Comorian (
Shikomori or
Shimasiwa, the "language of islands") 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
Sabaki dialects but with less
Arabic influence than standard Swahili. Each island has a different dialect and the four are conventionally divided into two groups: the eastern group is composed of
Shindzuani (spoken on
Ndzuwani) and
Shimaore (
Mayotte), while the western group is composed of
Shimwali (
Mwali) and
Shingazija (
Ngazidja). No
official alphabet existed in 1992, but historically the language was written in the
Arabic script. The colonial administration introduced the
Latin script, of which a modified version is now being promoted in the country; the Arabic script remains widely used and literacy in the Arabic script is higher than in the Latin script.