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Shona vs Zulu


Zulu 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  
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe  

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Africa  

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

Regulated By
Not Available  
Pan South African Language Board  

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.
  
  • The meaning of word "Zulu" means "Sky"and Zulu was the name of the ancestor who founded the Zulu royal line in about 1670.
  • Zulu language has many loanwords borrowed from Afrikaans and English Languages.
  

Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language  
Xhosa Language  

Derived From
Not Available  
Not Available  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
Not Available  
57  
34

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
7  
4

How Many Consonants
46  
34
50  
35

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  
Sawubona  

Thank You
Waita zvako  
Ngiyabonga  

How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?  
unjani  

Good Night
Urare zvakanaka  
okuhle ebusuku  

Good Evening
Manheru  
okuhle kusihlwa  

Good Afternoon
Masikati  
okuhle ntambama  

Good Morning
Mangwanani  
okuhle ekuseni  

Please
Ndinokumbirawo  
Ngiyacela  

Sorry
Ndineurombo  
Ngiyaxolisa  

Bye
bye  
bye  

I Love You
Ndinokuda  
Ngiyakuthanda wena  

Excuse Me
Pamusoro  
Uxolo  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Hwesa  
Qwabe  

Where They Speak
Zimbabwe  
Gabon, South Africa  

Dialect 2
Karanga  
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu  

Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe  
Georgia, South Africa  

Dialect 3
Zezuru  
Ndebele  

Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland  
Zimbabwe  

Total No. Of Dialects
4  
4
4  
4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
25.00 million  
40
30.00 million  
36

Speaking Population
0.13 %  
99+
0.16 %  
99+

Native Speakers
8.30 million  
99+
12.00 million  
99+

Second Language Speakers
Not Available  
16.00 million  
17

Native Name
Not Available  
isiZulu  

Alternative Names
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru  
Isizulu, Zunda  

French Name
shona  
zoulou  

German Name
Schona-Sprache  
Zulu-Sprache  

Pronunciation
Not Available  
Not Available  

Ethnicity
Not Available  
Zulu people  

History

Origin
20th century  
19  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Benue-Congo  

Branch
Bantu  
Beatu  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Not Available  
urban Zulu  

Standard Forms
Not Available  
Deep Zulu  

Language Position
107  
99+
87  
99+

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Not Available  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
sn  
zu  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
sna  
zul  

ISO 639 2/B
sna  
zul  

ISO 639 3
sna  
zul  

ISO 639 6
Not Available  
Not Available  

Glottocode
core1255  
zulu1248  

Linguasphere
99-AUT-a  
99-AUT-fg  

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 Zulu Language History

Comparison of Shona vs Zulu language history gives us differences between origin of Shona and Zulu language. History of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th century whereas history of Zulu language states that this language originated in 19. 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 Zulu Language History.

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

Shona vs Zulu Difficulty

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

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