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Somali vs Xhosa


Xhosa vs Somali


Countries

Countries
Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia   
South Africa   

Total No. Of Countries
3   
12
1   
14

National Language
Somalia   
South Africa   

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries   
Lesotho, South Africa   

Speaking Continents
Africa, Middle East   
Africa   

Minority Language
Yemen   
Botswana, Lesotho   

Regulated By
National Languages Committee, Regional Somali Language Academy   
Not Available   

Interesting Facts
  • Somali language is one of the best documented Afro-Asiatic languages.
  • One of the most widely spoken of the Cushitic languages is the Somali Language.
  
  • 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
Afar and Oromo Language   
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele   

Derived From
Arabic Language   
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages   

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
26   
8
53   
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5   
2
10   
7

How Many Consonants
21   
11
43   
32

Scripts
Arabic, Latin, Osmanya   
Latin   

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal   
Not Available   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
5   
4
3   
2

Time Taken to Learn
52 weeks   
12
44 weeks   
11

Greetings

Hello
Hello   
Molo   

Thank You
Waad ku mahadsan tahay   
Ndiyabulela   

How Are You?
Sidee tahay ?   
Unjani   

Good Night
Habeenka Good   
Ulale kakuhle   

Good Evening
Evening Good   
Ubusuku obuhle   

Good Afternoon
galab wanaagsan   
Uben' emva kwemini entle   

Good Morning
Subax wanaagsan   
Molo   

Please
Fadlan   
Ndicela   

Sorry
sorry   
Ndicela uxolo   

Bye
caraysiiyo   
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle   

I Love You
Waan ku jeclahay   
Ndiyakuthanda   

Excuse Me
iga raali ahow   
Uxolo   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Northern Somali   
Gcaleka   

Where They Speak
Gabon, Standard Somali   
South Africa   

Dialect 2
Benaadir   
Thembu   

Where They Speak
Georgia, The capital of Mogadishu   
South Africa   

Dialect 3
Af-Ashraaf   
Hlubi   

Where They Speak
Standard Somali   
South Africa   

Total No. Of Dialects
3   
3
9   
9

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
13.00 million   
99+
20.00 million   
99+

Speaking Population
Not Available   
0.11 %   
99+

Native Speakers
8.00 million   
99+
8.20 million   
99+

Second Language Speakers
Not Available   
11.00 million   
21

Native Name
af Soomaali   
isiXhosa   

Alternative Names
Af-Maxaad Tiri, Af-Soomaali, Common Somali, Soomaaliga   
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa   

French Name
somali   
xhosa   

German Name
Somali   
Xhosa-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
Somalis   
amaXhosa, amaBhaca   

History

Origin
19th century   
16th Century   

Language Family
Afro-Asiatic Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Cushitic   
Benue-Congo   

Branch
Not Available   
Bantu   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
No early forms   

Standard Forms
Somali   
isiXhosa   

Language Position
83   
99+
Not Available   

Signed Forms
Somali Sign Language   
Signed Xhosa   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
so   
xh   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
som   
xho   

ISO 639 2/B
som   
xho   

ISO 639 3
som   
xho   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
soma1255   
xhos1239   

Linguasphere
No data available   
99-AUT-fa   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb   
Subject-Verb-Object   

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Not Available   

Countries >>
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Somali and Xhosa Language History

Comparison of Somali vs Xhosa language history gives us differences between origin of Somali and Xhosa language. History of Somali language states that this language originated in 19th 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 Somali and Xhosa Language History.

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

Somali vs Xhosa Difficulty

The Somali vs Xhosa difficulty level basically depends on the number of Somali 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 Somali and Xhosa are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Somali and Xhosa, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Somali is 52 weeks while to learn Xhosa time required is 44 weeks.

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