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Xhosa
Xhosa

Shona
Shona



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Xhosa
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Shona

Xhosa vs Shona

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1 Countries
1.1 Countries
South Africa
Zimbabwe
1.2 Total No. Of Countries
11
Bhojpuri
0 46
1.3 National Language
South Africa
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
1.4 Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa
Not spoken in any of the countries
1.5 Speaking Continents
Africa
Africa
1.6 Minority Language
Botswana, Lesotho
Not spoken in any of the countries
1.7 Regulated By
Not Available
Not Available
1.8 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.
1.9 Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele
Kalanga and Nambya Language
1.10 Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages
Not Available
2 Alphabets
2.1 Alphabets in
2.2 Alphabets
53NA
Irish
18 247
2.6 Phonology
2.6.1 How Many Vowels
105
Hebrew
0 32
2.6.3 How Many Consonants
4346
German
9 60
4.2 Scripts
Latin
Latin
4.3 Writing Direction
Not Available
Not Available
4.4 Hard to Learn
4.4.1 Language Levels
34
Bengali
2 12
4.5.3 Time Taken to Learn
44 weeksNA
Cebuano
3 88
5 Greetings
5.1 Hello
Molo
Mhoro
5.2 Thank You
Ndiyabulela
Waita zvako
5.3 How Are You?
Unjani
Wakadini zvako?
5.4 Good Night
Ulale kakuhle
Urare zvakanaka
5.5 Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle
Manheru
5.6 Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle
Masikati
5.7 Good Morning
Molo
Mangwanani
5.8 Please
Ndicela
Ndinokumbirawo
5.9 Sorry
Ndicela uxolo
Ndineurombo
5.10 Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle
bye
5.11 I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda
Ndinokuda
5.12 Excuse Me
Uxolo
Pamusoro
6 Dialects
6.1 Dialect 1
Gcaleka
Hwesa
6.1.1 Where They Speak
South Africa
Zimbabwe
6.1.2 How Many People Speak
NANA
Macedonian
1.5 960000000
6.3 Dialect 2
Thembu
Karanga
6.3.1 Where They Speak
South Africa
southern Zimbabwe
6.3.2 How Many People Speak
NANA
Dzongkha
700 80000000
7.2 Dialect 3
Hlubi
Zezuru
7.2.1 Where They Speak
South Africa
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland
7.2.2 How Many People Speak
NANA
Romanian
1400 96000000
7.4 Total No. Of Dialects
94
Sanskrit
0 188
8 How Many People Speak
8.1 How Many People Speak?
20.00 million25.00 million
Abkhaz
0.13 1200
8.2 Speaking Population
0.11 %0.13 %
Persian
0.11 89
9.4 Native Speakers
8.20 million8.30 million
Abkhaz
0.13 873
9.4.1 Second Language Speakers
11.00 millionNA
Finnish
0.01 400
10.7.4 Native Name
isiXhosa
Not Available
10.7.5 Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru
10.7.6 French Name
xhosa
shona
10.7.7 German Name
Xhosa-Sprache
Schona-Sprache
10.8 Pronunciation
Not Available
Not Available
10.9 Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca
Not Available
11 History
11.1 Origin
16th Century
20th century
11.2 Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
Niger-Congo Family
11.2.1 Subgroup
Benue-Congo
Benue-Congo
11.2.2 Branch
Bantu
Bantu
11.3 Language Forms
11.3.1 Early Forms
No early forms
Not Available
11.3.2 Standard Forms
isiXhosa
Not Available
11.3.3 Language Position
NA107
Chinese
1 120
11.3.4 Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa
Not Available
11.4 Scope
Individual
Individual
12 Code
12.1 ISO 639 1
xh
sn
12.2 ISO 639 2
12.2.1 ISO 639 2/T
xho
sna
12.2.2 ISO 639 2/B
xho
sna
12.3 ISO 639 3
xho
sna
12.4 ISO 639 6
Not Available
Not Available
12.5 Glottocode
xhos1239
core1255
12.6 Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa
99-AUT-a
12.7 Types of Language
12.7.1 Language Type
Living
Living
12.7.2 Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object
Not Available
12.7.3 Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
Not Available

Xhosa vs Shona Speaking Countries

There are plenty of languages spoken around the world. Every country has its own official language. Compare Xhosa vs Shona speaking countries, so that you will have total count of countries that speak Xhosa or Shona language.

  • Xhosa is spoken as a national language in: South Africa.
  • Shona is spoken as a national language in: Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe.

You will also get to know the continents where Xhosa and Shona speaking countries lie. Based on the number of people that speak these languages, the position of Xhosa language is not available and position of Shona language is 107. Find all the information about these languages on Xhosa and Shona.

Xhosa and Shona Language History

Comparison of Xhosa vs Shona language history gives us differences between origin of Xhosa and Shona language. History of Xhosa language states that this language originated in 16th Century whereas history of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th 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 Shona Language History.

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

Xhosa vs Shona Difficulty

The Xhosa vs Shona difficulty level basically depends on the number of Xhosa Alphabets and Shona 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 Shona are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Xhosa and Shona, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Xhosa is 44 weeks while to learn Shona time required is Not Available.