Shona vs Swahili
Countries
Zimbabwe
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya
National Language
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania
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
Not spoken in any of the countries
Regulated By
Not Available
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)
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.
- Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
- The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages
Derived From
Not Available
Arabic Language
Alphabets in
Shona-Alphabets.jpg#200
Swahili-Alphabets.jpg#200
Writing Direction
Not Available
Not Available
Time Taken to Learn
Not Available
Thank You
Waita zvako
Asante
How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?
Habari gani?
Good Night
Urare zvakanaka
Usiku mwema
Good Evening
Manheru
Habari za jioni
Good Afternoon
Masikati
nzuri Alasiri
Good Morning
Mangwanani
Habari za asubuhi
Please
Ndinokumbirawo
tafadhali
I Love You
Ndinokuda
nakupenda
Excuse Me
Pamusoro
Samahani
Where They Speak
Zimbabwe
Zanzibar island
Dialect 2
Karanga
Kimrima
Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe
Dar es Salaam
Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland
Kilwa
Speaking Population
Not Available
Alternative Names
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili
French Name
shona
swahili
German Name
Schona-Sprache
Swahili
Pronunciation
Not Available
Not Available
Ethnicity
Not Available
Swahili people or Waswahili
Origin
20th century
6th century
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
Niger-Congo Family
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
Benue-Congo
Early Forms
Not Available
No early forms
Standard Forms
Not Available
Swahili
Language Position
Not Available
Signed Forms
Not Available
Not Available
Scope
Individual
Individual, Macrolanguage
ISO 639 6
Not Available
Not Available
Glottocode
core1255
swah1254
Linguasphere
99-AUT-a
99-AUS-m
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
Not Available
Not Available
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
Not Available
Shona and Swahili Language History
Comparison of Shona vs Swahili language history gives us differences between origin of Shona and Swahili language. History of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th century whereas history of Swahili language states that this language originated in 6th 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 Shona and Swahili Language History.
Shona and Swahili 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 Swahili greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Shona and Swahili language. Shona word for "Hello" is Mhoro or Swahili word for "Thank You" is Asante. Find more of such common Shona Greetings and Swahili Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Shona vs Swahili Difficulty
The Shona vs Swahili difficulty level basically depends on the number of Shona Alphabets and Swahili 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 Swahili are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Shona and Swahili, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Shona is Not Available while to learn Swahili time required is 36 weeks.