Xhosa vs Igbo
Countries
South Africa
Nigeria
National Language
South Africa
Nigeria
Second Language
Lesotho, South Africa
Not spoken in any of the countries
Speaking Continents
Africa
Africa
Minority Language
Botswana, Lesotho
Equatorial Guinea
Regulated By
Not Available
Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture
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.
- In Igbo, there is complicated system of high and low tones indicating differences in meaning and grammatical relationships.
- Igbo has inexhaustible and rich linguistic features like idioms, proverbs, aphorisms, anecdotes etc.
Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele
Not Available
Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages
Not Available
Alphabets in
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200
Igbo-Alphabets.jpg#200
Writing Direction
Not Available
Not Available
Thank You
Ndiyabulela
dalụ
How Are You?
Unjani
kedụ ka ịmere
Good Night
Ulale kakuhle
ka chi fo
Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle
mgbede ọma
Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle
ehihie ọma
Good Morning
Molo
ụtụtụ ọma
Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle
Not Available
I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda
a hụrụ m gị n'anya
Where They Speak
South Africa
Nigeria
Where They Speak
South Africa
Nigeria
How Many People Speak
Not Available
Dialect 3
Hlubi
Not present
Where They Speak
South Africa
Not Available
Speaking Population
Not Available
Second Language Speakers
Not Available
Native Name
isiXhosa
igbo
Alternative Names
“Cauzuh” (pej.), Isixhosa, Koosa, Xosa
Ibo
German Name
Xhosa-Sprache
Ibo-Sprache
Pronunciation
Not Available
[iɡ͡boː]
Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca
Igbo people
Origin
16th Century
30th Century BC
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
Niger-Congo Family
Branch
Bantu
Not Available
Early Forms
No early forms
No early forms
Standard Forms
isiXhosa
Standard Igbo
Language Position
Not Available
Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa
Not Available
Scope
Individual
Individual
ISO 639 6
Not Available
Not Available
Glottocode
xhos1239
nucl1417
Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa
No data available
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object
Not Available
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
Agglutinative
Xhosa and Igbo Language History
Comparison of Xhosa vs Igbo language history gives us differences between origin of Xhosa and Igbo language. History of Xhosa language states that this language originated in 16th Century whereas history of Igbo language states that this language originated in 30th Century 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 Xhosa and Igbo Language History.
Xhosa and Igbo 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 Xhosa and Igbo greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Xhosa and Igbo language. Xhosa word for "Hello" is Molo or Igbo word for "Thank You" is dalụ. Find more of such common Xhosa Greetings and Igbo Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Xhosa vs Igbo Difficulty
The Xhosa vs Igbo difficulty level basically depends on the number of Xhosa Alphabets and Igbo 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 Xhosa and Igbo are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Xhosa and Igbo, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Xhosa is 44 weeks while to learn Igbo time required is 52 weeks.