Countries
Malawi, Zimbabwe
  
Laos
  
National Language
Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  
Laos, Northeastern Thailand
  
Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Speaking Continents
Africa
  
Asia
  
Minority Language
Zambia
  
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Regulated By
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Interesting Facts
- Chewa is one of the 55 languages featured on the Voyager spacecraft.
- Most widely known language of Malawi is Chewa.
  
- There is no space left between words, only between phrases or sentences in Lao language.
- The Lao alphabets has been reformed many times over the past 50 years.
  
Similar To
Zulu language
  
Thai Language
  
Derived From
Not Available
  
Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer Languages
  
Alphabets in
Chewa-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Lao-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Phonology
  
  
Scripts
Latin
  
Thai and Lao Braille
  
Writing Direction
Not Available
  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
  
Hard to Learn
  
  
Language Levels
Not Available
  
Time Taken to Learn
Not Available
  
Hello
Moni
  
ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i)
  
Thank You
Zikomo
  
ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i)
  
How Are You?
Muli bwanji?
  
ສະບາຍດີບ (sába̖ai-di̖i baw?)
  
Good Night
Usiku wabwino
  
ໃນຕອນກາງຄືນ ທີ່ດີ (naitonkangkhun thidi)
  
Good Evening
Madzulo abwino
  
ສະບາຍດີຕອນແລງ (sa bai di ton aelng)
  
Good Afternoon
Masana abwino
  
ສະບາຍດີຕອນສວາຍ (sa bai di ton suaai)
  
Good Morning
M'mawa wabwino
  
ສະບາຍດີຕອນເຊົ້າ (sa bai di ton sao)
  
Please
Chonde
  
ກະລຸນາ (kaluna)
  
Sorry
pepani
  
ຂໍອະໄພ (khooaphai)
  
Bye
anatsanzikana
  
Sôhk dii der
  
I Love You
Ndimakukondani
  
ຂ້ອຍຮັກເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)
  
Excuse Me
Pepani
  
ຂໍໂທດ (kho othd)
  
Dialect 1
Kasungu
  
Vientiane Lao
  
Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia
  
Laos
  
Dialect 2
Kikamtunda
  
Northern Lao
  
Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia
  
Laos
  
Dialect 3
Kimaravi
  
Central Lao
  
Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia
  
Laos
  
How Many People Speak?
12.00 million
  
99+
25.00 million
  
40
Speaking Population
Not Available
  
Native Speakers
12.00 million
  
99+
25.00 million
  
32
Native Name
Nyanja
  
ພາສາລາວ (pháasaa láo)
  
Alternative Names
Chichewa, Chinyanja, Nyanja, Nyanja-Chewa
  
Eastern Thai, Lào, Lao Kao, Lao Wiang, Lao-Lum, Lao-Noi, Lao-Tai, Laotian, Laotian Tai, Lum Lao, Phou Lao, Rong Kong, Tai Lao
  
French Name
chichewa; chewa; nyanja
  
lao
  
German Name
Nyanja-Sprache
  
Laotisch
  
Pronunciation
Not Available
  
pʰáːsǎː láːw
  
Ethnicity
Chewa people
  
Not Available
  
Origin
15th Century
  
1283 CE
  
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
  
Tai-Kadai Family
  
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
  
Tai
  
Branch
Bantu
  
Not Available
  
Language Forms
  
  
Early Forms
No early forms
  
No Early forms
  
Standard Forms
Chewa
  
Lao
  
Signed Forms
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Scope
Individual
  
Individual
  
ISO 639 1
ny
  
lo
  
ISO 639 2
  
  
ISO 639 2/T
nya
  
lao
  
ISO 639 2/B
nya
  
lao
  
ISO 639 3
nya
  
lao
  
ISO 639 6
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Glottocode
nyan1308
  
laoo1244
  
Linguasphere
99-AUS-xaa – xag
  
No data available
  
Types of Language
  
  
Language Type
Living
  
Living
  
Language Linguistic Typology
Not Available
  
Subject-Verb-Object
  
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
  
Isolating
  
Chewa and Lao Greetings
People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Chewa and Lao greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Chewa and Lao language. Chewa word for "Hello" is Moni or Lao word for "Thank You" is ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i). Find more of such common Chewa Greetings and Lao Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Chewa vs Lao Difficulty
The Chewa vs Lao difficulty level basically depends on the number of Chewa Alphabets and Lao Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Chewa and Lao are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Chewa and Lao, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Chewa is Not Available while to learn Lao time required is 44 weeks.