Since around 2011, Bongo Flava musicians use significantly more English in their lyrics than in the previous years, particularly in love songs. This article documents and describes this new trend and discusses the reasons for the change in language use. It reveals that the new development is indicative of a transformation of Bongo Flava towards pop, caused by changes in the domestic market on the one hand and by a growing outward-looking market orientation on the other. These changes are demanding new ways of constructing identities through the use of language. / Tangu mnamo mwaka 2011, wasanii wa Bongo Flava walio wengi hutumia kiasi kikubwa cha Kiinge¬reza katika nyimbo zao ukilinganisha na miaka ya nyuma. Hali hiyo inajionyesha zaidi katika nyimbo za mapenzi. Makala hii inaeleza mwelekeo huo mpya na kujadili sababu zake. Inatoa hoja ya kwamba mwelekeo huo umesababishwa hasa na mabadiliko katika soko la muziki ndani na nje ya Tanzania, hasa katika bara la Afrika. Mabadiliko hayo ndiyo yanayosababisha kutumia zaidi lugha ya Kiingereza.

Since around 2011, Bongo Flava musicians use significantly more English in their lyrics than in the previous years, particularly in love songs. This article documents and describes this new trend and discusses the reasons for the change in language use. It reveals that the new development is indicative of a transformation of Bongo Flava towards pop, caused by changes in the domestic market on the one hand and by a growing outward-looking market orientation on the other. These changes are demanding new ways of constructing identities through the use of language. / Tangu mnamo mwaka 2011, wasanii wa Bongo Flava walio wengi hutumia kiasi kikubwa cha Kiinge¬reza katika nyimbo zao ukilinganisha na miaka ya nyuma. Hali hiyo inajionyesha zaidi katika nyimbo za mapenzi. Makala hii inaeleza mwelekeo huo mpya na kujadili sababu zake. Inatoa hoja ya kwamba mwelekeo huo umesababishwa hasa na mabadiliko katika soko la muziki ndani na nje ya Tanzania, hasa katika bara la Afrika. Mabadiliko hayo ndiyo yanayosababisha kutumia zaidi lugha ya Kiingereza.

This paper is a contribution to the 26th Swahili Colloquium in Bayreuth 2013. As the main theme of the conference was Tafsiri ‘Translations’, an analysis of Euphrase Kezilahabi’s poetry will be present-ed, with particular focus on the limits of both language and translation. Looking at the linguistic prop-erties of Kezilahabi’s poetry these linguistic limits seem to represent the various stages of his philoso-phy; in this journey language is the means and the goal itself as it is an important unit of existence. Kezilahabi transfers many ´African´and Swahili elements from past to present and he transfers for-eign elements, from outside to inside, written anew and revived through the poet’s words. This analysis will consider the poetic word as a result of this comparison. The poetic of Euphrase Kezilahabi is also an original result of a comparison between his culture and literature and foreign literature.

Makala haya yamekusudia kujadili hali ya vitabu vya watoto katika Tanzania. Lengo letu ni kutathmini, kwa namna fulani, hali ya ujenzi wa elimu ya msingi katika nchi yetu, matatizo yanayokwamisha kustawi kwa elimu ya msingi na namna ya kuyapatia suluhu. Katika juhudi za kutafuta suluhu, tutaeleza namna Mradi wa Vitabu vya watoto unavyotoa mchango wake mkubwa. Hata hivyo, itafaa tuanze kwa kupitia historia fupi ya vitabu vya watoto katika Tanzania.

