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Chewa vs Shona


Shona vs Chewa


Countries

Countries
Malawi, Zimbabwe  
Zimbabwe  

Total No. Of Countries
2  
13
1  
14

National Language
Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe  
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe  

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

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Africa  

Minority Language
Zambia  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Regulated By
-  
-  

Interesting Facts
  • Chewa is one of the 55 languages featured on the Voyager spacecraft.
  • Most widely known language of Malawi is Chewa.
  
  • 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
Zulu language  
Kalanga and Nambya Language  

Derived From
-  
-  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
31  
13
37  
19

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
5  
2

How Many Consonants
18  
8
46  
34

Scripts
Latin  
Latin  

Writing Direction
-  
-  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
5  
4
4  
3

Time Taken to Learn
32 weeks  
11
30 weeks  
10

Greetings

Hello
Moni  
Mhoro  

Thank You
Zikomo  
Waita zvako  

How Are You?
Muli bwanji?  
Wakadini zvako?  

Good Night
Usiku wabwino  
Urare zvakanaka  

Good Evening
Madzulo abwino  
Manheru  

Good Afternoon
Masana abwino  
Masikati  

Good Morning
M'mawa wabwino  
Mangwanani  

Please
Chonde  
Ndinokumbirawo  

Sorry
pepani  
Ndineurombo  

Bye
anatsanzikana  
bye  

I Love You
Ndimakukondani  
Ndinokuda  

Excuse Me
Pepani  
Pamusoro  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kasungu  
Hwesa  

Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia  
Zimbabwe  

How Many People Speak
12,000,000.00  
35
11,000,000.00  
36

Dialect 2
Kikamtunda  
Karanga  

Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia  
southern Zimbabwe  

How Many People Speak
10,000,000.00  
37
1,100,000.00  
99+

Dialect 3
Kimaravi  
Zezuru  

Where They Speak
Malawi, Zambia  
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland  

How Many People Speak
1,200,000.00  
99+
16.00  
99+

Total No. Of Dialects
5  
5
4  
4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
12.00 million  
99+
25.00 million  
40

Speaking Population
0.17 %  
99+
0.13 %  
99+

Native Speakers
12.00 million  
99+
8.30 million  
99+

Second Language Speakers
1.50 million  
99+
16.00 million  
33

Native Name
Nyanja  
chiShona  

Alternative Names
Chichewa, Chinyanja, Nyanja, Nyanja-Chewa  
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru  

French Name
chichewa; chewa; nyanja  
shona  

German Name
Nyanja-Sprache  
Schona-Sprache  

Pronunciation
[ˈtʃewa]  
[ʃoːna]  

Ethnicity
Chewa people  
Shona people  

History

Origin
15th Century  
20th century  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Benue-Congo  

Branch
Bantu  
Bantu  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
Old Shona and Middle Shona  

Standard Forms
Chewa  
Standard Shona  

Language Position
27  
25
107  
99+

Signed Forms
Chewa Sign Language  
Signed Shona  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
ny  
sn  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
nya  
sna  

ISO 639 2/B
nya  
sna  

ISO 639 3
nya  
sna  

ISO 639 6
nya  
sna  

Glottocode
nyan1308  
core1255  

Linguasphere
99-AUS-xaa – xag  
99-AUT-a  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
-  
-  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
-  

Countries >>
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Chewa and Shona Language History

Comparison of Chewa vs Shona language history gives us differences between origin of Chewa and Shona language. History of Chewa language states that this language originated in 15th Century 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 Chewa and Shona Language History.

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

Chewa vs Shona Difficulty

The Chewa vs Shona difficulty level basically depends on the number of Chewa 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 Chewa and Shona are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Chewa and Shona, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Chewa is 32 weeks while to learn Shona time required is 30 weeks.

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