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Chewa vs Shona


Shona vs Chewa


Countries

Countries
Malawi, Zimbabwe   
Zimbabwe   

Total No. Of Countries
2   
13
1   
14

National Language
Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe   
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe   

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries   
Not spoken in any of the countries   

Speaking Continents
Africa   
Africa   

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.
  
  • Shona language is tonal language.
  • The African people in Zimbabwe is made of 10 ethnic groups, each speaking a different languages, shona is spoken by 60 percent of population.
  

Similar To
Zulu language   
Kalanga and Nambya Language   

Derived From
Not Available   
Not Available   

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Chewa-Alphabets.jpg#200   
Shona-Alphabets.jpg#200   

Alphabets
31   
13
Not Available   

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5   
2
5   
2

How Many Consonants
18   
8
46   
34

Scripts
Latin   
Latin   

Writing Direction
Not Available   
Not Available   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
Not Available   
4   
3

Greetings

Hello
Moni   
Mhoro   

Thank You
Zikomo   
Waita zvako   

How Are You?
Muli bwanji?   
Wakadini zvako?   

Good Night
Usiku wabwino   
Urare zvakanaka   

Good Evening
Madzulo abwino   
Manheru   

Good Afternoon
Masana abwino   
Masikati   

Good Morning
M'mawa wabwino   
Mangwanani   

Please
Chonde   
Ndinokumbirawo   

Sorry
pepani   
Ndineurombo   

Bye
anatsanzikana   
bye   

I Love You
Ndimakukondani   
Ndinokuda   

Excuse Me
Pepani   
Pamusoro   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kasungu   
Hwesa   

Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia   
Zimbabwe   

Dialect 2
Kikamtunda   
Karanga   

Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia   
southern Zimbabwe   

Dialect 3
Kimaravi   
Zezuru   

Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia   
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland   

Total No. Of Dialects
5   
5
4   
4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
12.00 million   
99+
25.00 million   
40

Speaking Population
0.17 %   
99+
0.13 %   
99+

Native Speakers
12.00 million   
99+
8.30 million   
99+

Native Name
Nyanja   
Not Available   

Alternative Names
Chichewa, Chinyanja, Nyanja, Nyanja-Chewa   
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru   

French Name
chichewa; chewa; nyanja   
shona   

German Name
Nyanja-Sprache   
Schona-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
Chewa people   
Not Available   

History

Origin
15th Century   
20th century   

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Benue-Congo   
Benue-Congo   

Branch
Bantu   
Bantu   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
Not Available   

Standard Forms
Chewa   
Not Available   

Language Position
Not Available   
107   
99+

Signed Forms
Not Available   
Not Available   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
ny   
sn   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
nya   
sna   

ISO 639 2/B
nya   
sna   

ISO 639 3
nya   
sna   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
nyan1308   
core1255   

Linguasphere
99-AUS-xaa – xag   
99-AUT-a   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Not Available   
Not Available   

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Not Available   

Countries >>
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Chewa and Shona Language History

Comparison of Chewa vs Shona language history gives us differences between origin of Chewa and Shona language. History of Chewa language states that this language originated in 15th Century whereas history of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th century. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Chewa and Shona Language History.

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Chewa and Shona 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 Shona greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Chewa and Shona language. Chewa word for "Hello" is Moni or Shona word for "Thank You" is Waita zvako. Find more of such common Chewa Greetings and Shona Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Chewa vs Shona Difficulty

The Chewa vs Shona difficulty level basically depends on the number of Chewa Alphabets and Shona 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 Shona are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Chewa and Shona, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Chewa is Not Available while to learn Shona time required is Not Available.

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