Editing Swahili language (section)

===Origin===
The core of the Swahili language originates in [[Northeast Coast Bantu languages|Bantu languages]] of the coast of East Africa. Much of Swahili's Bantu vocabulary has cognates in the [[Unguja language|Unguja]], [[Pemba language|Pemba]], and [[Mijikenda language]]s<ref>{{Cite book|last=Polomé|first=Edgar|url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED012888.pdf|title=Swahili Language Handbook|publisher=Centre for Applied Linguistics|year=1967|pages=28|access-date=12 September 2019|archive-date=27 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127014857/http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED012888.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and, to a lesser extent, other [[Northeast Bantu languages|East African Bantu languages]]. While opinions vary on the specifics, it has been historically purported that around 16–20% of the Swahili vocabulary is derived from loan words, the vast majority [[Arabic]], but also other contributing languages, including [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and [[Malay language|Malay]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Hassan O. |title=A Brief History of the Swahili Language |url=http://www.glcom.com/hassan/swahili_history.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512022044/http://www.glcom.com/hassan/swahili_history.html |archive-date=12 May 2017 |access-date=30 September 2017 |website=Swahili Language & Culture}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Source languages for loanwords in Swahili<ref>"1. Loanwords in Swahili", T. Schadeberg, in Tadmor, Uri. Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook. Germany: De Gruyter, 2009.</ref>
! Source languages !! Percentage
|-
| [[Arabic language|Arabic]] (mainly [[Omani Arabic]]) || 40%
|-
| [[English language|English]] || 4.6%
|-
| [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] || 0.9–1.0%
|-
| [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] || 0.7–3.9%
|-
| [[Persian language|Persian]] (mainly [[Iranian Persian]]) || 0.4–3.4%
|-
| [[Malagasy language|Malagasy]] || 0.2–0.4%
|}

[[Omani Arabic]] is the source of most Arabic loanwords in Swahili.<ref>Baldi, Sergio, [https://journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/98881/edition/85189/content/folia-orientalia-2012-vol-xlix-arabic-loans-in-east-african-languages-through-swahili-a-survey-baldi-sergio?language=en Arabic Loans in East African Languages through Swahili: A Survey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330035142/https://journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/98881/edition/85189/content/folia-orientalia-2012-vol-xlix-arabic-loans-in-east-african-languages-through-swahili-a-survey-baldi-sergio?language=en |date=30 March 2021 }}, Folia Orientalia, 2012, PAS Journals Repository</ref><ref>Nurse and Hinnebusch, 1993, p. 321</ref> In the text "Early Swahili History Reconsidered", however, Thomas Spear noted that Swahili retains a large amount of grammar, vocabulary, and sounds inherited from the [[Sabaki languages|Sabaki language]]. In fact, while taking account of daily vocabulary, using lists of one hundred words, 72–91% were inherited from the [[Sabaki languages|Sabaki language]] (which is reported as a parent language) whereas 4–17% were loan words from other African languages. Only 2–8% were from non-African languages, and Arabic loan words constituted a fraction of that.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor = 220649|title = Early Swahili History Reconsidered|last1 = Spear|first1 = Thomas|journal = The International Journal of African Historical Studies|year = 2000|volume = 33|issue = 2|pages = 257–290|doi = 10.2307/220649}}</ref> According to other sources, around 40% of the Swahili vocabulary comes from Arabic.<ref name="bbc.com"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/swahili/guide/facts.shtml |title=A Guide to Swahili - 10 facts about the Swahili language |access-date=30 September 2017 |archive-date=5 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905184549/http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/swahili/guide/facts.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> What also remained unconsidered was that a good number of the borrowed terms had Bantu equivalents. The preferred use of Arabic loan words is prevalent along the coast, where local people, in a cultural show of proximity to, or descent from Arab culture, would rather use loan words, whereas the people in the interior tend to use the Bantu equivalents. It was originally written in [[Arabic script]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.glcom.com/hassan/swahili_history.html |title=Swahili history |last=Juma |first=Abdurahman |publisher=glcom.com |access-date=30 September 2017 |archive-date=12 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512022044/http://www.glcom.com/hassan/swahili_history.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The earliest known documents written in Swahili are letters written in [[Kilwa Kisiwani|Kilwa]], [[Tanzania]], in 1711 in the Arabic script that were sent to the Portuguese of Mozambique and their local allies. The original letters are preserved in the Historical Archives of Goa, [[India]].<ref>{{cite book |first=E. A. |last=Alpers |title=Ivory and Slaves in East Central Africa |location=London|publisher=Heinemann |year=1975 |pages=98–99}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=T. |last=Vernet |title=Les cités-Etats swahili et la puissance omanaise (1650–1720) |journal=Journal des Africanistes |volume=72 |issue=2 |year=2002 |pages=102–05|doi=10.3406/jafr.2002.1308 }}</ref>