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.

Researchers in the field of Swahili studies have noted the need for a comprehensive, detailed catalogue of the Swahili manuscripts at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London). They have had occasion to make this recommendation in print (see, for example, Omar and Frankl 1994 and Frankl 1999) and - presumably many more times, and to no specified audience - in life, as they pored over unitemised or inaccurately labelled files of eminent scholars in the field. It is precisely this need for a comprehensive, widely accessible catalogue that the Swahili Manuscripts Project at SOAS was established, in October 2001, to address. In this article, the present authors undertake to describe the catalogue being created and to discuss problems they have encountered and observations they have had opportunity to make in the course of their work.

Although it has spread mainly as a lingua franca, Kiswahili, Kenya`s national language, is increasingly becoming the language of intercultural communication. Most interestingly, Kiswahili is catching up as the medium of intra-group conversation in many rural up-country areas in Kenya. Not only do most Kenyan women wear lesos and kangas bearing Kiswahili proverbial sayings but the youth form different language communication almost invariably converse and interact through the medium of share or just Kiswahili. This brief paper sets out to speculate on the nature of Swahili lexical diffusion in up-country Kenya. Observation is made of the plorification of common Swahili names in both urban and rural areas far from the Swahili speaking coast. The paper argues that given the ever-growing tendency for non-Swahili speaking Kenyan up-country communities to adopt and use Swahili names represents a forum of intercultural communication. There seems to be a deliberate socio-cultural and political preference for Swahili names not just to denote borrowed Swahili concepts in the up-country communities but to forge a `nationalistic`culture as opposed to a localized and ethnic culture.

At a first glance it may seem strange that a man who probably was the European scholar of Swahili with the longest association with the Swahili Coast should have had so little impact on the field of Swahili studies, at least regarding his reception in the literature of the discipline. Obviously there must be something marginal to his position in the academic world of both his and our days, which appears to draw mainly from two factors. On the one hand, John Allen spent most of his professional life `on location`in the Swahili sphere and some other parts of the Muslim world, but hardly ever was present in Europe and its academic institutions or publications so that he was simply physically outside the central circles of scholarly discourse. On the other hand, his main interest was a subject rather marginal within European Swahili studies, dealing with the traditional literature, moreover in a philological approach. Alien`s love of literature was also an important impetus for his long involvement in language development - especially as he regarded it in the first place in terms of art and only secondly in terms of `information´ about cultural or historical matters. As a promoter of Swahili literature, especially in connection with the East Aftican Swahili Committee, he probably got more widely known than for his contributions to research. However, this practical dimension of Allen`s work can not be separated from his studies in literature, and the mutuality of the two fields of activity is to be shown in this article which can hardly more than touch upon central aspects of his work and its significance for the discipline.

In this paper, I focus on what we could call the ‘myth of Standard Swahili’ and its consequences for language teaching. Instead of distinguishing between ‘standard’ and ‘deviant’ varieties of Swahili, I suggest the term Greater Swahili to designate the whole of the varieties spoken in Africa and the African diaspora. Starting with some remarks on the ‘ideal’ Swahili speaker and the standardization of Swahili (a thoroughly political decision), this paper focuses on the challenge of using a Standard for teaching while language learners will meet mostly speakers of Greater Swahili. The diversity in the ways of speaking is not only a challenge for language teachers and learners, but also for speakers of the so-called core area. I will then discuss some examples to illustrate acceptance and comprehension of Greater Swahili by L2+ Swahili students. May aim is to underline the importance of Greater Swahili varieties for Swahili Studies.

Tamthilia ya Kiswahili imedhihirisha, kwa njia moja au nyingine, uhusiano wa kimwingilianomatini. Makala haya yanadhamiria kuchunguza viwango na aina za mwingilianomatini baina ya tamthilia mbili za Kiswahili. Tamthilia hizi ni Mashetani (Hussein 1971) na Kijiba cha Moyo (Arege 2009). Tathmini hii inaongozwa na nadharia ya mwingilanomatini. Tumeteua na kuhakiki tamthilia hizi kwa misingi kwamba, kwa muda mrefu, Ebrahim Hussein ameaminika kuwa mmojawapo wa watunzi bora wa tamthilia ya Kiswahili katika eneo la Afrika Mashariki. Wahakiki wa fasihi wanaelekea kukubalia na kwamba Ebrahim Hussein ameathiri watunzi wengi wa baadaye wa tamthilia kimtindo, kimaudhui na usawiri wahusika. Lengo la makala haya ni kujaribu kuonesha jinsi tamthilia za Mashetani na Kijiba cha Moyo zinavyofanana kwa kuchunguza viwango vya mwingilianomatini baina ya tamthilia hizo kwa kurejelea, motifu, maudhui, matumizi ya lugha, na wahusika. Je, ni kwa kiwango gani mtunzi wa Kijiba cha Moyo ameathiriwa na mtunzi wa Mashetani? Je, amemnukuu, kudondoa au kumwiga mtangulizi wake kwa kiwango gani?

Review

Nagona na Mzingile, riwaya za mwandishi wa Kiswahili Euphrase Kezilahabi, zinasemekana kuwa na mtindo wa kipekee wa usimuliaji, na simulizi changamano ambalo si rahisi kueleweka. Makala haya yamezichukulia riwaya hizo mbili kama hadithi moja, na kuchunguza muundo wa fumbo unaosababisha upekee wa riwaya hizo. Muundo huo utafunuliwa kuwa ni duara inayorudia uhai na ufu. Nitajaribu kuelewa muundo huo wa duara kutumia fikra ya mwanafalsafa wa dini, Mircea Eliade, na dini ya Ubudha. / Nagona and Mzingile, written by a Swahili author Euphrase Kezilahabi, have been considered to have the unique narrative style and complex storyline, which make the novels difficult to understand. This article regards these two novels as a single inner-connected story to reveal a hidden structure, which makes the novels unique. This structure turns out to be a cycle which regularly repeats birth and death. I will try to analyse this circular structure by using thoughts of a theologian Mircea Eliade and Buddhism.

Review

I his paper examines the music and career of Siti binti Saadi, a famous taarab musician who performed in Zanzibar during the 1920s and 1930s. Relying on four distinctive types of evidence: her recorded music, written documentation produced in East Africa, interviews with men and women who heard her perform and records of company executives I compare perspectives regarding the source of power and authority attributed to her voice as well as the meaning of her music. Siti binti Saadi was the first East African to have her voice captured and reproduced on 78 rpm gramophone disks. The production of these records enhanced her status and imbued her voice with a sense of authority that it otherwise may never have attained. Written histories of taarab, particularly those authored in the 1950s and 1960s, often memorialize her as literally, `giving voice to the voiceless,´ allowing the voice of East Afiica to be heard internationally.