Swahili, known to its speakers as Kiswahili, is a Bantu language that grew up along the East African coast, absorbing a large stock of Arabic vocabulary through centuries of Indian Ocean trade. It is the most widely used language in East Africa: official in Tanzania and Kenya, a national language in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a working language of the African Union. First-language speakers number in the tens of millions, but total users, counting those who speak it as a second language, are commonly estimated at well over 100 million. The standard form is based on the dialect of Zanzibar and is written in the Latin alphabet, though for centuries coastal writers used Arabic script. Swahili is taught in universities around the world and is a familiar community language in several British cities.
Prism Linguistics provides Swahili translation, interpreting and transcription across the UK in 300+ languages. Whether you need a certified document for the Home Office, a court interpreter, an NHS appointment or a business meeting, our vetted native-speaker linguists are ready to help.
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