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Swahili and Zulu


Zulu 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  
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
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)  
Pan South African Language Board  

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

Derived From
Arabic Language  
Not Available  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
24  
6
57  
34

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
7  
4

How Many Consonants
21  
11
50  
35

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  
Sawubona  

Thank You
Asante  
Ngiyabonga  

How Are You?
Habari gani?  
unjani  

Good Night
Usiku mwema  
okuhle ebusuku  

Good Evening
Habari za jioni  
okuhle kusihlwa  

Good Afternoon
nzuri Alasiri  
okuhle ntambama  

Good Morning
Habari za asubuhi  
okuhle ekuseni  

Please
tafadhali  
Ngiyacela  

Sorry
pole  
Ngiyaxolisa  

Bye
bye  
bye  

I Love You
nakupenda  
Ngiyakuthanda wena  

Excuse Me
Samahani  
Uxolo  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kiunguja  
Qwabe  

Where They Speak
Zanzibar island  
Gabon, South Africa  

Dialect 2
Kimrima  
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu  

Where They Speak
Dar es Salaam  
Georgia, South Africa  

Dialect 3
Kimgao  
Ndebele  

Where They Speak
Kilwa  
Zimbabwe  

Total No. Of Dialects
12  
12
4  
4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
150.00 million  
13
30.00 million  
36

Speaking Population
Not Available  
0.16 %  
99+

Native Speakers
15.00 million  
40
12.00 million  
99+

Second Language Speakers
Not Available  
16.00 million  
17

Native Name
Not Available  
isiZulu  

Alternative Names
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili  
Isizulu, Zunda  

French Name
swahili  
zoulou  

German Name
Swahili  
Zulu-Sprache  

Pronunciation
Not Available  
Not Available  

Ethnicity
Swahili people or Waswahili  
Zulu people  

History

Origin
6th century  
19  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Benue-Congo  

Branch
Bantu  
Beatu  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
urban Zulu  

Standard Forms
Swahili  
Deep Zulu  

Language Position
Not Available  
87  
99+

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Not Available  

Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
sw  
zu  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
swa  
zul  

ISO 639 2/B
swa  
zul  

ISO 639 3
swa  
zul  

ISO 639 6
Not Available  
Not Available  

Glottocode
swah1254  
zulu1248  

Linguasphere
99-AUS-m  
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  

Summary >>
<< Code

All Swahili and Zulu 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 Zulu dialects. Various dialects of Swahili and Zulu language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Swahili are spoken in different Swahili Speaking Countries whereas Zulu Dialects are spoken in different Zulu speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Swahili vs Zulu Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Swahili dialects include: Kiunguja, Kimrima. Zulu dialects include: Qwabe , central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.

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Swahili and Zulu Speaking population

Swahili and Zulu speaking population is one of the factors based on which Swahili and Zulu languages can be compared. The total count of Swahili and Zulu Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Swahili language is Not Available whereas the percentage of people speaking Zulu language is 0.16 %. 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 Zulu on Swahili vs Zulu where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.

Swahili and Zulu Language Codes

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

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