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Zulu vs Shona


Shona vs Zulu


Countries

Countries
South Africa  
Zimbabwe  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
1  
14

National Language
South Africa  
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe  

Second Language
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Africa  

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Regulated By
Pan South African Language Board  
Not Available  

Interesting Facts
  • 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.
  
  • 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
Xhosa Language  
Kalanga and Nambya Language  

Derived From
Not Available  
Not Available  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
57  
34
Not Available  

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
7  
4
5  
2

How Many Consonants
50  
35
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
Sawubona  
Mhoro  

Thank You
Ngiyabonga  
Waita zvako  

How Are You?
unjani  
Wakadini zvako?  

Good Night
okuhle ebusuku  
Urare zvakanaka  

Good Evening
okuhle kusihlwa  
Manheru  

Good Afternoon
okuhle ntambama  
Masikati  

Good Morning
okuhle ekuseni  
Mangwanani  

Please
Ngiyacela  
Ndinokumbirawo  

Sorry
Ngiyaxolisa  
Ndineurombo  

Bye
bye  
bye  

I Love You
Ngiyakuthanda wena  
Ndinokuda  

Excuse Me
Uxolo  
Pamusoro  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Qwabe  
Hwesa  

Where They Speak
Gabon, South Africa  
Zimbabwe  

Dialect 2
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu  
Karanga  

Where They Speak
Georgia, South Africa  
southern Zimbabwe  

Dialect 3
Ndebele  
Zezuru  

Where They Speak
Zimbabwe  
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland  

Total No. Of Dialects
4  
4
4  
4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
30.00 million  
36
25.00 million  
40

Speaking Population
0.16 %  
99+
0.13 %  
99+

Native Speakers
12.00 million  
99+
8.30 million  
99+

Second Language Speakers
16.00 million  
17
Not Available  

Native Name
isiZulu  
Not Available  

Alternative Names
Isizulu, Zunda  
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru  

French Name
zoulou  
shona  

German Name
Zulu-Sprache  
Schona-Sprache  

Pronunciation
Not Available  
Not Available  

Ethnicity
Zulu people  
Not Available  

History

Origin
19  
20th century  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Benue-Congo  

Branch
Beatu  
Bantu  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
urban Zulu  
Not Available  

Standard Forms
Deep Zulu  
Not Available  

Language Position
87  
99+
107  
99+

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Not Available  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
zu  
sn  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
zul  
sna  

ISO 639 2/B
zul  
sna  

ISO 639 3
zul  
sna  

ISO 639 6
Not Available  
Not Available  

Glottocode
zulu1248  
core1255  

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fg  
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 >>
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Zulu and Shona Language History

Comparison of Zulu vs Shona language history gives us differences between origin of Zulu and Shona language. History of Zulu language states that this language originated in 19 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 Zulu and Shona Language History.

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

Zulu vs Shona Difficulty

The Zulu vs Shona difficulty level basically depends on the number of Zulu 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 Zulu and Shona are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Zulu and Shona, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Zulu is 44 weeks while to learn Shona time required is Not Available.

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