The Effect of the Arabic Script on the Swahili Language
Athar al-Ḥarf al-ʻArabī fī al-Lughah al-Sawāḥilīyah
أثر الحرف العربي في اللغة السواحلية
Abstract
The Arabs have a clear history of presence in the African continent, and Omanis were among the earliest pioneers of the East African coast and the most influential among them. The history of Omanis in East Africa was not bound to commercial or political activity alone but passed beyond it to civilizational, cultural, intellectual, linguistic and religious influences that left their clear mark on the region — a civilizational and religious effect that touched every branch of society, the language among them. That influence became prominent following the founding of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, so that the saying spread: when a piper plays in Zanzibar, people dance by the lakes for joy. This inductive study examines the effect of the Arabic script upon the Swahili language and the experience of cooperation that carried it.
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Romanization follows the ALA-LC Arabic table used by the Library of Congress and the British Library. The original Arabic is carried in the parallel MARC 880 fields, linked by subfield $6 — the standard treatment for non-English resources.
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=LDR 00000naa a2200000 a 4500 =001 MHF-MOMBASA2026-021 =003 OM-MaHAFIL =008 260905s2026 ke o 1 ara d =040 \\$aOM-MaHAFIL$beng$erda$cOM-MaHAFIL =041 0\$aara$beng =100 1\$6100-01$aRawāḥī, Nāṣir ibn Saʻīd ibn ʻAlī,$eauthor. =245 10$6245-02$aAthar al-Ḥarf al-ʻArabī fī al-Lughah al-Sawāḥilīyah /$cNāṣir ibn Saʻīd ibn ʻAlī al-Rawāḥī. =242 10$aThe Effect of the Arabic Script on the Swahili Language$yeng =264 \1$6264-03$aMumbāsā :$bJamʻīyat al-Istiqāmah al-Khayrīyah al-Islāmīyah al-ʻĀlamīyah,$c2026. =300 \\$a1 online resource. =336 \\$atext$btxt$2rdacontent =337 \\$acomputer$bc$2rdamedia =338 \\$aonline resource$bcr$2rdacarrier =500 \\$aPermanent citation identifier: MHF-MOMBASA2026-021. =500 \\$aConference theme (in Arabic): المحور الثالث: الأثر العربي في السواحلية. =520 3\$aThe Arabs have a clear history of presence in the African continent, and Omanis were among the earliest pioneers of the East African coast and the most influential among them. The history of Omanis in East Africa was not bound to commercial or political activity alone but passed beyond it to civilizational, cultural, intellectual, linguistic and religious influences that left their clear mark on the region — a civilizational and religious effect that touched every branch of society, the language among them. That influence became prominent following the founding of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, so that the saying spread: when a piper plays in Zanzibar, people dance by the lakes for joy. This inductive study examines the effect of the Arabic script upon the Swahili language and the experience of cooperation that carried it. =546 \\$aText in Arabic; title also romanized (ALA-LC); abstract and keywords in English. =653 \0$aArabic script =653 \0$aSwahili orthography =653 \0$aZanzibar =653 \0$aOmani presence =653 \0$aEast Africa =653 \0$aWriting systems =711 2\$6711-04$aMuʼtamar al-Istiqāmah al-Duwalī al-Thānī: al-ʻUmānīyūn wa-al-Sawāḥilīyah bayna al-Taʼthīr wa-al-Taʼaththur$d(2026)$c(Mumbāsā) =773 0\$6773-05$tMuʼtamar al-Istiqāmah al-Duwalī al-Thānī: al-ʻUmānīyūn wa-al-Sawāḥilīyah bayna al-Taʼthīr wa-al-Taʼaththur$dMumbāsā : Jamʻīyat al-Istiqāmah al-Khayrīyah al-Islāmīyah al-ʻĀlamīyah, 2026$gpaper no. 21$wMHF-MOMBASA2026-021 =856 40$uhttp://app.mahafil.co/p/arch-mombasa-2026/21$yLanding page (Arabic) =856 40$uhttp://app.mahafil.co/p/arch-mombasa-2026/21/en$yLanding page (English) =880 1\$6100-01/(3/r$aالرواحي، ناصر بن سعيد بن علي،$eمؤلف. =880 10$6245-02/(3/r$aأثر الحرف العربي في اللغة السواحلية /$cناصر بن سعيد بن علي الرواحي. =880 \1$6264-03/(3/r$aممباسا :$bجمعية الاستقامة الخيرية الإسلامية العالمية،$c2026. =880 2\$6711-04/(3/r$aمؤتمر الاستقامة الدولي الثاني: العُمانيون والسواحلية بين التأثير والتأثر =880 0\$6773-05/(3/r$tمؤتمر الاستقامة الدولي الثاني: العُمانيون والسواحلية بين التأثير والتأثر