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Shona vs Xhosa


Xhosa vs Shona


Countries

Countries
Zimbabwe  
South Africa  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
1  
14

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

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

Alphabets
Not Available  
53  
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
10  
7

How Many Consonants
46  
34
43  
32

Scripts
Latin  
Latin  

Writing Direction
Not Available  
Not Available  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
4  
3
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
Not Available  
44 weeks  
11

Greetings

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  

Dialects

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  

Total No. Of Dialects
4  
4
9  
9

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
0.13 %  
99+
0.11 %  
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  

History

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
107  
99+
Not Available  

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Signed Xhosa  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

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  

Countries >>
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Shona and Xhosa Language History

Comparison of Shona vs Xhosa language history gives us differences between origin of Shona and Xhosa language. History of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th century whereas history of Xhosa language states that this language originated in 16th 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 Xhosa Language History.

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

Shona vs Xhosa Difficulty

The Shona vs Xhosa difficulty level basically depends on the number of Shona Alphabets and Xhosa 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 Xhosa are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Shona and Xhosa, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Shona is Not Available while to learn Xhosa time required is 44 weeks.

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