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Xhosa vs Yoruba


Yoruba vs Xhosa


Countries

Countries
South Africa   
Benin, Nigeria   

Total No. Of Countries
1   
14
2   
13

National Language
South Africa   
Nigeria   

Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa   
Not spoken in any of the countries   

Speaking Continents
Africa   
Africa   

Minority Language
Botswana, Lesotho   
Africa, Brazil, Togo, United Kingdom, United States of America   

Regulated By
Not Available   
Yoruba Academy   

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.
  
  • One of the largest African ethnic groups is Yoruba in south of Sahara Desert.
  • In Yoruba language, same combination of vowels and consonants have different meanings depending on the pitch of the vowels, so it is tonal language.
  

Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele   
Owo and Itsekiri languages   

Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages   
Not Available   

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200   
Yoruba-Alphabet.jpg#200   

Alphabets
53   
32
29   
11

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
10   
7
12   
9

How Many Consonants
43   
32
17   
7

Scripts
Latin   
Latin   

Writing Direction
Not Available   
Not Available   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3   
2
3   
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks   
11
30 weeks   
9

Greetings

Hello
Molo   
Ẹ n lẹ   

Thank You
Ndiyabulela   
e dupe   

How Are You?
Unjani   
Bawo ni o se wa   

Good Night
Ulale kakuhle   
Kasun layọ o   

Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle   
ka a ale   

Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle   
e kaasan   

Good Morning
Molo   
e kaaro   

Please
Ndicela   
Jowo   

Sorry
Ndicela uxolo   
binu   

Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle   
bye   

I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda   
mo nifẹ rẹ   

Excuse Me
Uxolo   
mo tọrọ gafara   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Gcaleka   
Itsekiri   

Where They Speak
South Africa   
Nigeria   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
500,000.00   
34

Dialect 2
Thembu   
Ede   

Where They Speak
South Africa   
Benin, Togo   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
800,000.00   
27

Dialect 3
Hlubi   
Ulukwumi   

Where They Speak
South Africa   
Nigeria   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
10,000.00   
34

Total No. Of Dialects
9   
9
20   
18

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
20.00 million   
99+
30.00 million   
36

Speaking Population
0.11 %   
99+
0.42 %   
32

Native Speakers
8.20 million   
99+
28.00 million   
29

Second Language Speakers
11.00 million   
21
Not Available   

Native Name
isiXhosa   
Yorùbá   

Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa   
Yariba, Yooba   

French Name
xhosa   
yoruba   

German Name
Xhosa-Sprache   
Yoruba-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca   
Yoruba people   

History

Origin
16th Century   
4 BC   

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Benue-Congo   
Western Sudanic   

Branch
Bantu   
Kwa   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
No early forms   

Standard Forms
isiXhosa   
Yorùbá   

Language Position
Not Available   
49   
36

Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa   
Yoruba Sign Language   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
xh   
yo   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
xho   
yor   

ISO 639 2/B
xho   
yor   

ISO 639 3
xho   
yor   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
xhos1239   
yoru1245   

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa   
No data available   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object   
Subject-Verb-Object   

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Analytic, Isolating   

Countries >>
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Xhosa and Yoruba Language History

Comparison of Xhosa vs Yoruba language history gives us differences between origin of Xhosa and Yoruba language. History of Xhosa language states that this language originated in 16th Century whereas history of Yoruba language states that this language originated in 4 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 Xhosa and Yoruba Language History.

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

Xhosa vs Yoruba Difficulty

The Xhosa vs Yoruba difficulty level basically depends on the number of Xhosa Alphabets and Yoruba 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 Yoruba are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Xhosa and Yoruba, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Xhosa is 44 weeks while to learn Yoruba time required is 30 weeks.

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