Should Black Folks around the World learn Swahili?

[Deluuxe]

The Alphabet script that we are using now is not European though FYI

What language were we speaking when we were taken? Traditional African Berber language?

"Berbers" speak Tamazight and is an ancient african language/script

 

[ryshy]

no?

 

[Dada]

Swahili is about 45% Arabic. I'ts not an authentic African language. Some of you need to research.

Actually, this is not true. There's a big chunk of Arabic words infused into Swahili, much like French words are in English. Kiswahili grammar is 100% Bantu, structure, syntax, etc. I know this because I also speak Lingala, Kituba (more basic), and I'm learning Kikongo (ethnic) right now. These are languages I use but I've studied Shona, Tsonga, and Chichewa, as well. All Bantu languages. Chichewa is between Swahili and Shona, Chichewa is like Swahili without the Arabic words.,.I could read a lot of it the first time I laid eyes on it.

Hausa has many Arabic words, as well.

 

[Phitz]

Actually, this is not true. There's a big chunk of Arabic words infused into Swahili, much like French words are in English. Kiswahili grammar is 100% Bantu, structure, syntax, etc. I know this because I also speak Lingala, Kituba (more basic), and I'm learning Kikongo (ethnic) right now. These are languages I use but I've studied Shona, Tsonga, and Chichewa, as well. All Bantu languages. Chichewa is between Swahili and Shona, Chichewa is like Swahili without the Arabic words.,.I could read a lot of it the first time I laid eyes on it.

Hausa has many Arabic words, as well.

potato potahto

 

[dennis roadman]

Ho, cxu vi ankau parolas Esperanton? Mi lernis gxin antau Kiswahili.

i don't speak esperanto. but doing family research on ancestry.com and speaking at length with older family members before they died, i found some relatives who dedicated their lives to promoting esperanto.

its transparency is crazy. i could more or less figure out what you were saying from knowledge of portuguese and english

 

[Dada]

i don't speak esperanto. but doing family research on ancestry.com and speaking at length with older family members before they died, i found some relatives who dedicated their lives to promoting esperanto.

its transparency is crazy. i could more or less figure out what you were saying from knowledge of portuguese and english

Cool.

^^Not really.

 

[dennis roadman]

Cool.

^^Not really.

 

[Regine Hunter]

I think psychologically it would be beneficial if it was a language that was not forced on Black/African people by their oppressors.

Look at the English language and how anything prefixed with the word "black" is negative. Believe it or not it creates a subconscious, negative association to everything black. Blackmail. Blackball, Blacklist, ect...

If black people speak an Afrocentric language we can get rid of all of that.

This isn't our language so why hold on to it so tightly.

again, stressing Pidgin, though it may have some English components, a great majority of it is a mixture of African sayings and words.

 

[kdub83]

I think it would be great as a bridging tool to help unite Black people here and abroad. There is a lot of mistrust and misconceptions on both sides of the ocean, having a common language between us could assist (not totally fix) in bridging some of these gaps and help us understand each other better. Also having one unified language doesn't mean you have to give up your native language. We aren't a monolith and should not act like one, but it would be cool to go to the continent and being able to speak one unified language that is ours.

 

[YoungMasterGold]

Only if all White people have to learn Dutch and all Asians learn Urdu - yes, that includes North-East Asians, too.

 

[JadeB]

I'm already in the process of that. I plan on visiting Tanzania, specifically Zanzibar one day.

Did you go?

 

[Abdi]

as a swahili speaker, it's one of the greatest languages, simple, effective and poetic