Swahili Bible History (3)

**List: Swahili Ministry the Bible ( Biblia, al-Kitabu ) Swahili... KISUAHELI. "I.--GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. THIS language is spoken on the eastern sea-coast of Africa, ten degrees south of the equator; and extends some miles inland.   It may, in fact, be said to reach from Mozambique even as far as the second degree of north latitude.   The population of the Suaheli region, including that of the islands in which the language is spoken, amounts to about 400,000.   The Arabs are the dominant race in this part of the African continent, and the government is in the hands of an Arabian prince, a son of the late Sultan of Muscat, whose dominions on this portion of the African coast extend from the equator southward as far as Cape Delgado.   Most of the Suahelis are Moh_mm_dans, but they are comparatively free from the bigotry and the domineering spirit by which the followers of the false prophet are almost universally characterised.   They are, however, kept in spiritual bondage by the Arabs who reside among them. II.--CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE.    The Kisuaheli belongs to the great family of South African languages, which some philologists have designated the Caffre, or Sechuana group, but to which Dr. Krapf has applied the more appropriate name of the Nilotic, or Nilo-Hamitic family, because he regards the vicinity of the sources of the White River, the main branch of the Nile, as the original location of the progenitors of the tribes to whom these languages are vernacular.   This designation serves in particular to distinguish this family of languages from the Nigrotic, or Nigro-Hamitic group, spoken by those descendants of Ham who settled on the banks of the Niger.   A broad line of demarcation exists between those two families of languages, the Nigro-Hamitic being harsh in sound and irregular in structure, while the Nilo-Hamitic are noted for the softness and harmony of their enunciation, and the philosophical uniformity of their grammatical arrangement.   Again, the Nigro-Hamitic languages are divided into petty sub-classes, each of which has little affinity with the others; whereas, the Nilo-Hamitic group exhibit so close a resemblance to each other, that they may almost be regarded as mere dialects of one language Kisuaheli, in fact, has been said to be only a slightly modified form of the Sechuana language. It exhibits, however, certain points of resemblance to Amharic: in some of its characteristics it is very closely allied to Galla.   It has borrowed many religious terms and other words from Arabic. III.--VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.    The Kisuaheli language was reduced to writing by Dr. Krapf, of the Church My. Society, who commenced the mission on the coast of Mombas in 1844.   He was not at the time aware that the mies. in South Africa had to deal with the same kind of languages; therefore his efforts were prosecuted independently of the aid which he might have derived by availing himself of the results of their labours.   This learned philologist has translated the book of Genesis and the whole of the New Testament, except the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, into Kisuaheli; and an outline of the elements of the Kisuaheli language has been published by him through the medium of the Church My. Society.   Since 1857, however, the mission at Mombas has been temporarily suspended, owing to the political disturbances consequent upon the death of the late Sultan of Muscat."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition)   Samuel Bagster   [Info only]

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