The

The Story of Swahili

By - Mugane, John M.
Floor - Floor 1
Published - Ohio University Press, in association with the Ohio University Center for International Studies, Athens, Ohio, 2015
ISBN 10 - 0896802930
ISBN 13 - 9780896802933
Book Status - 1 Qnty Available with us.
Subject - Swahili language
Shelf No - 21
Call Number - 496.392 MUG
Physical Description - xiv, 324 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Notes - Includes Index
Book Information
Swahili was once an obscure dialect of an East African Bantu language. Today more than one hundred million people use it: Swahili is to eastern and central Africa what English is to the world. From its embrace in the 1960s by the black freedom movement in the United States to its adoption in 2004 as the African Union's official language, Swahili has become a truly international language. How this came about and why, of all African languages, it happened only to Swahili is the story that John M. Mugane sets out to explore. The remarkable adaptability of Swahili has allowed Africans and others to tailor the language to their needs, extending its influence far beyond its place of origin. Its symbolic as well as its practical power has evolved from its status as a language of contact among diverse cultures, even as it embodies the history of communities in eastern and central Africa and throughout the Indian Ocean world. The Story of Swahili calls for a reevaluation of the widespread assumption that cultural superiority, military conquest, and economic dominance determine a language's prosperity. This sweeping history gives a vibrant, living language its due, highlighting its nimbleness from its beginnings to its place today in the fast-changing world of global communication.

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