Comorian language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comorian
Shikomor
Spoken in: Comoros and Mayotte 
Region: Throughout Comoros and in Madagascar, Mayotte and Réunion
Total speakers: 350,702 (2004)
Language family: Niger-Congo
 Atlantic-Congo
  Volta-Congo
   Benue-Congo
    Bantoid
     Southern
      Narrow Bantu
       Central
        G
         Comorian 
Official status
Official language of: Comoros
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: bnt
ISO 639-3: variously:
swb — Comorian
wlc — Mwali
wni — Ndzwani
zdj — Ngazidja
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

Comorian (Shikomor) is the most widely used language on the Comoros (independent islands in the Indian Ocean, off Mozambique and Madagascar). It is a close relative of Swahili with a very strong Arabic influence, and is one of the three official languages of the Comoros, next to French and Arabic. Each island has a slightly different dialect; that of Anjouan is called Shindzuani, that of Mohel Shimwali, that of Maore Shimaore, and that of Grand Comoro Shingadzija. No official alphabet existed in 1992, but Arabic and Latin scripts were both used.

Shimasiwa is another name for Comorian, but while Shikomoro means "Comorian language", the meaning of Shimasiwa is "language of islands".

It is also the language of Udzima wa ya Masiwa, the national anthem of the "moon islands" ("al-qamar" is Arabic for "moon").

  • Ahmed-Chamanga, Mohamed. (1992) Lexique Comorien (shindzuani) - Français. Paris: L'Harmattan.
  • Ahmed-Chamanga, Mohamed. (1997) Dictionnaire français-comorien (dialecte Shindzuani). Paris: L'Harmattan.
  • Johansen, Aimee. A History of Comorian Linguistics. in John M. Mugane (ed.), Linguistic Typology and Representation of African Languages. Africa World Press. Trenton, New Jersey.

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