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Yoruba vs Xhosa


Xhosa vs Yoruba


Countries

Countries
Benin, Nigeria   
South Africa   

Total No. Of Countries
2   
13
1   
14

National Language
Nigeria   
South Africa   

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

Speaking Continents
Africa   
Africa   

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

Regulated By
Yoruba Academy   
Not Available   

Interesting Facts
  • 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.
  
  • 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.
  

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

Derived From
Not Available   
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages   

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
29   
11
53   
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
12   
9
10   
7

How Many Consonants
17   
7
43   
32

Scripts
Latin   
Latin   

Writing Direction
Not Available   
Not Available   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3   
2
3   
2

Time Taken to Learn
30 weeks   
9
44 weeks   
11

Greetings

Hello
Ẹ n lẹ   
Molo   

Thank You
e dupe   
Ndiyabulela   

How Are You?
Bawo ni o se wa   
Unjani   

Good Night
Kasun layọ o   
Ulale kakuhle   

Good Evening
ka a ale   
Ubusuku obuhle   

Good Afternoon
e kaasan   
Uben' emva kwemini entle   

Good Morning
e kaaro   
Molo   

Please
Jowo   
Ndicela   

Sorry
binu   
Ndicela uxolo   

Bye
bye   
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle   

I Love You
mo nifẹ rẹ   
Ndiyakuthanda   

Excuse Me
mo tọrọ gafara   
Uxolo   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Itsekiri   
Gcaleka   

Where They Speak
Nigeria   
South Africa   

How Many People Speak
500,000.00   
34
Not Available   

Dialect 2
Ede   
Thembu   

Where They Speak
Benin, Togo   
South Africa   

How Many People Speak
800,000.00   
27
Not Available   

Dialect 3
Ulukwumi   
Hlubi   

Where They Speak
Nigeria   
South Africa   

How Many People Speak
10,000.00   
34
Not Available   

Total No. Of Dialects
20   
18
9   
9

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
0.42 %   
32
0.11 %   
99+

Native Speakers
28.00 million   
29
8.20 million   
99+

Second Language Speakers
Not Available   
11.00 million   
21

Native Name
Yorùbá   
isiXhosa   

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

French Name
yoruba   
xhosa   

German Name
Yoruba-Sprache   
Xhosa-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
Yoruba people   
amaXhosa, amaBhaca   

History

Origin
4 BC   
16th Century   

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Western Sudanic   
Benue-Congo   

Branch
Kwa   
Bantu   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
No early forms   

Standard Forms
Yorùbá   
isiXhosa   

Language Position
49   
36
Not Available   

Signed Forms
Yoruba Sign Language   
Signed Xhosa   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
yo   
xh   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
yor   
xho   

ISO 639 2/B
yor   
xho   

ISO 639 3
yor   
xho   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
yoru1245   
xhos1239   

Linguasphere
No data available   
99-AUT-fa   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

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

Language Morphological Typology
Analytic, Isolating   
Not Available   

Countries >>
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Yoruba and Xhosa Language History

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

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

Yoruba vs Xhosa Difficulty

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

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