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Xhosa and Swahili


Swahili and Xhosa


Countries

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

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
4  
11

National Language
South Africa  
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania  

Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Africa  

Minority Language
Botswana, Lesotho  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Regulated By
-  
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)  

Interesting Facts
  • Xhosa has 15 click sounds, borrowed from the khoi-khoi and san languages of the South Africa.
  • The same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meaning when said with different tones, so Xhosa is tonal.
  
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
    •   

Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele  
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages  

Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages  
Arabic Language  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
53  
32
24  
6

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
10  
7
5  
2

How Many Consonants
43  
32
21  
11

Scripts
Latin  
Latin  

Writing Direction
-  
-  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
36 weeks  
13

Greetings

Hello
Molo  
Habari  

Thank You
Ndiyabulela  
Asante  

How Are You?
Unjani  
Habari gani?  

Good Night
Ulale kakuhle  
Usiku mwema  

Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle  
Habari za jioni  

Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle  
nzuri Alasiri  

Good Morning
Molo  
Habari za asubuhi  

Please
Ndicela  
tafadhali  

Sorry
Ndicela uxolo  
pole  

Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle  
bye  

I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda  
nakupenda  

Excuse Me
Uxolo  
Samahani  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Gcaleka  
Kiunguja  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Zanzibar island  

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00  
30
75,000,000.00  
12

Dialect 2
Thembu  
Kimrima  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Dar es Salaam  

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00  
27
75,000,000.00  
10

Dialect 3
Hlubi  
Kimgao  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Kilwa  

How Many People Speak
19.00  
99+
75,000,000.00  
9

Total No. Of Dialects
9  
9
12  
12

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
20.00 million  
99+
150.00 million  
13

Speaking Population
0.11 %  
99+
0.42 %  
34

Native Speakers
8.20 million  
99+
15.00 million  
40

Second Language Speakers
11.00 million  
39
75.00 million  
14

Native Name
isiXhosa  
Kiswahili  

Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa  
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili  

French Name
xhosa  
swahili  

German Name
Xhosa-Sprache  
Swahili  

Pronunciation
[ˈkǁʰɔ̀ːsa]  
[swaˈhili]  

Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca  
Swahili people or Waswahili  

History

Origin
16th Century  
6th century  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Benue-Congo  

Branch
Bantu  
Bantu  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
No early forms  

Standard Forms
isiXhosa  
Swahili  

Language Position
21  
19
21  
19

Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa  
Swahili Sign Language  

Scope
Individual  
Individual, Macrolanguage  

Code

ISO 639 1
xh  
sw  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
xho  
swa  

ISO 639 2/B
xho  
swa  

ISO 639 3
xho  
swa  

ISO 639 6
xho  
swa  

Glottocode
xhos1239  
swah1254  

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa  
99-AUS-m  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object  
-  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
-  

Summary >>
<< Code

All Xhosa and Swahili Dialects

Most languages have dialects where each dialect differ from other dialect with respect to grammar and vocabulary. Here you will get to know all Xhosa and Swahili dialects. Various dialects of Xhosa and Swahili language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Xhosa are spoken in different Xhosa Speaking Countries whereas Swahili Dialects are spoken in different Swahili speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Xhosa vs Swahili Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Xhosa dialects include: Gcaleka, Thembu. Swahili dialects include: Kiunguja , Kimrima. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.

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Xhosa and Swahili Speaking population

Xhosa and Swahili speaking population is one of the factors based on which Xhosa and Swahili languages can be compared. The total count of Xhosa and Swahili Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Xhosa language is 0.11 % whereas the percentage of people speaking Swahili language is 0.42 %. When we compare the speaking population of any two languages we get to know which of two languages is more popular. Find more details about how many people speak Xhosa and Swahili on Xhosa vs Swahili where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.

Xhosa and Swahili Language Codes

Xhosa and Swahili language codes are used in those applications where using language names are tedious. Xhosa and Swahili Language Codes include all the international language codes, glottocodes and linguasphere.

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