Xhosa vs Zulu
Countries
South Africa
South Africa
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 in
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200
Zulu-Alphabets.jpg#200
Writing Direction
Not Available
Not Available
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
Sorry
Ndicela uxolo
Ngiyaxolisa
Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle
bye
I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda
Ngiyakuthanda wena
Where They Speak
South Africa
Gabon, South Africa
Dialect 2
Thembu
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu
Where They Speak
South Africa
Georgia, South Africa
Where They Speak
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Native Name
isiXhosa
isiZulu
Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa
Isizulu, Zunda
German Name
Xhosa-Sprache
Zulu-Sprache
Pronunciation
Not Available
Not Available
Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca
Zulu people
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
Niger-Congo Family
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
Benue-Congo
Early Forms
No early forms
urban Zulu
Standard Forms
isiXhosa
Deep Zulu
Language Position
Not Available
Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa
Not Available
Scope
Individual
Individual
ISO 639 6
Not Available
Not Available
Glottocode
xhos1239
zulu1248
Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa
99-AUT-fg
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object
Subject-Verb-Object
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
Not Available
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.
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.