Home
Languagevs


Zulu vs Yoruba


Yoruba vs Zulu


Countries

Countries
South Africa   
Benin, Nigeria   

Total No. Of Countries
1   
14
2   
13

National Language
South Africa   
Nigeria   

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   
Africa, Brazil, Togo, United Kingdom, United States of America   

Regulated By
Pan South African Language Board   
Yoruba Academy   

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.
  
  • 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
Xhosa Language   
Owo and Itsekiri languages   

Derived From
Not Available   
Not Available   

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
57   
34
29   
11

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
7   
4
12   
9

How Many Consonants
50   
35
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
Sawubona   
Ẹ n lẹ   

Thank You
Ngiyabonga   
e dupe   

How Are You?
unjani   
Bawo ni o se wa   

Good Night
okuhle ebusuku   
Kasun layọ o   

Good Evening
okuhle kusihlwa   
ka a ale   

Good Afternoon
okuhle ntambama   
e kaasan   

Good Morning
okuhle ekuseni   
e kaaro   

Please
Ngiyacela   
Jowo   

Sorry
Ngiyaxolisa   
binu   

Bye
bye   
bye   

I Love You
Ngiyakuthanda wena   
mo nifẹ rẹ   

Excuse Me
Uxolo   
mo tọrọ gafara   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Qwabe   
Itsekiri   

Where They Speak
Gabon, South Africa   
Nigeria   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
500,000.00   
34

Dialect 2
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu   
Ede   

Where They Speak
Georgia, South Africa   
Benin, Togo   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
800,000.00   
27

Dialect 3
Ndebele   
Ulukwumi   

Where They Speak
Zimbabwe   
Nigeria   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
10,000.00   
34

Total No. Of Dialects
4   
4
20   
18

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
30.00 million   
36
30.00 million   
36

Speaking Population
0.16 %   
99+
0.42 %   
32

Native Speakers
12.00 million   
99+
28.00 million   
29

Second Language Speakers
16.00 million   
17
Not Available   

Native Name
isiZulu   
Yorùbá   

Alternative Names
Isizulu, Zunda   
Yariba, Yooba   

French Name
zoulou   
yoruba   

German Name
Zulu-Sprache   
Yoruba-Sprache   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
Zulu people   
Yoruba people   

History

Origin
19   
4 BC   

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family   
Niger-Congo Family   

Subgroup
Benue-Congo   
Western Sudanic   

Branch
Beatu   
Kwa   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
urban Zulu   
No early forms   

Standard Forms
Deep Zulu   
Yorùbá   

Language Position
87   
99+
49   
36

Signed Forms
Not Available   
Yoruba Sign Language   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
zu   
yo   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
zul   
yor   

ISO 639 2/B
zul   
yor   

ISO 639 3
zul   
yor   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
zulu1248   
yoru1245   

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fg   
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 >>
<< All

Zulu and Yoruba Language History

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

Compare Most Difficult Languages

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

Zulu vs Yoruba Difficulty

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

Most Difficult Languages

Most Difficult Languages

» More Most Difficult Languages

Compare Most Difficult Languages

» More Compare Most Difficult Languages