Tangu kuzuka kwa umiliki wa vyombo vya moto vya usafiri (mabasi, malori, pikipiki) kwa watu binafsi katika miaka ya 1990 nchini Tanzania, misemo kwa kiasi kikubwa imechupa kutoka katika majukwaa yake ya asili ya kanga, vihangaisho, vipepeo na makawa majumbani na kuhamia katika vyombo vya usafiri. Si tu misemo mipya imezuka bali hata ile misemo ya asili imepindwa na kutumiwa katika miktadha mipya. Waandishi wa semi za magari ni madereva, utingo au wamiliki wa vyombo hivyo. Tumebaini makundi matatu ya misemo katika data yetu, yaani misemo kongwe, misemo pindwa na misemo ibuka, kwa kuakisi nadharia za methali na misemo za Mieder & Litovkina (1999), Mieder (2007) na Litovkina (2011). Je, misemo hiyo ni mkondo wa fikra mpya za watu kama alivyotabiri Kezilahabi (1988, 1995)? / Since the introduction of the private commercial motor transport services in Tanzania in the 1990s, the inscription of sayings has shifted from their mainly traditional platforms of female cotton wrap (Kanga), palm leaf food cover (kawa) or hand fan (kipepeo) onto the tailgate, sideboards or mudguards of commercial automobiles. The vehicle owners and/or their operators are inscribers of these automobile slogans. I analyse them in three forms: standard, parodied and innovated sayings adopting the paremiological approaches by Mieder & Litovkina (1999), Mieder (2007), Litovkina (2011). Do these forms of car inscriptions fulfill the prediction by Kezilahabi (1988, 1995) on the imminent transformation of the Swahili sayings to become a platform for negotiation of people`s tumultuous life challenges and desires?

This paper will offer some arguments to demonstrate that the second type of linguistic relativity becomes a crucial element in all types of intercultural (comparative or merely descriptive) discourse analysis, because of the existence of what I have called elsewhere internationalized genres such as written literature, journalism, scientific discourse, and political discourse (see Blommaert 1990, 1991) This point will be illustrated by refening to Tanzanian Swahili political rhetoric

Terminological innovation has a considerable tradition in Swahili. This article takes recent terminology from the domain of information and communication technology (ICT) as a case study. It argues that, despite the principles and guidelines issued by Tanzanian language development authorities, the influence of English in developing new terms is evident. Furthermore, it shows that sometimes terms which are difficult to trace or which are related to different explanations of their origin, can achieve a broad acceptance by Swahili speakers, such as ‘tovuti’ ([web]site) or ‘tarakilishi’ (computer). Analysing terminology issued by the Open Swahili Localization Project in Dar es Salaam, aspects of loan-based translation and different strategies of creating new terminology, such as the use of the connective -a and of (new types of) composita, are discussed. Also here, the question of acceptance by the actual speakers of the language is taken into account.

The aim of this paper is to analyze data that was collected in 2003 and 2004 in order to ascertain the claim made by Kiswahili stakeholders that the status of Kiswahili in secondary schools in Tanzania has dropped. The finding reveal that the number of periods allocated to Kiswahili is fewer than English. Secondly, whenever there is a shortage of Kiswahili teachers, any member of the teaching staff or even non-specialists are called upon to fill the gap. Thirdly, we note that Kiswahili teachers have never had the opportunity to attend any Kiswahili seminar since they graduated from colleges. Fourthly, the Ministry of Education and Culture has issued a circular to schools barring the students from speaking Kiswahili at the school compound to enable them to become proficient in English language. Considering the above findings, this study confirms that the status of Kiswahili in secondary schools in Tanzania has diminished.

The bilingual Tanzanian writer William Eliezer Mkufya was born on the 18th of June 1953 in Tanga region. Mkufya is a self-trained writer as he had a scientific education. Ua la Faraja (The flower of consolation) won the TEPUSA best manuscript award in 2001 and was published in 2004. it is supposed to be the first part of the trilogy Maua (Flowers) in which the author commits himself to the fight against the plague of AIDS in the context of the existentialist philosophy. In more than 400 pages he presents several persons affected by this frightening disease and even if no one recovers his or her health, the author did not sink into pessimism, but presents a sign of hope, or rather a `flower of consolation`. Mkufya returns with Ua la Faraja to the realistic novel, assuming the traditional role of a teacher. Although his main concern is to convey a message explaining how to face the calamity that is affecting Africa more severely than any other part of the world, he has achieved it with an anti-melodramatic approach and with great skill.