Mwana Wa Shiufalume — in Comorian.
The Comorian language, known as “Shikomori” or “Shikomoro,” is a Bantu language spoken primarily in the Comoros archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the eastern coast of Africa. The Comoros archipelago consists of four major islands: Grande Comore (Ngazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), Anjouan (Nzwani), and Mayotte (Maore). Each island has its own dialect of Comorian, making the language a group of closely related dialects rather than a single, uniform language.
Comorian languages have a typical Bantu phonological system with a rich set of consonants and vowels. Each dialect has its own phonetic nuances. These languages follow the Bantu noun class system, where nouns are categorized into different classes, each with its own prefixes and agreement patterns for adjectives, verbs, and pronouns. They have a significant amount of vocabulary borrowed from Arabic, due to historical Islamic influence, as well as from French, which is one of the official languages of Comoros.
Historically, Comorian was written in the Arabic script, reflecting the deep Islamic influence in the region. However, today it is more commonly written using the Latin alphabet. The orthography can vary slightly between dialects.
Comorian, along with French and Arabic, is an official language of the Union of the Comoros. In Mayotte, which is an overseas department of France, French is the dominant language, but Shimaore remains widely spoken. French is the primary language of instruction in schools, but efforts are being made to incorporate Comorian languages into the educational system to preserve cultural heritage and promote bilingualism.
