Home
Languagevs


Shona vs Akan


Akan vs Shona


Countries

Countries
Zimbabwe  
Ghana, Ivory coast  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
2  
13

National Language
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe  
Ghana  

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

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Africa  

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Benin, United States of America  

Regulated By
-  
Akan Orthography Committee  

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.
  
  • Ghana has over 100 ethnic groups living, and Akan is one of the largest tribe.
  • Akan language came in South America, notably Suriname and Jamaica through slave trade.
  

Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language  
Ewe and Ga-Dangme Languages  

Derived From
-  
-  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
37  
19
21  
3

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
10  
7

How Many Consonants
46  
34
16  
6

Scripts
Latin  
Latin  

Writing Direction
-  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
4  
3
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
30 weeks  
10
44 weeks  
17

Greetings

Hello
Mhoro  
ete-sen  

Thank You
Waita zvako  
meda ase  

How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?  
wo ho te sɛn?  

Good Night
Urare zvakanaka  
maadwo  

Good Evening
Manheru  
maadwo  

Good Afternoon
Masikati  
maaha  

Good Morning
Mangwanani  
maakye  

Please
Ndinokumbirawo  
wae  

Sorry
Ndineurombo  
Kafra  

Bye
bye  
bye  

I Love You
Ndinokuda  
Me doכ wo  

Excuse Me
Pamusoro  
mepa wo kyɛw  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Hwesa  
Asante  

Where They Speak
Zimbabwe  
Ghana  

How Many People Speak
11,000,000.00  
36
9,000,000.00  
39

Dialect 2
Karanga  
Akuapem  

Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe  
Ghana  

How Many People Speak
1,100,000.00  
99+
9,000,000.00  
38

Dialect 3
Zezuru  
Fante  

Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland  
Ghana  

How Many People Speak
16.00  
99+
1,900,000.00  
99+

Total No. Of Dialects
4  
4
3  
3

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
0.13 %  
99+
0.17 %  
99+

Native Speakers
8.30 million  
99+
11.00 million  
99+

Second Language Speakers
16.00 million  
33
21.00 million  
29

Native Name
chiShona  
Akan  

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

French Name
shona  
akan  

German Name
Schona-Sprache  
Akan-Sprache  

Pronunciation
[ʃoːna]  
[ˈaːkã]  

Ethnicity
Shona people  
Akan people  

History

Origin
20th century  
15  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
-  

Branch
Bantu  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Old Shona and Middle Shona  
No early forms  

Standard Forms
Standard Shona  
Akan  

Language Position
107  
99+
104  
99+

Signed Forms
Signed Shona  
Akan Sign Language  

Scope
Individual  
Macrolanguage  

Code

ISO 639 1
sn  
ak  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
sna  
aka  

ISO 639 2/B
sna  
aka  

ISO 639 3
sna  
aka  

ISO 639 6
sna  
aka  

Glottocode
core1255  
akan1251  

Linguasphere
99-AUT-a  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
-  
-  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
-  

Countries >>
<< All

Shona and Akan Language History

Comparison of Shona vs Akan language history gives us differences between origin of Shona and Akan language. History of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th century whereas history of Akan language states that this language originated in 15. 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 Shona and Akan Language History.

Compare Most Difficult Languages

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

Shona vs Akan Difficulty

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

Most Difficult Languages

Most Difficult Languages

» More Most Difficult Languages

Compare Most Difficult Languages

» More Compare Most Difficult Languages