Home
Languagevs


Shona and Somali


Somali and Shona


Countries

Countries
Zimbabwe  
Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
3  
12

National Language
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe  
Somalia  

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

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Africa, Middle East  

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Yemen  

Regulated By
-  
National Languages Committee, Regional Somali Language Academy  

Interesting Facts
  • 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.
  
  • Somali language is one of the best documented Afro-Asiatic languages.
  • One of the most widely spoken of the Cushitic languages is the Somali Language.
  

Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language  
Afar and Oromo Language  

Derived From
-  
Arabic Language  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
37  
19
26  
8

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
5  
2

How Many Consonants
46  
34
21  
11

Scripts
Latin  
Arabic, Latin, Osmanya  

Writing Direction
-  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
4  
3
5  
4

Time Taken to Learn
30 weeks  
10
52 weeks  
18

Greetings

Hello
Mhoro  
Hello  

Thank You
Waita zvako  
Waad ku mahadsan tahay  

How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?  
Sidee tahay ?  

Good Night
Urare zvakanaka  
Habeenka Good  

Good Evening
Manheru  
Evening Good  

Good Afternoon
Masikati  
galab wanaagsan  

Good Morning
Mangwanani  
Subax wanaagsan  

Please
Ndinokumbirawo  
Fadlan  

Sorry
Ndineurombo  
sorry  

Bye
bye  
caraysiiyo  

I Love You
Ndinokuda  
Waan ku jeclahay  

Excuse Me
Pamusoro  
iga raali ahow  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Hwesa  
Northern Somali  

Where They Speak
Zimbabwe  
Gabon, Standard Somali  

How Many People Speak
11,000,000.00  
36
16,000,000.00  
32

Dialect 2
Karanga  
Benaadir  

Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe  
Georgia, The capital of Mogadishu  

How Many People Speak
1,100,000.00  
99+
16,000,000.00  
30

Dialect 3
Zezuru  
Af-Ashraaf  

Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland  
Standard Somali  

How Many People Speak
16.00  
99+
21.00  
99+

Total No. Of Dialects
4  
4
3  
3

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
0.13 %  
99+
0.07 %  
99+

Native Speakers
8.30 million  
99+
8.00 million  
99+

Second Language Speakers
16.00 million  
33
21.00 million  
29

Native Name
chiShona  
af Soomaali  

Alternative Names
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru  
Af-Maxaad Tiri, Af-Soomaali, Common Somali, Soomaaliga  

French Name
shona  
somali  

German Name
Schona-Sprache  
Somali  

Pronunciation
[ʃoːna]  
[afsoomaali]  

Ethnicity
Shona people  
Somalis  

History

Origin
20th century  
19th century  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Afro-Asiatic Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Cushitic  

Branch
Bantu  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Old Shona and Middle Shona  
No early forms  

Standard Forms
Standard Shona  
Somali  

Language Position
107  
99+
83  
99+

Signed Forms
Signed Shona  
Somali Sign Language  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
sn  
so  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
sna  
som  

ISO 639 2/B
sna  
som  

ISO 639 3
sna  
som  

ISO 639 6
sna  
som  

Glottocode
core1255  
soma1255  

Linguasphere
99-AUT-a  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
-  
Subject-Object-Verb  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
-  

Summary >>
<< Code

All Shona and Somali Dialects

Most languages have dialects where each dialect differ from other dialect with respect to grammar and vocabulary. Here you will get to know all Shona and Somali dialects. Various dialects of Shona and Somali language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Shona are spoken in different Shona Speaking Countries whereas Somali Dialects are spoken in different Somali speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Shona vs Somali Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Shona dialects include: Hwesa, Karanga. Somali dialects include: Northern Somali , Benaadir. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.

Compare Most Difficult Languages

Shona and Somali Speaking population

Shona and Somali speaking population is one of the factors based on which Shona and Somali languages can be compared. The total count of Shona and Somali Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Shona language is 0.13 % whereas the percentage of people speaking Somali language is 0.07 %. When we compare the speaking population of any two languages we get to know which of two languages is more popular. Find more details about how many people speak Shona and Somali on Shona vs Somali where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.

Shona and Somali Language Codes

Shona and Somali language codes are used in those applications where using language names are tedious. Shona and Somali Language Codes include all the international language codes, glottocodes and linguasphere.

Most Difficult Languages

Most Difficult Languages

» More Most Difficult Languages

Compare Most Difficult Languages

» More Compare Most Difficult Languages