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Swahili and Xhosa


Xhosa and Swahili


Countries

Countries
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya  
South Africa  

Total No. Of Countries
4  
11
1  
14

National Language
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania  
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
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)  
Not Available  

Interesting Facts
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
    •   
  • 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
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages  
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele  

Derived From
Arabic Language  
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
24  
6
53  
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
10  
7

How Many Consonants
21  
11
43  
32

Scripts
Latin  
Latin  

Writing Direction
Not Available  
Not Available  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
36 weeks  
10
44 weeks  
11

Greetings

Hello
Habari  
Molo  

Thank You
Asante  
Ndiyabulela  

How Are You?
Habari gani?  
Unjani  

Good Night
Usiku mwema  
Ulale kakuhle  

Good Evening
Habari za jioni  
Ubusuku obuhle  

Good Afternoon
nzuri Alasiri  
Uben' emva kwemini entle  

Good Morning
Habari za asubuhi  
Molo  

Please
tafadhali  
Ndicela  

Sorry
pole  
Ndicela uxolo  

Bye
bye  
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle  

I Love You
nakupenda  
Ndiyakuthanda  

Excuse Me
Samahani  
Uxolo  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kiunguja  
Gcaleka  

Where They Speak
Zanzibar island  
South Africa  

Dialect 2
Kimrima  
Thembu  

Where They Speak
Dar es Salaam  
South Africa  

Dialect 3
Kimgao  
Hlubi  

Where They Speak
Kilwa  
South Africa  

Total No. Of Dialects
12  
12
9  
9

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
150.00 million  
13
20.00 million  
99+

Speaking Population
Not Available  
0.11 %  
99+

Native Speakers
15.00 million  
40
8.20 million  
99+

Second Language Speakers
Not Available  
11.00 million  
21

Native Name
Not Available  
isiXhosa  

Alternative Names
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili  
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa  

French Name
swahili  
xhosa  

German Name
Swahili  
Xhosa-Sprache  

Pronunciation
Not Available  
Not Available  

Ethnicity
Swahili people or Waswahili  
amaXhosa, amaBhaca  

History

Origin
6th century  
16th Century  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Benue-Congo  

Branch
Bantu  
Bantu  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
No early forms  

Standard Forms
Swahili  
isiXhosa  

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Signed Xhosa  

Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
sw  
xh  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
swa  
xho  

ISO 639 2/B
swa  
xho  

ISO 639 3
swa  
xho  

ISO 639 6
Not Available  
Not Available  

Glottocode
swah1254  
xhos1239  

Linguasphere
99-AUS-m  
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  

Summary >>
<< Code

All Swahili and Xhosa Dialects

Most languages have dialects where each dialect differ from other dialect with respect to grammar and vocabulary. Here you will get to know all Swahili and Xhosa dialects. Various dialects of Swahili and Xhosa language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Swahili are spoken in different Swahili Speaking Countries whereas Xhosa Dialects are spoken in different Xhosa speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Swahili vs Xhosa Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Swahili dialects include: Kiunguja, Kimrima. Xhosa dialects include: Gcaleka , Thembu. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.

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Swahili and Xhosa Speaking population

Swahili and Xhosa speaking population is one of the factors based on which Swahili and Xhosa languages can be compared. The total count of Swahili and Xhosa Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Swahili language is Not Available whereas the percentage of people speaking Xhosa language is 0.11 %. When we compare the speaking population of any two languages we get to know which of two languages is more popular. Find more details about how many people speak Swahili and Xhosa on Swahili vs Xhosa where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.

Swahili and Xhosa Language Codes

Swahili and Xhosa language codes are used in those applications where using language names are tedious. Swahili and Xhosa Language Codes include all the international language codes, glottocodes and linguasphere.

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