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Swahili vs Igbo


Igbo vs Swahili


Countries

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

Total No. Of Countries
4   
11
1   
14

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

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   
Equatorial Guinea   

Regulated By
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)   
Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture   

Interesting Facts
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
    •   
  • In Igbo, there is complicated system of high and low tones indicating differences in meaning and grammatical relationships.
  • Igbo has inexhaustible and rich linguistic features like idioms, proverbs, aphorisms, anecdotes etc.
  

Similar To
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages   
Not Available   

Derived From
Arabic Language   
Not Available   

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
24   
6
36   
18

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5   
2
8   
5

How Many Consonants
21   
11
28   
18

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
52 weeks   
12

Greetings

Hello
Habari   
kedụ   

Thank You
Asante   
dalụ   

How Are You?
Habari gani?   
kedụ ka ịmere   

Good Night
Usiku mwema   
ka chi fo   

Good Evening
Habari za jioni   
mgbede ọma   

Good Afternoon
nzuri Alasiri   
ehihie ọma   

Good Morning
Habari za asubuhi   
ụtụtụ ọma   

Please
tafadhali   
Biko   

Sorry
pole   
Ndo   

Bye
bye   
Not Available   

I Love You
nakupenda   
a hụrụ m gị n'anya   

Excuse Me
Samahani   
ngọpụ   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kiunguja   
Enuani   

Where They Speak
Zanzibar island   
Nigeria   

Dialect 2
Kimrima   
Ngwa   

Where They Speak
Dar es Salaam   
Nigeria   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
1,500,000.00   
22

Dialect 3
Kimgao   
Not present   

Where They Speak
Kilwa   
Not Available   

Total No. Of Dialects
12   
12
20   
18

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
150.00 million   
13
25.00 million   
40

Speaking Population
Not Available   
Not Available   

Native Speakers
15.00 million   
40
25.00 million   
32

Native Name
Not Available   
igbo   

Alternative Names
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili   
Ibo   

French Name
swahili   
igbo   

German Name
Swahili   
Ibo-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
[iɡ͡boː]   

Ethnicity
Swahili people or Waswahili   
Igbo people   

History

Origin
6th century   
30th Century BC   

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Benue-Congo   
Kwa   

Branch
Bantu   
Not Available   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
No early forms   

Standard Forms
Swahili   
Standard Igbo   

Language Position
Not Available   
57   
99+

Signed Forms
Not Available   
Not Available   

Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
sw   
ig   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
swa   
ibo   

ISO 639 2/B
swa   
ibo   

ISO 639 3
swa   
ibo   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
swah1254   
nucl1417   

Linguasphere
99-AUS-m   
No data available   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Not Available   
Not Available   

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Agglutinative   

Countries >>
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Swahili and Igbo Language History

Comparison of Swahili vs Igbo language history gives us differences between origin of Swahili and Igbo language. History of Swahili language states that this language originated in 6th century whereas history of Igbo language states that this language originated in 30th Century BC. 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 Igbo Language History.

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

Swahili vs Igbo Difficulty

The Swahili vs Igbo difficulty level basically depends on the number of Swahili Alphabets and Igbo 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 Igbo are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Swahili and Igbo, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Swahili is 36 weeks while to learn Igbo time required is 52 weeks.

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