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Swahili vs Lao


Lao
Lao vs Swahili


Countries

Countries
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya  
Laos  

Total No. Of Countries
4  
11
1  
14

National Language
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania  
Laos, Northeastern Thailand  

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

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Asia  

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

Regulated By
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)  
-  

Interesting Facts
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
    •   
  • There is no space left between words, only between phrases or sentences in Lao language.
  • The Lao alphabets has been reformed many times over the past 50 years.
  

Similar To
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages  
Thai Language  

Derived From
Arabic Language  
Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer Languages  

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Swahili-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Lao-Alphabets.jpg#200  

Alphabets
24  
6
53  
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
28  
20

How Many Consonants
21  
11
27  
17

Scripts
Latin  
Thai and Lao Braille  

Writing Direction
-  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
6  
5

Time Taken to Learn
36 weeks  
13
44 weeks  
17

Greetings

Hello
Habari  
ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i)  

Thank You
Asante  
ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i)  

How Are You?
Habari gani?  
ສະບາຍດີບ (sába̖ai-di̖i baw?)  

Good Night
Usiku mwema  
ໃນຕອນກາງຄືນ ທີ່ດີ (naitonkangkhun thidi)  

Good Evening
Habari za jioni  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ແລງ (sa bai di ton aelng)  

Good Afternoon
nzuri Alasiri  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ສວາຍ (sa bai di ton suaai)  

Good Morning
Habari za asubuhi  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ເຊົ້າ (sa bai di ton sao)  

Please
tafadhali  
ກະລຸນາ (kaluna)  

Sorry
pole  
ຂໍອະໄພ (khooaphai)  

Bye
bye  
Sôhk dii der  

I Love You
nakupenda  
ຂ້ອຍ​ຮັກ​ເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)  

Excuse Me
Samahani  
ຂໍ​ໂທດ (kho othd)  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kiunguja  
Vientiane Lao  

Where They Speak
Zanzibar island  
Laos  

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00  
12
3,000,000.00  
99+

Dialect 2
Kimrima  
Northern Lao  

Where They Speak
Dar es Salaam  
Laos  

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00  
10
3,000,000.00  
99+

Dialect 3
Kimgao  
Central Lao  

Where They Speak
Kilwa  
Laos  

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00  
9
3,000,000.00  
99+

Total No. Of Dialects
12  
12
6  
6

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
150.00 million  
13
25.00 million  
40

Speaking Population
0.42 %  
34
0.22 %  
99+

Native Speakers
15.00 million  
40
25.00 million  
32

Second Language Speakers
75.00 million  
14
3.00 million  
99+

Native Name
Kiswahili  
ພາສາລາວ (pháasaa láo)  

Alternative Names
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili  
Eastern Thai, Lào, Lao Kao, Lao Wiang, Lao-Lum, Lao-Noi, Lao-Tai, Laotian, Laotian Tai, Lum Lao, Phou Lao, Rong Kong, Tai Lao  

French Name
swahili  
lao  

German Name
Swahili  
Laotisch  

Pronunciation
[swaˈhili]  
pʰáːsǎː láːw  

Ethnicity
Swahili people or Waswahili  
Lao people  

History

Origin
6th century  
1283 CE  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Tai-Kadai Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Tai  

Branch
Bantu  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
No Early forms  

Standard Forms
Swahili  
Lao  

Language Position
21  
19
43  
40

Signed Forms
Swahili Sign Language  
Lao Sign Language  

Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
sw  
lo  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
swa  
lao  

ISO 639 2/B
swa  
lao  

ISO 639 3
swa  
lao  

ISO 639 6
swa  
lao  

Glottocode
swah1254  
laoo1244  

Linguasphere
99-AUS-m  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
-  
Subject-Verb-Object  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
Isolating  

Countries >>
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Swahili and Lao Language History

Comparison of Swahili vs Lao language history gives us differences between origin of Swahili and Lao language. History of Swahili language states that this language originated in 6th century whereas history of Lao language states that this language originated in 1283 CE. 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 Swahili and Lao Language History.

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Swahili and Lao 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 Swahili and Lao greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Swahili and Lao language. Swahili word for "Hello" is Habari or Lao word for "Thank You" is ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i). Find more of such common Swahili Greetings and Lao Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Swahili vs Lao Difficulty

The Swahili vs Lao difficulty level basically depends on the number of Swahili Alphabets and Lao 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 Swahili and Lao are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Swahili and Lao, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Swahili is 36 weeks while to learn Lao time required is 44 weeks.

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