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Somali vs Zulu


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

Speaking Continents
Africa, Middle East   
Africa   

Minority Language
Yemen   
Not spoken in any of the countries   

Regulated By
National Languages Committee, Regional Somali Language Academy   
Pan South African Language Board   

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.
  
  • 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
Afar and Oromo Language   
Xhosa Language   

Derived From
Arabic Language   
Not Available   

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
26   
8
57   
34

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5   
2
7   
4

How Many Consonants
21   
11
50   
35

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   
Sawubona   

Thank You
Waad ku mahadsan tahay   
Ngiyabonga   

How Are You?
Sidee tahay ?   
unjani   

Good Night
Habeenka Good   
okuhle ebusuku   

Good Evening
Evening Good   
okuhle kusihlwa   

Good Afternoon
galab wanaagsan   
okuhle ntambama   

Good Morning
Subax wanaagsan   
okuhle ekuseni   

Please
Fadlan   
Ngiyacela   

Sorry
sorry   
Ngiyaxolisa   

Bye
caraysiiyo   
bye   

I Love You
Waan ku jeclahay   
Ngiyakuthanda wena   

Excuse Me
iga raali ahow   
Uxolo   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Northern Somali   
Qwabe   

Where They Speak
Gabon, Standard Somali   
Gabon, South Africa   

Dialect 2
Benaadir   
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu   

Where They Speak
Georgia, The capital of Mogadishu   
Georgia, South Africa   

Dialect 3
Af-Ashraaf   
Ndebele   

Where They Speak
Standard Somali   
Zimbabwe   

Total No. Of Dialects
3   
3
4   
4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
13.00 million   
99+
30.00 million   
36

Speaking Population
Not Available   
0.16 %   
99+

Native Speakers
8.00 million   
99+
12.00 million   
99+

Second Language Speakers
Not Available   
16.00 million   
17

Native Name
af Soomaali   
isiZulu   

Alternative Names
Af-Maxaad Tiri, Af-Soomaali, Common Somali, Soomaaliga   
Isizulu, Zunda   

French Name
somali   
zoulou   

German Name
Somali   
Zulu-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
Somalis   
Zulu people   

History

Origin
19th century   
19   

Language Family
Afro-Asiatic Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Cushitic   
Benue-Congo   

Branch
Not Available   
Beatu   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
urban Zulu   

Standard Forms
Somali   
Deep Zulu   

Language Position
83   
99+
87   
99+

Signed Forms
Somali Sign Language   
Not Available   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
so   
zu   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
som   
zul   

ISO 639 2/B
som   
zul   

ISO 639 3
som   
zul   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
soma1255   
zulu1248   

Linguasphere
No data available   
99-AUT-fg   

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 Zulu Language History

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

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

Somali vs Zulu Difficulty

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

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