Countries
Zimbabwe
  
South Africa
  
National Language
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
  
South Africa
  
Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Lesotho, South Africa
  
Speaking Continents
Africa
  
Africa
  
Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Botswana, Lesotho
  
Regulated By
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Interesting Facts
- 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.
  
- Xhosa has 15 click sounds, borrowed from the khoi-khoi and san languages of the South Africa.
- The same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meaning when said with different tones, so Xhosa is tonal.
  
Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language
  
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele
  
Derived From
Not Available
  
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages
  
Alphabets in
Shona-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Alphabets
Not Available
  
Phonology
  
  
Scripts
Latin
  
Latin
  
Writing Direction
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Hard to Learn
  
  
Time Taken to Learn
Not Available
  
Hello
Mhoro
  
Molo
  
Thank You
Waita zvako
  
Ndiyabulela
  
How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?
  
Unjani
  
Good Night
Urare zvakanaka
  
Ulale kakuhle
  
Good Evening
Manheru
  
Ubusuku obuhle
  
Good Afternoon
Masikati
  
Uben' emva kwemini entle
  
Good Morning
Mangwanani
  
Molo
  
Please
Ndinokumbirawo
  
Ndicela
  
Sorry
Ndineurombo
  
Ndicela uxolo
  
Bye
bye
  
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle
  
I Love You
Ndinokuda
  
Ndiyakuthanda
  
Excuse Me
Pamusoro
  
Uxolo
  
Dialect 1
Hwesa
  
Gcaleka
  
Where They Speak
Zimbabwe
  
South Africa
  
Dialect 2
Karanga
  
Thembu
  
Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe
  
South Africa
  
Dialect 3
Zezuru
  
Hlubi
  
Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland
  
South Africa
  
How Many People Speak?
25.00 million
  
40
20.00 million
  
99+
Native Speakers
8.30 million
  
99+
8.20 million
  
99+
Second Language Speakers
Not Available
  
11.00 million
  
21
Native Name
Not Available
  
isiXhosa
  
Alternative Names
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru
  
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa
  
French Name
shona
  
xhosa
  
German Name
Schona-Sprache
  
Xhosa-Sprache
  
Pronunciation
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Ethnicity
Not Available
  
amaXhosa, amaBhaca
  
Origin
20th century
  
16th Century
  
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
  
Niger-Congo Family
  
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
  
Benue-Congo
  
Branch
Bantu
  
Bantu
  
Language Forms
  
  
Early Forms
Not Available
  
No early forms
  
Standard Forms
Not Available
  
isiXhosa
  
Language Position
Not Available
  
Signed Forms
Not Available
  
Signed Xhosa
  
Scope
Individual
  
Individual
  
ISO 639 1
sn
  
xh
  
ISO 639 2
  
  
ISO 639 2/T
sna
  
xho
  
ISO 639 2/B
sna
  
xho
  
ISO 639 3
sna
  
xho
  
ISO 639 6
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Glottocode
core1255
  
xhos1239
  
Linguasphere
99-AUT-a
  
99-AUT-fa
  
Types of Language
  
  
Language Type
Living
  
Living
  
Language Linguistic Typology
Not Available
  
Subject-Verb-Object
  
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
All Shona and Xhosa Dialects
Most languages have dialects where each dialect differ from other dialect with respect to grammar and vocabulary. Here you will get to know all Shona and Xhosa dialects. Various dialects of Shona and Xhosa language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Shona are spoken in different Shona Speaking Countries whereas Xhosa Dialects are spoken in different Xhosa speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Shona vs Xhosa Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Shona dialects include: Hwesa, Karanga. Xhosa dialects include: Gcaleka , Thembu. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.
Shona and Xhosa Speaking population
Shona and Xhosa speaking population is one of the factors based on which Shona and Xhosa languages can be compared. The total count of Shona and Xhosa Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Shona language is 0.13 % whereas the percentage of people speaking Xhosa language is 0.11 %. When we compare the speaking population of any two languages we get to know which of two languages is more popular. Find more details about how many people speak Shona and Xhosa on Shona vs Xhosa where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.
Shona and Xhosa Language Codes
Shona and Xhosa language codes are used in those applications where using language names are tedious. Shona and Xhosa Language Codes include all the international language codes, glottocodes and linguasphere.