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Malagasy vs Swahili


Swahili vs Malagasy


Countries

Countries
Madagascar   
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya   

Total No. Of Countries
1   
14
4   
11

National Language
Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte   
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania   

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

Speaking Continents
Africa   
Africa   

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

Regulated By
Not Available   
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)   

Interesting Facts
  • Malagasy language was originated in southeast Asia, since it shares several common words and meanings with Indonesian Languages.
  • About 93% of the basic vocabulary is of Malayo-Polynesian origin in Malagasy language.
  
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
    •   

Similar To
Not Available   
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages   

Derived From
Not Available   
Arabic Language   

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Malagasy-Alphabets.jpg#200   
Swahili-Alphabets.jpg#200   

Alphabets
21   
3
24   
6

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5   
2
5   
2

How Many Consonants
20   
10
21   
11

Scripts
Latin   
Latin   

Writing Direction
Not Available   
Not Available   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3   
2
3   
2

Time Taken to Learn
Not Available   
36 weeks   
10

Greetings

Hello
Salama!   
Habari   

Thank You
Misaotra   
Asante   

How Are You?
Manao ahoana!   
Habari gani?   

Good Night
Alina tsara   
Usiku mwema   

Good Evening
Manao ahoana e   
Habari za jioni   

Good Afternoon
Manao ahoana e   
nzuri Alasiri   

Good Morning
Maraina tsara   
Habari za asubuhi   

Please
azafady   
tafadhali   

Sorry
Miala tsiny   
pole   

Bye
Veloma!   
bye   

I Love You
Tiako ianao.   
nakupenda   

Excuse Me
Azafady   
Samahani   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Eastern Malagasy   
Kiunguja   

Where They Speak
Merina   
Zanzibar island   

How Many People Speak
5,000,000.00   
17
Not Available   

Dialect 2
Western Malagasy   
Kimrima   

Where They Speak
Sakalava   
Dar es Salaam   

How Many People Speak
1,200,000.00   
24
Not Available   

Dialect 3
Not Available   
Kimgao   

Where They Speak
Not Available   
Kilwa   

Total No. Of Dialects
2   
2
12   
12

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
Not Available   
150.00 million   
13

Speaking Population
0.28 %   
40
Not Available   

Native Speakers
18.00 million   
38
15.00 million   
40

Native Name
Fiteny Malagasy   
Not Available   

Alternative Names
Malagasy Sign Language   
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili   

French Name
malgache   
swahili   

German Name
Malagassi-Sprache   
Swahili   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
Malagasy people   
Swahili people or Waswahili   

History

Origin
1000 AD   
6th century   

Language Family
Austronesian Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Austronesian   
Benue-Congo   

Branch
Indonesian   
Bantu   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
No early forms   

Standard Forms
standard Malagasy   
Swahili   

Language Position
84   
99+
Not Available   

Signed Forms
Not Available   
Not Available   

Scope
Macrolanguage   
Individual, Macrolanguage   

Code

ISO 639 1
mg   
sw   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
mlg   
swa   

ISO 639 2/B
mlg   
swa   

ISO 639 3
mlg   
swa   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
mala1537   
swah1254   

Linguasphere
No data available   
99-AUS-m   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Verb-Object-Subject   
Not Available   

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Not Available   

Countries >>
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Malagasy and Swahili Language History

Comparison of Malagasy vs Swahili language history gives us differences between origin of Malagasy and Swahili language. History of Malagasy language states that this language originated in 1000 AD whereas history of Swahili language states that this language originated in 6th 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 Malagasy and Swahili Language History.

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Malagasy and Swahili 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 Malagasy and Swahili greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Malagasy and Swahili language. Malagasy word for "Hello" is Salama! or Swahili word for "Thank You" is Asante. Find more of such common Malagasy Greetings and Swahili Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Malagasy vs Swahili Difficulty

The Malagasy vs Swahili difficulty level basically depends on the number of Malagasy Alphabets and Swahili 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 Malagasy and Swahili are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Malagasy and Swahili, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Malagasy is Not Available while to learn Swahili time required is 36 weeks.

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