Socotra Swahili language
Extinct Swahili variety formerly spoken on Socotra, Yemen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Socotra Swahili is an extinct variety of Swahili, a Bantu language, that was formerly spoken on the island of Socotra in Yemen.[1] It was reported to be spoken by a fifth of the island (c. 2,000 people) in 1962.[2]
Classification
Socotra Swahili belongs to the Sabaki branch of Northeast Coast Bantu, within the broader Swahili dialect cluster.[3]
The Swahili group as a whole is treated as a single language with ISO 639-3 code swh and glottocode swah1253, covering both mainland and insular varieties.[4]
Status and coding
A mid-20th-century account estimated that Socotra Swahili was spoken by about 2,000 people, around one fifth of Socotra's population at the time.[2]
Socotra Swahili does not have a separate ISO 639-3 or Glottolog code; instead it falls under the general Swahili entry (ISO 639-3 swh).[4] In the ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-1 standards, the macrolanguage Swahili is assigned the alpha-3 code swa and alpha-2 code sw, respectively, without distinguishing Socotra Swahili.[5] In Guthrie-based Bantu classifications, however, Socotra Swahili is explicitly identified as G.411, marking it as a distinct Swahili lect associated specifically with Socotra.[1][3]
Further reading
- "Special issue: On variation in Swahili: Current approaches, trends and directions". Swahili Forum (in Swahili). 26. Universität Leipzig. 2019. ISSN 1614-2373.
