In this episode we celebrated Kiswahiliday 2022 by reading “The Story of Liongo”, a chieftain, hero, warrior, and poet of the Swahili people. We also discuss the complicated history of the Swahili language which is widely spoken in Eastern Africa. Swahili has many similarities with other indigenous East African languages and a complex history which includes interactions with these languages as well as with Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages. My phrasing during the discussion at one point framed Swahili as if it is not an indigenous African language in its own right. My apologies for that!
Here is a Twitter thread with a more in-depth commentary about the complexities of the Swahili Language. Here is another great thread on the topic.
Story Source:
Zanzibar Tales Told by Natives of the East Coast of Africa by George Bateman
You can read more about Liongo here.
The Story of Liongo and #Kiswahiliday2022