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Swahili vs Amharic


Amharic vs Swahili


Countries

Countries
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya   
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.   

Total No. Of Countries
4   
11
1   
14

National Language
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania   
Ethiopia   

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

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)   
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.
    •   
  • Amharic ranks as second most spoken Semitic language in the world.
  • Amharic has its own writing system named “fidel” and it uses Amharic alphabets to write.
  

Similar To
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages   
Not Available   

Derived From
Arabic Language   
Not Available   

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Swahili-Alphabets.jpg#200   
Amharic-1.jpg#200   

Alphabets
24   
6
33   
15

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5   
2
7   
4

How Many Consonants
21   
11
31   
21

Scripts
Latin   
Ethiopic   

Writing Direction
Not Available   
Left-To-Right, Horizontal   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3   
2
3   
2

Time Taken to Learn
36 weeks   
10
44 weeks   
11

Greetings

Hello
Habari   
Selam   

Thank You
Asante   
amesege'nallo'   

How Are You?
Habari gani?   
Dehina newot?   

Good Night
Usiku mwema   
Dehna dur   

Good Evening
Habari za jioni   
melkam meshe't   

Good Afternoon
nzuri Alasiri   
i'ndemin walu   

Good Morning
Habari za asubuhi   
i'ndemin adäru   

Please
tafadhali   
i'bakwon   

Sorry
pole   
aznallehu   

Bye
bye   
tschao   

I Love You
nakupenda   
afekirishalehu   

Excuse Me
Samahani   
yiqirta   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kiunguja   
Gondar   

Where They Speak
Zanzibar island   
Gondar   

Dialect 2
Kimrima   
Gojjami   

Where They Speak
Dar es Salaam   
Ethiopia   

Dialect 3
Kimgao   
Showa   

Where They Speak
Kilwa   
Ethiopia   

Total No. Of Dialects
12   
12
5   
5

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
Not Available   
0.37 %   
35

Native Speakers
15.00 million   
40
25.00 million   
32

Second Language Speakers
Not Available   
10.00 million   
23

Alternative Names
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili   
Abyssinian, Amarigna, Amarinya, Amhara, Ethiopian   

French Name
swahili   
amharique   

German Name
Swahili   
Amharisch   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
[amarɨɲɲa]   

Ethnicity
Swahili people or Waswahili   
Amharas   

History

Origin
6th century   
13th century   

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family   
Afro-Asiatic Family   

Subgroup
Benue-Congo   
Semitic   

Branch
Bantu   
Ethiopic   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
Ge'ez   

Standard Forms
Swahili   
Amharic   

Language Position
Not Available   
55   
40

Signed Forms
Not Available   
Signed Amharic   

Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
sw   
am   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
swa   
amh   

ISO 639 2/B
swa   
amh   

ISO 639 3
swa   
amh   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
swah1254   
amha1245   

Linguasphere
99-AUS-m   
12-ACB-a   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Not Available   
Not Available   

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Fusional   

Countries >>
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Swahili and Amharic Language History

Comparison of Swahili vs Amharic language history gives us differences between origin of Swahili and Amharic language. History of Swahili language states that this language originated in 6th century whereas history of Amharic language states that this language originated in 13th 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 Swahili and Amharic Language History.

Compare Easiest Languages to Learn

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

Swahili vs Amharic Difficulty

The Swahili vs Amharic difficulty level basically depends on the number of Swahili Alphabets and Amharic 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 Swahili and Amharic are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Swahili and Amharic, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Swahili is 36 weeks while to learn Amharic time required is 44 weeks.

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