Editing Swahili language (section)

==Classification==
Swahili is a [[Bantu languages|Bantu language]] of the [[Sabaki languages|Sabaki branch]].<ref>Derek Nurse, Thomas J. Hinnebusch, Gérard Philippson. 1993. ''Swahili and Sabaki: A Linguistic History''. University of California Press</ref> In [[Guthrie classification of Bantu languages|Guthrie's geographic classification]], Swahili is in Bantu zone G, whereas the other Sabaki languages are in zone E70, commonly under the name ''Nyika.'' Historical linguists consider the Arabic influence on Swahili to be significant, since it takes around 15% of its vocabulary directly from [[Arabic]], and was initially spread along the [[East Africa]]n coast.<ref name="bbc.com"/><ref>Derek Nurse, Thomas T. Spear. 1985. Arabic loan words make up to 40% of the language. ''The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society'', 800–1500. University of Pennsylvania Press</ref><ref>Thomas Spear. 2000. "Early Swahili History Reconsidered". ''The International Journal of African Historical Studies'', Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 257–290</ref>