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Shona vs Chewa


Chewa vs Shona


Countries

Countries
Zimbabwe   
Malawi, Zimbabwe   

Total No. Of Countries
1   
14
2   
13

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

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   
Zambia   

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.
  
  • Chewa is one of the 55 languages featured on the Voyager spacecraft.
  • Most widely known language of Malawi is Chewa.
  

Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language   
Zulu language   

Derived From
Not Available   
Not Available   

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
Not Available   
31   
13

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5   
2
5   
2

How Many Consonants
46   
34
18   
8

Scripts
Latin   
Latin   

Writing Direction
Not Available   
Not Available   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
4   
3
Not Available   

Greetings

Hello
Mhoro   
Moni   

Thank You
Waita zvako   
Zikomo   

How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?   
Muli bwanji?   

Good Night
Urare zvakanaka   
Usiku wabwino   

Good Evening
Manheru   
Madzulo abwino   

Good Afternoon
Masikati   
Masana abwino   

Good Morning
Mangwanani   
M'mawa wabwino   

Please
Ndinokumbirawo   
Chonde   

Sorry
Ndineurombo   
pepani   

Bye
bye   
anatsanzikana   

I Love You
Ndinokuda   
Ndimakukondani   

Excuse Me
Pamusoro   
Pepani   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Hwesa   
Kasungu   

Where They Speak
Zimbabwe   
Malawi, Zambia   

Dialect 2
Karanga   
Kikamtunda   

Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe   
Malawi, Zambia   

Dialect 3
Zezuru   
Kimaravi   

Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland   
Malawi, Zambia   

Total No. Of Dialects
4   
4
5   
5

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
0.13 %   
99+
0.17 %   
99+

Native Speakers
8.30 million   
99+
12.00 million   
99+

Native Name
Not Available   
Nyanja   

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

French Name
shona   
chichewa; chewa; nyanja   

German Name
Schona-Sprache   
Nyanja-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
Not Available   
Chewa people   

History

Origin
20th century   
15th 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   
Chewa   

Language Position
107   
99+
Not Available   

Signed Forms
Not Available   
Not Available   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
sn   
ny   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
sna   
nya   

ISO 639 2/B
sna   
nya   

ISO 639 3
sna   
nya   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
core1255   
nyan1308   

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

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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Shona and Chewa Language History

Comparison of Shona vs Chewa language history gives us differences between origin of Shona and Chewa language. History of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th century whereas history of Chewa language states that this language originated in 15th 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 Shona and Chewa Language History.

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

Shona vs Chewa Difficulty

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

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