Kiswahili is an alternative name for the Swahili language, derived from the expression lugha ya Kiswahili, which is what speakers of Swahili call their language. Kiswahili is meant to be more respectful or politically correct than Swahili. 'Ki-' is a Swahili prefix attached to nouns of the class that includes languages, 'Swahili' being the main noun stem from which comes the more common English term for the language. See Bantu languages for a more detailed discussion.