Kiunguja, sometimes written Kiunguju, is the dialect of Swahili spoken in Zanzibar City and across Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar archipelago in Tanzania. Its importance goes well beyond the island: when Standard Swahili was codified in the twentieth century, Kiunguja was chosen as the basis, so the standard language taught in schools across Tanzania, Kenya and beyond descends directly from it. Swahili is a Bantu language with a substantial layer of Arabic vocabulary, a legacy of centuries of Indian Ocean trade, and Zanzibar's long history as a trading centre shaped that mix. Kiunguja is written in the Latin alphabet, though Swahili was earlier written in Arabic script. Other Swahili dialects of the archipelago include Kipemba, spoken on Pemba island.
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