Swahili, 4th African language added to The Oxford Digital Program – Africa Business Round Up
In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries launched a new digital global languages program, with a mission to extend learning and education worldwide. The company launched its first online Swahili dictionary by the Oxford University Press.
In a video message delivered Wednesday at the launch of its online Swahili dictionary, Oxford Dictionaries director Judy Pearsall said one reason for putting together the Swahili versions is to help connect cultures across Africa.
“Swahili is an extremely important language across large parts of southeastern and eastern parts of Africa and spoken by millions of people…both as a mother tongue, but also as a second language, and very much a lingua franca across large parts of the country,” Pearsall said. “So it is bridging the smaller languages and connecting cultures.”
Swahili is the fourth African language to be added to the Oxford program, after Zulu, Northern Sotho, and Setswana.
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