Zulu Vs. Xhosa in General discussion Forum

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Zulu Vs. Xhosa

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Mahlasela	Zulu Vs. Xhosa		Lead	[-]
Posts: 107 May 11, 2007 15:08:52	Hey, i am aware that there are certain differences between Zulu and Xhosa such as "ngifuna vs. ndifuna" and a few words that are different. Question: Are there any grammatical differences or do Zulus and Xhosas basically understand each other for the most part?
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matso		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 39 May 13, 2007 15:16:09	There are quite a few differences especially in words and accent. But for the most part a zulu speaker and a xhosa speaker can understand each other. The two languages have the same stem and are classified as Nguni dialects. Its kind of like American English and British English, the moment someone says two words you can tell whether he/she is American or British but regardless of that you can understand what is being said.
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Mahlasela		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 107 May 13, 2007 15:40:28	Can you understand Swazi speakers? They are also classified as Nguni but seem to have much more marked differences eg.1. t vs. z amanti vs. amanzi tintombi vs. izintombi 2. ndz vs. nd kutsandza vs.kuthanda impondzo vs. impondo(tusk) 3. ts vs. t kutsetselela vs. kuthethelela(have mercy) In Tsonga the above would be, [B]mati, tintombi, kurhandza, mhondzo, kutsetselela. So Swazis and Tsongas share some similarities. Swazi seems to reflect that transition historically of when Tsonga/Ronga speakers began to speak Nguni, and then the Nguni intermarried with the Khoisan and got all those clicks. I figure that between the 3 languages Xhosa has the most clicks, and Swazi the least, with Zulu in the middle.
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matso		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 39 May 13, 2007 16:12:16	For the most part Swati can be understood by speakers of other languages in the Nguni family, i heard an interesting story about swati apparently one of the Swati kings of the past had trouble pronouncing the z sound so out of respect for their king the swati people dropped the z sound and replaced it with t, so everywhere where in zulu/xhosa/ndebele there would be a z eg izimbali (flowers) swatis put a t (itimbali) But the key to understanding a dialect is its consitency, and because changes in swati are consitent there are relatively easy to pick up. I agree with you on the "click statistics" swati seems to have less clicks and i have only ever come across the dental click ( c in written form) in the swati language, whereas xhosa, zulu and ndebele in addtion to the dental click have the x and q click sounds.
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