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Xhosa Language



Countries

Countries
South Africa

Total No. Of Countries
1 14

National Language
South Africa

Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa

Speaking Continents
Africa

Minority Language
Botswana, Lesotho

Regulated By
-

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.

Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele

Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200

Alphabets
53 32

Phonology

How Many Vowels
10 7

How Many Consonants
43 32

Scripts
Latin

Writing Direction
-

Hard to Learn

Language Levels
3 2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks 17

Greetings

Hello
Molo

Thank You
Ndiyabulela

How Are You?
Unjani

Good Night
Ulale kakuhle

Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle

Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle

Good Morning
Molo

Please
Ndicela

Sorry
Ndicela uxolo

Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle

I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda

Excuse Me
Uxolo

Dialects

Dialect 1
Gcaleka

Where They Speak
South Africa

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00 30

Dialect 2
Thembu

Where They Speak
South Africa

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00 27

Dialect 3
Hlubi

Where They Speak
South Africa

How Many People Speak
19.00 84

Total No. Of Dialects
9 9

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
20.00 million 42

Speaking Population
0.11 % 56

Native Speakers
8.20 million 52

Second Language Speakers
11.00 million 39

Native Name
isiXhosa

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

French Name
xhosa

German Name
Xhosa-Sprache

Pronunciation
[ˈkǁʰɔ̀ːsa]

Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca

History

Origin
16th Century

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family

Subgroup
Benue-Congo

Branch
Bantu

Language Forms

Early Forms
No early forms

Standard Forms
isiXhosa

Language Position
21 19

Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa

Scope
Individual

Code

ISO 639 1
xh

ISO 639 2

ISO 639 2/T
xho

ISO 639 2/B
xho

ISO 639 3
xho

ISO 639 6
xho

Glottocode
xhos1239

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa

Types of Language

Language Type
Living

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object

Language Morphological Typology
-

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Origin of Xhosa language

In order to communicate with each other, the origin of language was the essential part. Various languages are spoken all over the world. Xhosa language is one of the Most Difficult Languages. The origin of Xhosa language states that it was put to use in 16th Century. The history of Xhosa language reveals that the language is old and used since many years. Check out in brief about Xhosa Language History. Xhosa has no early forms. isiXhosa is the standard form of Xhosa language and it is used in government centers. Know all About Xhosa Language.

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Xhosa population

Xhosa population gives us the total count of number of people speaking Xhosa language. Xhosa language is spoken by 20.00 million people in the world. Most of the Xhosa population lies in the Xhosa Speaking Countries. Xhosa language is spoken as first language by 8.20 million people and as second language by about 11.00 million people. Get to know Xhosa speaking population in detail.

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Xhosa writing system

There are numerous writing systems but most widely used scripts are Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic. Xhosa writing system decides the alphabets, vowels and consonants i.e. the written form of Xhosa language. Some languages share common writing systems. Latin script is used by Xhosa language. Learn more about . 

Information about Xhosa language

Check out all the information about Xhosa language here. You may find it interesting to learn Xhosa Alphabets or the vowels and consonants of this language. Also knowing about Xhosa Speaking Countries, Xhosa speaking continents and Xhosa Dialects will help in improving your knowledge about this language. Also while travelling to Xhosa countries knowing common Xhosa Greetings will help you in communicating with Xhosa people.

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