] * [[List of official languages by institution]] * [[List of languages by number of native speakers]]

== References == {{Reflist}}

[[Category:July observances]] [[Category:United Nations language days]] [[Category:Swahili language]] [[Category:Recurring events established in 2022]] [[Category:History of the United Nations]] [[Category:Languages of international organizations|United Nations]] [[Category:United Nations]] [[Category:United Nations mass media]] [[Category:Official languages]] [[Category:Language policy in the United Nations]]