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Xhosa and Zulu


Zulu and Xhosa


Countries

Countries
South Africa  
South Africa  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
1  
14

National Language
South Africa  
South Africa  

Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa  
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe  

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Africa  

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

Regulated By
-  
Pan South African Language Board  

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.
  
  • The meaning of word "Zulu" means "Sky"and Zulu was the name of the ancestor who founded the Zulu royal line in about 1670.
  • Zulu language has many loanwords borrowed from Afrikaans and English Languages.
  

Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele  
Xhosa Language  

Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages  
-  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
53  
32
57  
34

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
10  
7
7  
4

How Many Consonants
43  
32
50  
35

Scripts
Latin  
Latin  

Writing Direction
-  
-  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
44 weeks  
17

Greetings

Hello
Molo  
Sawubona  

Thank You
Ndiyabulela  
Ngiyabonga  

How Are You?
Unjani  
unjani  

Good Night
Ulale kakuhle  
okuhle ebusuku  

Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle  
okuhle kusihlwa  

Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle  
okuhle ntambama  

Good Morning
Molo  
okuhle ekuseni  

Please
Ndicela  
Ngiyacela  

Sorry
Ndicela uxolo  
Ngiyaxolisa  

Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle  
bye  

I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda  
Ngiyakuthanda wena  

Excuse Me
Uxolo  
Uxolo  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Gcaleka  
Qwabe  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Gabon, South Africa  

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00  
30
28,000,000.00  
24

Dialect 2
Thembu  
central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Georgia, South Africa  

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00  
27
28,000,000.00  
22

Dialect 3
Hlubi  
Ndebele  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Zimbabwe  

How Many People Speak
19.00  
99+
28,000,000.00  
20

Total No. Of Dialects
9  
9
4  
4

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
20.00 million  
99+
30.00 million  
36

Speaking Population
0.11 %  
99+
0.16 %  
99+

Native Speakers
8.20 million  
99+
12.00 million  
99+

Second Language Speakers
11.00 million  
39
16.00 million  
33

Native Name
isiXhosa  
isiZulu  

Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa  
Isizulu, Zunda  

French Name
xhosa  
zoulou  

German Name
Xhosa-Sprache  
Zulu-Sprache  

Pronunciation
[ˈkǁʰɔ̀ːsa]  
[zuːlu]  

Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca  
Zulu people  

History

Origin
16th Century  
19  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Benue-Congo  

Branch
Bantu  
Beatu  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
urban Zulu  

Standard Forms
isiXhosa  
Deep Zulu  

Language Position
21  
19
87  
99+

Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa  
Zulu Sign Language  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
xh  
zu  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
xho  
zul  

ISO 639 2/B
xho  
zul  

ISO 639 3
xho  
zul  

ISO 639 6
xho  
zul  

Glottocode
xhos1239  
zulu1248  

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa  
99-AUT-fg  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object  
Subject-Verb-Object  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
-  

Summary >>
<< Code

All Xhosa and Zulu 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 Zulu dialects. Various dialects of Xhosa and Zulu language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Xhosa are spoken in different Xhosa Speaking Countries whereas Zulu Dialects are spoken in different Zulu speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Xhosa vs Zulu Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Xhosa dialects include: Gcaleka, Thembu. Zulu dialects include: Qwabe , central KwaZulu-Natal Zulu. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.

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Xhosa and Zulu Speaking population

Xhosa and Zulu speaking population is one of the factors based on which Xhosa and Zulu languages can be compared. The total count of Xhosa and Zulu Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Xhosa language is 0.11 % whereas the percentage of people speaking Zulu language is 0.16 %. 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 Zulu on Xhosa vs Zulu where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.

Xhosa and Zulu Language Codes

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

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