Comorian (Shikomor) is the most widely used language on the Comoros (independent islands in the Indian Ocean, off Mozambique and Madagascar) and Mayotte. It is a set of Swahili dialects but with a much stronger Arabic influence than standard Swahili. Each island has a different dialect; that of Anjouan is called Shindzuani, that of Mohéli Shimwali, that of Mayotte Shimaore, and that of Grande Comore Shingazija. No official alphabet existed in 1992, but Arabic and Latin scripts were both used.
Shimasiwa is another name for Comorian, meaning "language of islands". It is the language of Udzima wa ya Masiwa, the national anthem.
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“In a language known to us, we have substituted the opacity of the sounds with the transparence of the ideas. But a language we do not know is a closed place in which the one we love can deceive us, making us, locked outside and convulsed in our impotence, incapable of seeing or preventing anything.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)