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Swahili vs Tamil


Tamil vs Swahili


Countries

Countries
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya  
Malaysia, Mauritius, Puducherry, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu  

Total No. Of Countries
4  
11
6  
9

National Language
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania  
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu  

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, kerala, Puducherry  

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Asia  

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Canada, Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles  

Regulated By
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)  
Official language Commission of Government of Tamil Nadu, Thanjavur Tamil University  

Interesting Facts
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
    •   
  • Tamil is the oldest language in the world. Tamil was spoken in South India more than 5000 years ago.
  • The first legally recognized Classical Language of India is Tamil.
    •   

Similar To
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages  
Malayalam  

Derived From
Arabic Language  
-  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
24  
6
247  
99+

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
12  
9

How Many Consonants
21  
11
18  
8

Scripts
Latin  
Tamil  

Writing Direction
-  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
36 weeks  
13
44 weeks  
17

Greetings

Hello
Habari  
வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)  

Thank You
Asante  
நன்றி (Naṉṟi)  

How Are You?
Habari gani?  
நீங்கள் எப்படி இருக்கிறீர்கள்? (Nīṅkaḷ eppaṭi irukkiṟīrkaḷ?)  

Good Night
Usiku mwema  
நல்ல இரவு (Good night) / irravu vanakkam (Good night)  

Good Evening
Habari za jioni  
நல்ல மாலை (Nalla mālai)/ மாலை (irravu vanakkam)  

Good Afternoon
nzuri Alasiri  
பிற்பகல் வணக்கம் (perpagal vanakkam)  

Good Morning
Habari za asubuhi  
காலை வணக்கம் (Kaalai Vanakkam)  

Please
tafadhali  
தயவு (Tayavu)  

Sorry
pole  
மன்னிக்கவும் (Maṉṉikkavum)  

Bye
bye  
சென்று வருகிறேன் (Sendru Varukiren)  

I Love You
nakupenda  
நான் உன்னை காதலிக்கிறேன் (Naan Unnai Kadalikiren)  

Excuse Me
Samahani  
என்னை மன்னியுங்கள் (Eṉṉai maṉṉiyuṅkaḷ)  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kiunguja  
Kongu  

Where They Speak
Zanzibar island  
Kongu  

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00  
12
77,000,000.00  
10

Dialect 2
Kimrima  
Madurai Tamil  

Where They Speak
Dar es Salaam  
Madurai, South Tamil Nadu  

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00  
10
77,000,000.00  
8

Dialect 3
Kimgao  
Tirunelveli Tamil  

Where They Speak
Kilwa  
South Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli  

How Many People Speak
75,000,000.00  
9
77,000,000.00  
7

Total No. Of Dialects
12  
12
10  
10

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
150.00 million  
13
78.00 million  
21

Speaking Population
0.42 %  
34
1.06 %  
20

Native Speakers
15.00 million  
40
70.00 million  
15

Second Language Speakers
75.00 million  
14
8.00 million  
99+

Native Name
Kiswahili  
தமிழ்  

Alternative Names
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili  
Damulian, Tamal, Tamalsan, Tambul, Tamili  

French Name
swahili  
tamoul  

German Name
Swahili  
Tamil  

Pronunciation
[swaˈhili]  
[t̪ɐmɨɻ]  

Ethnicity
Swahili people or Waswahili  
Tamil people or Tamilans  

History

Origin
6th century  
300 BC  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Dravidian Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
-  

Branch
Bantu  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil  

Standard Forms
Swahili  
Modern Tamil  

Language Position
21  
19
18  
16

Signed Forms
Swahili Sign Language  
Signed Tamil  

Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
sw  
ta  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
swa  
tam  

ISO 639 2/B
swa  
tam  

ISO 639 3
swa  
tam  

ISO 639 6
swa  
tam  

Glottocode
swah1254  
tami1289, oldt1248  

Linguasphere
99-AUS-m  
tami1289  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
-  
Subject-Object-Verb  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
-  

Countries >>
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Swahili and Tamil Language History

Comparison of Swahili vs Tamil language history gives us differences between origin of Swahili and Tamil language. History of Swahili language states that this language originated in 6th century whereas history of Tamil language states that this language originated in 300 BC. 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 Tamil Language History.

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

Swahili vs Tamil Difficulty

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

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