TITLE:
Endangering Local Languages as a Result of Adopting Swahili in Education, Religion, Politics and Local Trade in Tanzania
AUTHORS:
Gloria Julius Kalla, Ngendo Peterson Wambura
KEYWORDS:
Endangered Languages, Local Languages, Language Policy, Swahili Language
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.6,
June
30,
2026
ABSTRACT: This paper aims to unveil the endangered Tanzania local languages as a result of adopting Swahili in all spheres of life in Tanzania. The study focuses on the identified endangered local languages, which are seldom used in businesses, especially those confined within the country of Tanzania. Swahili takes care of many socio-political realms as well as economic facets of life in Tanzania. The paper is guided by Language Shift Theory as developed by Joshua Fishman in 1966 and 1991. The theory explains how a speech community changes from using one language to another over a given period of time. The language shift specifically occurs across generations and results to partial or total loss of communities’ original language. The theory assumes that communities are in constant interaction with their environment in order to acquire necessary needs and advance their connectivity. It further reveals the extent to which language is a core player in societal development processes and significantly contributes to explaining behavior, structure, stability, and change of organizations, which are social constructions. The study is a library exploration that identifies and studies written materials on the stated topic. The paper results indicate that a handful of Tanzanian local languages face danger of becoming extinct completely due to decreasing or lack of speakers. The danger of their extinction cannot be taken for granted because they exist with their culture. The paper recommends that Tanzania language policy should embark on aggressive local languages research and documentation countrywide but also encourage their use where possible.