Mapisi ya Kiswahili

Kiswahili, one among the Bantu languages, was formerly called Kingozi, the Waswahili (as they were called by the visiting Arabs) were originally known as Wangozi. Although Western researchers have manifested great interest in Swahili language and culture, they refuse to consider the arguments of their Swahili counterparts, they do accept but their own evidence and analysis. As far as the development of vocabulary and terminologies are concerned, this should be the work of Waswahili per se, scholars and lovers of the language. The author argues that the coining of word had always been in connection with (1) the function, (2) the sound, and (3) the structure of the item to be named. He shows that the lexical and structural richness of Kiswahili in fact can lead to meaningful and reasonable coining of any words necessary. He proposes to continue the work started after the 1975-meeting in Dar-es-Salaam, i. e. to compile vocabularies of the different dialects of Kiswahili which could form a pool from which material can be drawn for coining new words. There is need for all experts to organize their forces. Tanzanian experts should stop doing the whole work alone. They should incorporate their Kenyan counterparts as well. But this is not enough. There is a call for a joint Panel or Committee which shall coordinate all efforts of developing Kiswahili