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Tamil vs Swahili


Swahili vs Tamil


Countries

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

Total No. Of Countries
6  
9
4  
11

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

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

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Africa  

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

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

Interesting Facts
  • 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.
    •   
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
    •   

Similar To
Malayalam  
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages  

Derived From
-  
Arabic Language  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
247  
99+
24  
6

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
12  
9
5  
2

How Many Consonants
18  
8
21  
11

Scripts
Tamil  
Latin  

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  
-  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
36 weeks  
13

Greetings

Hello
வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)  
Habari  

Thank You
நன்றி (Naṉṟi)  
Asante  

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

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

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

Good Afternoon
பிற்பகல் வணக்கம் (perpagal vanakkam)  
nzuri Alasiri  

Good Morning
காலை வணக்கம் (Kaalai Vanakkam)  
Habari za asubuhi  

Please
தயவு (Tayavu)  
tafadhali  

Sorry
மன்னிக்கவும் (Maṉṉikkavum)  
pole  

Bye
சென்று வருகிறேன் (Sendru Varukiren)  
bye  

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

Excuse Me
என்னை மன்னியுங்கள் (Eṉṉai maṉṉiyuṅkaḷ)  
Samahani  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kongu  
Kiunguja  

Where They Speak
Kongu  
Zanzibar island  

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

Dialect 2
Madurai Tamil  
Kimrima  

Where They Speak
Madurai, South Tamil Nadu  
Dar es Salaam  

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

Dialect 3
Tirunelveli Tamil  
Kimgao  

Where They Speak
South Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli  
Kilwa  

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

Total No. Of Dialects
10  
10
12  
12

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
78.00 million  
21
150.00 million  
13

Speaking Population
1.06 %  
20
0.42 %  
34

Native Speakers
70.00 million  
15
15.00 million  
40

Second Language Speakers
8.00 million  
99+
75.00 million  
14

Native Name
தமிழ்  
Kiswahili  

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

French Name
tamoul  
swahili  

German Name
Tamil  
Swahili  

Pronunciation
[t̪ɐmɨɻ]  
[swaˈhili]  

Ethnicity
Tamil people or Tamilans  
Swahili people or Waswahili  

History

Origin
300 BC  
6th century  

Language Family
Dravidian Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
-  
Benue-Congo  

Branch
-  
Bantu  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil  
No early forms  

Standard Forms
Modern Tamil  
Swahili  

Language Position
18  
16
21  
19

Signed Forms
Signed Tamil  
Swahili Sign Language  

Scope
Individual  
Individual, Macrolanguage  

Code

ISO 639 1
ta  
sw  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
tam  
swa  

ISO 639 2/B
tam  
swa  

ISO 639 3
tam  
swa  

ISO 639 6
tam  
swa  

Glottocode
tami1289, oldt1248  
swah1254  

Linguasphere
tami1289  
99-AUS-m  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb  
-  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
-  

Countries >>
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Tamil and Swahili Language History

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

Compare Most Spoken Languages

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

Tamil vs Swahili Difficulty

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

Most Spoken Languages

Most Spoken Languages

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Compare Most Spoken Languages

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