The AI-powered English dictionary
An agglutinative language of the Bantu branch widely spoken in East Africa. Born in its modern form from the hybridization of the Arabic and Bantu cultures, it was the language of the traders in East Africa, and spread along the routes of trade. examples
plural Swahilis or Swahili
A member of various ethnic groups — mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian — inhabiting the Swahili coast. quotations examples
The Swahilis are a unique and important community that began to form before the arrival of Islam, as a result of intermarriage between Arab traders who came to the coast and women from local ethnic groups.
2000, Arye Oded, Islam and Politics in Kenya, page 12
The final sources for the early history of the Swahili are the oral traditions related by them about their own past.
2017, Derek Nurse, Thomas Spear, The Swahili, page 29