Sidi is a
Bantu language
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...
of
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, related to
Swahili. Most of the Sidi community today speaks a regional Indic language, mostly
Gujarati, mixed with some Bantu words and phrases,
and the current number of speakers is unknown. It was reportedly still spoken in the 1960s in
Jambur, a village in
Kathiawar
Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...
, Gujarat, by the
Siddi.
[Whiteley, 1969, ''Swahili: The Rise of a National Language''] A survey of regional languages conducted by the government of Gujarat in 2016 reported that the language is in danger of extinction.
References
Languages of Pakistan
Languages of Sindh
Languages of India
Swahili language
Languages of the African diaspora
{{Swahili-stub