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Xhosa vs Yoruba


Yoruba vs Xhosa


Countries

Countries
South Africa  
Benin, Nigeria  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
2  
13

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  
Africa, Brazil, Togo, United Kingdom, United States of America  

Regulated By
-  
Yoruba Academy  

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.
  
  • One of the largest African ethnic groups is Yoruba in south of Sahara Desert.
  • In Yoruba language, same combination of vowels and consonants have different meanings depending on the pitch of the vowels, so it is tonal language.
  

Similar To
Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele  
Owo and Itsekiri languages  

Derived From
Khoi-Khoi and San Languages  
-  

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Xhosa-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Yoruba-Alphabet.jpg#200  

Alphabets
53  
32
29  
11

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
10  
7
12  
9

How Many Consonants
43  
32
17  
7

Scripts
Latin  
Latin  

Writing Direction
-  
-  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
30 weeks  
10

Greetings

Hello
Molo  
Ẹ n lẹ  

Thank You
Ndiyabulela  
e dupe  

How Are You?
Unjani  
Bawo ni o se wa  

Good Night
Ulale kakuhle  
Kasun layọ o  

Good Evening
Ubusuku obuhle  
ka a ale  

Good Afternoon
Uben' emva kwemini entle  
e kaasan  

Good Morning
Molo  
e kaaro  

Please
Ndicela  
Jowo  

Sorry
Ndicela uxolo  
binu  

Bye
Uhambe/Usale kakuhle  
bye  

I Love You
Ndiyakuthanda  
mo nifẹ rẹ  

Excuse Me
Uxolo  
mo tọrọ gafara  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Gcaleka  
Itsekiri  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Nigeria  

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00  
30
500,000.00  
99+

Dialect 2
Thembu  
Ede  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Benin, Togo  

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00  
27
800,000.00  
99+

Dialect 3
Hlubi  
Ulukwumi  

Where They Speak
South Africa  
Nigeria  

How Many People Speak
19.00  
99+
10,000.00  
99+

Total No. Of Dialects
9  
9
20  
18

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
0.11 %  
99+
0.42 %  
34

Native Speakers
8.20 million  
99+
28.00 million  
29

Second Language Speakers
11.00 million  
39
30.00 million  
26

Native Name
isiXhosa  
Yorùbá  

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

French Name
xhosa  
yoruba  

German Name
Xhosa-Sprache  
Yoruba-Sprache  

Pronunciation
[ˈkǁʰɔ̀ːsa]  
[jòɾùbá]  

Ethnicity
amaXhosa, amaBhaca  
Yoruba people  

History

Origin
16th Century  
4 BC  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Niger-Congo Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Western Sudanic  

Branch
Bantu  
Kwa  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
No early forms  

Standard Forms
isiXhosa  
Yorùbá  

Language Position
21  
19
49  
99+

Signed Forms
Signed Xhosa  
Yoruba Sign Language  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
xh  
yo  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
xho  
yor  

ISO 639 2/B
xho  
yor  

ISO 639 3
xho  
yor  

ISO 639 6
xho  
yor  

Glottocode
xhos1239  
yoru1245  

Linguasphere
99-AUT-fa  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

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

Language Morphological Typology
-  
Analytic, Isolating  

Countries >>
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Xhosa and Yoruba Language History

Comparison of Xhosa vs Yoruba language history gives us differences between origin of Xhosa and Yoruba language. History of Xhosa language states that this language originated in 16th Century whereas history of Yoruba language states that this language originated in 4 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 Yoruba Language History.

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Xhosa and Yoruba 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 Yoruba greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Xhosa and Yoruba language. Xhosa word for "Hello" is Molo or Yoruba word for "Thank You" is e dupe. Find more of such common Xhosa Greetings and Yoruba Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Xhosa vs Yoruba Difficulty

The Xhosa vs Yoruba difficulty level basically depends on the number of Xhosa Alphabets and Yoruba 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 Yoruba are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Xhosa and Yoruba, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Xhosa is 44 weeks while to learn Yoruba time required is 30 weeks.

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