Dialectal variation in Swahili – Based on the data collected in Zanzibar

This study examines some lexical and morphosyntactic variation found among the Swahili varieties in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It has been reported that there are three varieties in the island, and the new data collected in the villages inside the island suggest that there is a need for closer investigation and finer categorization of the Zanzibar varieties. Furthermore, there has been little discussion about the relationship between the Standard variety and other varieties or variation in the use of these varieties. In this paper, we report on the use of these Zanzibar varieties, namely, the town variety, Kiunguja-Mjini, the Northern varieties Kichaani, Kikibeni, Kitumbatu-Gomani, Kinungwi and Kimatemwe, and the Southern varieties Kijambiani, Kipaje and Kimakunduchi at the level of the lexicon. In addition, we examine the varieties of the Northern province – Kichaani, Kikibeni, Kitumbatu-Gomani, Kinungwi, and those of the Southern province – Kijambiani, Kipaje at the level of the grammar. In this paper, we concentrate on tense/aspect, the copula sentence, relative clause, and imperative. Among the data on these languages, we investigate, in particular, the variation among these varieties on the one hand, and the variation between these varieties and Standard Swahili on the other