[gothic-l] Re: Germanic mutual intelligibility

[M. Carver]

on 5/26/01 11:47 PM, Sollers at sollers at pemmaddison.freeserve.co.uk wrote:

> 
>> I think it would be wrong to say, that Kiswahili is a pidgin
>> or creole. It is a Bantu-language with a typical Bantu grammar.
>> There are many loanwords, but the core is clean Bantu.
>> 
>> rgds
>> niels
> 
> It is indeed Bantu grammar, which was exactly my point; but all my
> information is that it was not the original language of any one group and
> developed in the first instance to facilitate trade with Arabs (the largest
> component of loanwords being Arabic). Its use extends far beyond
> Bantu-speaking peoples (eg in Kenya) and is as useful for maintaining
> communication all the way down East Africa, from the Sudan to at least
> Zimbabwe, as Tok Pisin is in Papua-New Guinea.

This thread has been wandering little too far into general linguistics. It's
no one's fault in particular. I hope you continue your enthusiastic
discussion on other/private channels.

Thank you,

Matþaius


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