Shona vs Xhosa
Countries
Zimbabwe
South Africa
National Language
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
South Africa
Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
Lesotho, South Africa
Speaking Continents
Africa
Africa
Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
Botswana, Lesotho
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.
- Xhosa has 15 click sounds, borrowed from the khoi-khoi and san languages of the South Africa.
- The same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meaning when said with different tones, so Xhosa is tonal.
Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele
Derived From
-
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages
Alphabets in
Shona-Alphabets.jpg#200
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200
Thank You
Waita zvako
Ndiyabulela
How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?
Unjani
Good Night
Urare zvakanaka
Ulale kakuhle
Good Evening
Manheru
Ubusuku obuhle
Good Afternoon
Masikati
Uben' emva kwemini entle
Good Morning
Mangwanani
Molo
Please
Ndinokumbirawo
Ndicela
Sorry
Ndineurombo
Ndicela uxolo
Bye
bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle
I Love You
Ndinokuda
Ndiyakuthanda
Where They Speak
Zimbabwe
South Africa
Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe
South Africa
Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland
South Africa
Native Name
chiShona
isiXhosa
Alternative Names
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa
German Name
Schona-Sprache
Xhosa-Sprache
Pronunciation
[ʃoːna]
[ˈkǁʰɔ̀ːsa]
Ethnicity
Shona people
amaXhosa, amaBhaca
Origin
20th century
16th Century
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
Niger-Congo Family
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
Benue-Congo
Early Forms
Old Shona and Middle Shona
No early forms
Standard Forms
Standard Shona
isiXhosa
Signed Forms
Signed Shona
Signed Xhosa
Scope
Individual
Individual
Glottocode
core1255
xhos1239
Linguasphere
99-AUT-a
99-AUT-fa
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
-
Subject-Verb-Object
Language Morphological Typology
-
-
Shona and Xhosa Language History
Comparison of Shona vs Xhosa language history gives us differences between origin of Shona and Xhosa language. History of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th century whereas history of Xhosa language states that this language originated in 16th 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 Xhosa Language History.
Shona and Xhosa 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 Xhosa greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Shona and Xhosa language. Shona word for "Hello" is Mhoro or Xhosa word for "Thank You" is Ndiyabulela. Find more of such common Shona Greetings and Xhosa Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Shona vs Xhosa Difficulty
The Shona vs Xhosa difficulty level basically depends on the number of Shona Alphabets and Xhosa 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 Xhosa are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Shona and Xhosa, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Shona is 30 weeks while to learn Xhosa time required is 44 weeks.