Home
Languagevs


Xhosa vs Zulu


Zulu vs Xhosa


Countries

Countries
South Africa   
South Africa   

Total No. Of Countries
1   
14
1   
14

National Language
South Africa   
South Africa   

Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa   
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe   

Speaking Continents
Africa   
Africa   

Minority Language
Botswana, Lesotho   
Not spoken in any of the countries   

Regulated By
Not Available   
Pan South African Language Board   

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.
  
  • The meaning of word "Zulu" means "Sky"and Zulu was the name of the ancestor who founded the Zulu royal line in about 1670.
  • Zulu language has many loanwords borrowed from Afrikaans and English Languages.
  

Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele   
Xhosa Language   

Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages   
Not Available   

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
53   
32
57   
34

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
10   
7
7   
4

How Many Consonants
43   
32
50   
35

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
44 weeks   
11

Greetings

Hello
Molo   
Sawubona   

Thank You
Ndiyabulela   
Ngiyabonga   

How Are You?
Unjani   
unjani   

Good Night
Ulale kakuhle   
okuhle ebusuku   

Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle   
okuhle kusihlwa   

Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle   
okuhle ntambama   

Good Morning
Molo   
okuhle ekuseni   

Please
Ndicela   
Ngiyacela   

Sorry
Ndicela uxolo   
Ngiyaxolisa   

Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle   
bye   

I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda   
Ngiyakuthanda wena   

Excuse Me
Uxolo   
Uxolo   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Gcaleka   
Qwabe   

Where They Speak
South Africa   
Gabon, South Africa   

Dialect 2
Thembu   
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu   

Where They Speak
South Africa   
Georgia, South Africa   

Dialect 3
Hlubi   
Ndebele   

Where They Speak
South Africa   
Zimbabwe   

Total No. Of Dialects
9   
9
4   
4

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
0.11 %   
99+
0.16 %   
99+

Native Speakers
8.20 million   
99+
12.00 million   
99+

Second Language Speakers
11.00 million   
21
16.00 million   
17

Native Name
isiXhosa   
isiZulu   

Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa   
Isizulu, Zunda   

French Name
xhosa   
zoulou   

German Name
Xhosa-Sprache   
Zulu-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca   
Zulu people   

History

Origin
16th Century   
19   

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Benue-Congo   
Benue-Congo   

Branch
Bantu   
Beatu   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
urban Zulu   

Standard Forms
isiXhosa   
Deep Zulu   

Language Position
Not Available   
87   
99+

Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa   
Not Available   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
xh   
zu   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
xho   
zul   

ISO 639 2/B
xho   
zul   

ISO 639 3
xho   
zul   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
xhos1239   
zulu1248   

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa   
99-AUT-fg   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

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

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Not Available   

Countries >>
<< All

Xhosa and Zulu Language History

Comparison of Xhosa vs Zulu language history gives us differences between origin of Xhosa and Zulu language. History of Xhosa language states that this language originated in 16th Century whereas history of Zulu language states that this language originated in 19. 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 Zulu Language History.

Compare Most Difficult Languages

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

Xhosa vs Zulu Difficulty

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

Most Difficult Languages

Most Difficult Languages

» More Most Difficult Languages

Compare Most Difficult Languages

» More Compare Most Difficult Languages