Shona vs Zulu
Countries
Zimbabwe
South Africa
National Language
Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
South Africa
Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe
Speaking Continents
Africa
Africa
Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
Not spoken in any of the countries
Regulated By
-
Pan South African Language Board
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.
- The meaning of word "Zulu" means "Sky"and Zulu was the name of the ancestor who founded the Zulu royal line in about 1670.
- Zulu language has many loanwords borrowed from Afrikaans and English Languages.
Similar To
Kalanga and Nambya Language
Xhosa Language
Alphabets in
Shona-Alphabets.jpg#200
Zulu-Alphabets.jpg#200
Thank You
Waita zvako
Ngiyabonga
How Are You?
Wakadini zvako?
unjani
Good Night
Urare zvakanaka
okuhle ebusuku
Good Evening
Manheru
okuhle kusihlwa
Good Afternoon
Masikati
okuhle ntambama
Good Morning
Mangwanani
okuhle ekuseni
Please
Ndinokumbirawo
Ngiyacela
Sorry
Ndineurombo
Ngiyaxolisa
I Love You
Ndinokuda
Ngiyakuthanda wena
Where They Speak
Zimbabwe
Gabon, South Africa
Dialect 2
Karanga
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu
Where They Speak
southern Zimbabwe
Georgia, South Africa
Where They Speak
central Zimbabwe, Mashonaland
Zimbabwe
Native Name
chiShona
isiZulu
Alternative Names
Chishona, “Swina” (pej.), Zezuru
Isizulu, Zunda
German Name
Schona-Sprache
Zulu-Sprache
Pronunciation
[ʃoːna]
[zuːlu]
Ethnicity
Shona people
Zulu people
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
Niger-Congo Family
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
Benue-Congo
Early Forms
Old Shona and Middle Shona
urban Zulu
Standard Forms
Standard Shona
Deep Zulu
Signed Forms
Signed Shona
Zulu Sign Language
Scope
Individual
Individual
Glottocode
core1255
zulu1248
Linguasphere
99-AUT-a
99-AUT-fg
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
-
Subject-Verb-Object
Language Morphological Typology
-
-
Shona and Zulu Language History
Comparison of Shona vs Zulu language history gives us differences between origin of Shona and Zulu language. History of Shona language states that this language originated in 20th century whereas history of Zulu language states that this language originated in 19. 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 Zulu Language History.
Shona and Zulu 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 Zulu greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Shona and Zulu language. Shona word for "Hello" is Mhoro or Zulu word for "Thank You" is Ngiyabonga. Find more of such common Shona Greetings and Zulu Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Shona vs Zulu Difficulty
The Shona vs Zulu difficulty level basically depends on the number of Shona Alphabets and Zulu 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 Zulu are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Shona and Zulu, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Shona is 30 weeks while to learn Zulu time required is 44 weeks.