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