Countries
South Africa
  
Zimbabwe
  
National Language
South Africa
  
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
  
Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa
  
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Speaking Continents
Africa
  
Africa
  
Minority Language
Botswana, Lesotho
  
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Regulated By
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Interesting Facts
- 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.
  
- Shona language is tonal language.
- The African people in Zimbabwe is made of 10 ethnic groups, each speaking a different languages, shona is spoken by 60 percent of population.
  
Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele
  
Kalanga and Nambya Language
  
Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages
  
Not Available
  
Alphabets in
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Shona-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Alphabets
Not Available
  
Phonology
  
  
Scripts
Latin
  
Latin
  
Writing Direction
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Hard to Learn
  
  
Time Taken to Learn
Not Available
  
Hello
Molo
  
Mhoro
  
Thank You
Ndiyabulela
  
Waita zvako
  
How Are You?
Unjani
  
Wakadini zvako?
  
Good Night
Ulale kakuhle
  
Urare zvakanaka
  
Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle
  
Manheru
  
Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle
  
Masikati
  
Good Morning
Molo
  
Mangwanani
  
Please
Ndicela
  
Ndinokumbirawo
  
Sorry
Ndicela uxolo
  
Ndineurombo
  
Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle
  
bye
  
I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda
  
Ndinokuda
  
Excuse Me
Uxolo
  
Pamusoro
  
Dialect 1
Gcaleka
  
Hwesa
  
Where They Speak
South Africa
  
Zimbabwe
  
Dialect 2
Thembu
  
Karanga
  
Where They Speak
South Africa
  
southern Zimbabwe
  
Dialect 3
Hlubi
  
Zezuru
  
Where They Speak
South Africa
  
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland
  
How Many People Speak?
20.00 million
  
99+
25.00 million
  
40
Native Speakers
8.20 million
  
99+
8.30 million
  
99+
Second Language Speakers
11.00 million
  
21
Not Available
  
Native Name
isiXhosa
  
Not Available
  
Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa
  
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru
  
French Name
xhosa
  
shona
  
German Name
Xhosa-Sprache
  
Schona-Sprache
  
Pronunciation
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca
  
Not Available
  
Origin
16th Century
  
20th century
  
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
  
Niger-Congo Family
  
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
  
Benue-Congo
  
Branch
Bantu
  
Bantu
  
Language Forms
  
  
Early Forms
No early forms
  
Not Available
  
Standard Forms
isiXhosa
  
Not Available
  
Language Position
Not Available
  
Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa
  
Not Available
  
Scope
Individual
  
Individual
  
ISO 639 1
xh
  
sn
  
ISO 639 2
  
  
ISO 639 2/T
xho
  
sna
  
ISO 639 2/B
xho
  
sna
  
ISO 639 3
xho
  
sna
  
ISO 639 6
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Glottocode
xhos1239
  
core1255
  
Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa
  
99-AUT-a
  
Types of Language
  
  
Language Type
Living
  
Living
  
Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object
  
Not Available
  
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
All Xhosa and Shona 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 Xhosa and Shona dialects. Various dialects of Xhosa and Shona language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Xhosa are spoken in different Xhosa Speaking Countries whereas Shona Dialects are spoken in different Shona speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Xhosa vs Shona Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Xhosa dialects include: Gcaleka, Thembu. Shona dialects include: Hwesa , Karanga. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.
Xhosa and Shona Speaking population
Xhosa and Shona speaking population is one of the factors based on which Xhosa and Shona languages can be compared. The total count of Xhosa and Shona Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Xhosa language is 0.11 % whereas the percentage of people speaking Shona language is 0.13 %. 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 Xhosa and Shona on Xhosa vs Shona where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.
Xhosa and Shona Language Codes
Xhosa and Shona language codes are used in those applications where using language names are tedious. Xhosa and Shona Language Codes include all the international language codes, glottocodes and linguasphere.