The word Swahili comes from Arabic and means "coasts". It was used by the trading Arabs to refer to the coastal inhabitants of East Africa when they first sailed into that area before the 10th century. The language is a mix of different cultures and languages. Through the expanding trade on the East African coast with the Arabian Peninsula and Asia, Arabs, Asians and Africans met. Out of the need to find a common form of communication, Arabic, Persian and Hindu words were mixed with Bantu words and the Bantu grammar was used as the skeleton of the language. Swahili is thus the product of a multicultural society and early globalization.