Home
Languagevs


Xhosa vs Shona


Shona vs Xhosa


Countries

Countries
South Africa  
Zimbabwe  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
1  
14

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

Alphabets in
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Shona-Alphabets.jpg#200  

Alphabets
53  
32
Not Available  

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
10  
7
5  
2

How Many Consonants
43  
32
46  
34

Scripts
Latin  
Latin  

Writing Direction
Not Available  
Not Available  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
4  
3

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
11
Not Available  

Greetings

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  

Dialects

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  

Total No. Of Dialects
9  
9
4  
4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
20.00 million  
99+
25.00 million  
40

Speaking Population
0.11 %  
99+
0.13 %  
99+

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  

History

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  
107  
99+

Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa  
Not Available  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

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  

Countries >>
<< All

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.

Compare Most Difficult Languages

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.

Most Difficult Languages

Most Difficult Languages

» More Most Difficult Languages

Compare Most Difficult Languages

» More Compare Most Difficult Languages