Xhosa vs Afrikaans
Countries
South Africa
South Africa
National Language
South Africa
South Africa
Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa
Namibia, South Africa
Speaking Continents
Africa
Africa
Minority Language
Botswana, Lesotho
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Regulated By
Not Available
Die Taalkommissie, National Languages Committee
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.
- Afrikaans Language is a mixture of English, Dutch, German, French and some South African language like Xhosa.
- Afrikaans Language lacks case and gender distinctions.
Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele
Dutch Language
Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages
Dutch Language
Alphabets in
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200
Afrikaans-Alphabets.jpg#200
Writing Direction
Not Available
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
Thank You
Ndiyabulela
Dankie
How Are You?
Unjani
Hoe gaan dit
Good Night
Ulale kakuhle
goeie nag
Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle
Goeienaand
Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle
Goeie middag
Good Morning
Molo
goeie more
Sorry
Ndicela uxolo
jammer
Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle
Not Available
I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda
Ek het jou lief
Excuse Me
Uxolo
Verskoon my
Dialect 1
Gcaleka
Kaapse Afrikaans
Where They Speak
South Africa
Not Available
Dialect 2
Thembu
Oranjeriverafrikaans
Where They Speak
South Africa
Not Available
Dialect 3
Hlubi
Baster Afrikaans
Where They Speak
South Africa
Namibia
Speaking Population
Not Available
Native Name
isiXhosa
Afrikaans
Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa
Cape Dutch
French Name
xhosa
afrikaans
German Name
Xhosa-Sprache
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
Not Available
[ɐfriˈkɑːns]
Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca
Afrikaners
Origin
16th Century
17th Century
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
Indo-European Family
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
Germanic
Early Forms
No early forms
Cape dutch or kitchen dutch
Standard Forms
isiXhosa
Standard Afrikaans
Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa
Signed Afrikaans (signs of SASL)
Scope
Individual
Individual
ISO 639 6
Not Available
afrs
Glottocode
xhos1239
afri1274
Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa
52-ACB-ba
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object
Subject-Object-Verb
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
Analytic
Xhosa and Afrikaans Language History
Comparison of Xhosa vs Afrikaans language history gives us differences between origin of Xhosa and Afrikaans language. History of Xhosa language states that this language originated in 16th Century whereas history of Afrikaans language states that this language originated in 17th 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 Xhosa and Afrikaans Language History.
Xhosa and Afrikaans 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 Xhosa and Afrikaans greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Xhosa and Afrikaans language. Xhosa word for "Hello" is Molo or Afrikaans word for "Thank You" is Dankie. Find more of such common Xhosa Greetings and Afrikaans Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Xhosa vs Afrikaans Difficulty
The Xhosa vs Afrikaans difficulty level basically depends on the number of Xhosa Alphabets and Afrikaans 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 Xhosa and Afrikaans are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Xhosa and Afrikaans, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Xhosa is 44 weeks while to learn Afrikaans time required is 24 weeks.