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Shona Language



Countries

Countries
Zimbabwe

Total No. Of Countries
1 14

National Language
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries

Speaking Continents
Africa

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries

Regulated By
-

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.

Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language

Derived From
-

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Shona-Alphabets.jpg#200

Alphabets
37 19

Phonology

How Many Vowels
5 2

How Many Consonants
46 34

Scripts
Latin

Writing Direction
-

Hard to Learn

Language Levels
4 3

Time Taken to Learn
30 weeks 10

Greetings

Hello
Mhoro

Thank You
Waita zvako

How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?

Good Night
Urare zvakanaka

Good Evening
Manheru

Good Afternoon
Masikati

Good Morning
Mangwanani

Please
Ndinokumbirawo

Sorry
Ndineurombo

Bye
bye

I Love You
Ndinokuda

Excuse Me
Pamusoro

Dialects

Dialect 1
Hwesa

Where They Speak
Zimbabwe

How Many People Speak
11,000,000.00 36

Dialect 2
Karanga

Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe

How Many People Speak
1,100,000.00 63

Dialect 3
Zezuru

Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland

How Many People Speak
16.00 85

Total No. Of Dialects
4 4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
25.00 million 40

Speaking Population
0.13 % 54

Native Speakers
8.30 million 51

Second Language Speakers
16.00 million 33

Native Name
chiShona

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

French Name
shona

German Name
Schona-Sprache

Pronunciation
[ʃoːna]

Ethnicity
Shona people

History

Origin
20th century

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family

Subgroup
Benue-Congo

Branch
Bantu

Language Forms

Early Forms
Old Shona and Middle Shona

Standard Forms
Standard Shona

Language Position
107 77

Signed Forms
Signed Shona

Scope
Individual

Code

ISO 639 1
sn

ISO 639 2

ISO 639 2/T
sna

ISO 639 2/B
sna

ISO 639 3
sna

ISO 639 6
sna

Glottocode
core1255

Linguasphere
99-AUT-a

Types of Language

Language Type
Living

Language Linguistic Typology
-

Language Morphological Typology
-

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Origin of Shona language

In order to communicate with each other, the origin of language was the essential part. Various languages are spoken all over the world. Shona language is one of the Most Difficult Languages. The origin of Shona language states that it was put to use in 20th century. The history of Shona language reveals that the language is old and used since many years. Check out in brief about Shona Language History.The evolution of Shona language began with early forms such as Old Shona and Middle Shona. Standard Shona is the standard form of Shona language and it is used in government centers. Know all About Shona Language.

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Shona population

Shona population gives us the total count of number of people speaking Shona language. Shona language is spoken by 25.00 million people in the world. Most of the Shona population lies in the Shona Speaking Countries. Shona language is spoken as first language by 8.30 million people and as second language by about 16.00 million people. Get to know Shona speaking population in detail.

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Shona writing system

There are numerous writing systems but most widely used scripts are Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic. Shona writing system decides the alphabets, vowels and consonants i.e. the written form of Shona language. Some languages share common writing systems. Latin script is used by Shona language. Learn more about . 

Information about Shona language

Check out all the information about Shona language here. You may find it interesting to learn Shona Alphabets or the vowels and consonants of this language. Also knowing about Shona Speaking Countries, Shona speaking continents and Shona Dialects will help in improving your knowledge about this language. Also while travelling to Shona countries knowing common Shona Greetings will help you in communicating with Shona people.

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