Phrases |
'Useful' phrases |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Language-related proverbs
There isn't an equivalent for this word in all languages, but many have something similar. In some languages, different words for hello are used when answering the phone.
Guide to abbreviations: inf = informal, frm = formal, sg = singular (said to one person), dl = dual (said to two people), pl = plural (said to three or more people), rsp = rsp
| Language | Hello | Hello (on phone) |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Hallo, Goeie dag | |
| Albanian | C'kemi, Tungjatjeta | |
| Alsatian | Hallo, Güete Tag | |
| Arabic (Egyptian) | (is salām 'alaykum) ألسّلام عليكم rsp - (wa 'alaykum is salām) وعليكم السّلام (ahlan wa sahlan) أهلاً و سهلاً rsp - (ahlan beek) أهلاً بيك inf - (ahlan) أهلاً |
|
| Arabic (Modern Standard) | (as-salām 'alaykum) السلام عليكم rsp - (wa 'alaykum as-salām) و عليكم السلام inf - (marḥaban) مرحبا |
('āllō) آلو |
| Aragonese | Ola | |
| Arapaho | Héébee (man speaking) Tous (woman speaking or a man speaking to a woman) |
|
| Armenian (Eastern) |
բարև (Barev) - inf Բարև Ձեզ (Barev dzez) - frm |
ալլո (Alló) |
| Arrernte | Werte | |
| Asturian | Hola, Bonos díes | |
| Azerbaijani | Salam, Salam əleyküm / Əleyküm salam (reply) | |
| Basque | Kaixo | |
| Belarusian | Вітаю (Vitayu) Дзень добры (Dzien' dobry) Дабрыдзень (Dabrydzien) Прывітанне (Pryvitanne) - inf |
|
| Bengali | নমস্কার
(nômoshkar) - for Hindus আসসালামু আলাইকুম (assalamualaikum) স্লামালিকুম (slamalikum) - for Muslims |
haelo! |
| Bosnian | Dobar dan (frm) Zdravo / Merhaba (inf) | Halo, Molim |
| Breton | Salud, Mat an traoù ganeoc'h? | |
| Bulgarian | Здравейте (Zdravejte) frm Здравей (Zdravej) inf Здрасти (Zdrasti) inf |
Ало (Alo) |
| Catalan | Hola, Bon dia | Hola? Si? Digui? |
| Chamorro | Håfa ådai / Buenas | |
| Chechen | Салам | |
| Chichewa | Moni | |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 你好 (néih hóu) | 喂 (wài) |
| Chinese (Hakka) | 爾好 (ngi2 ho) | |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 你好 (nǐ hǎo), 您好 (nín hǎo) - frm | 喂 (wéi) |
| Chinese (Shanghainese) | 儂好 (non ho) | |
| Chinese (Taiwanese) | 你好 (li2 ho2) | |
| Chinese (Teochow) | 汝好 (leu2 ho2) | |
| Choctaw | Halito | |
| Cimbrian | Guuten takh | |
| Cornish | Dydh da, Hou, You, Ha, Hou sos | |
| Corsican | Bonghjornu | |
| Croatian | Bok / Čao / Dobar Dan | |
| Czech | Ahoj / Dobrý den | Haló |
| Dalecarian | Hej, Høj, Góðdag | |
| Danish | Hej | Hallo |
| Dutch | Hallo / Goededag / Goeiedag (inf) | |
| Eritrean | ታዲያስ (tadiyalä) | |
| Esperanto | Saluton | |
| Estonian | Tere, Tervist | |
| Faroese | Hallo / Hey | |
| Fijian | Bula (inf) Drau bula (dl) Dou bula (pl) Nibula (mp) | |
| Finnish | Terve, Hyvää päivää, Päivää, Moi, Hei | Haloo? |
| French | Salut / Bonjour | Allô? |
| Frisian (North) | Moin / Guundach | |
| Frisian (Saterfrisian) | Gouden Dai | |
| Frisian (West) | A goeie, Hoi, Goeie, Goedei | |
| Friulian | Bundì, Mandi | |
| Galician | Ola | |
| Georgian | გამარჯობა (gamarjoba) | ალო (alo) / გისმენთ (gismenth) |
| German | Hallo / Guten Tag | Hallo |
| Greek | Γειά! (ya) – inf Γειά σου (ya su) – inf Γειά σας (ya sas) – frm |
Έλα (éla) – inf Λέγετε (léyete) – frm Εμπρός (embrós) – inf |
| Greenlandic | Inuugujoq, kutaa / Haluu | |
| Haitian Creole | Bonjou | |
| Hawaiian | Aloha | |
| Hebrew | (šalom) שלום | |
| Herero | Tjike | |
| Himba | Mono | |
| Hindi | नमस्ते (namaste) | हेलो (helo) |
| Hungarian | Jó napot kívánok / Szervusz / Szia | Halló |
| Icelandic | Halló, Góðan dag(inn) Sæll (to a man) Sæl (to a woman) |
|
| Ido | Saluto | |
| Indonesian | Selamat siang | Halo |
| Interlingua | Salute | |
| Inuktitut | ᐊᐃ (Ai) ᐊᐃᓐᖓᐃ (Ainngai) | |
| Iñupiaq | Halauġikpiñ | |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Dia duit, Dia is Muire duit (reply) | |
| Italian | Ciao / Salve | Pronto? |
| Jutish | Godaw | |
| Japanese | 今日は (konnichiwa) おっす (ossu) - used between close male friends |
もしもし (moshi moshi) |
| Jèrriais | Salut / Bouônjour | |
| Kashubian | Witôjze | |
| Kazakh | Сәлем! (Sälem!) (inf) Сәлеметсіз бе (Sälemetsiz be?) (frm) |
|
| Khmer | សួស្ដី (soursdey) | |
| Klingon | nuqneH (What do you want?) - used when confronted by another |
|
| Korean | 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo) - formal 안녕 (annyeong) - informal |
여보세요 (yeoboseyo) |
| !Kung San | !kao | |
| Kurdish | Sillaw, Ew kata bash, Em kata bash | elu |
| Latin | Heus (inf) Ave / Salve (sg) Salvete (pl) | |
| Latvian | Sveiki | |
| Limburgish | Hallo | |
| Lithuanian | Labas, Sveikas, Sveiki | Alio |
| Low German | Moin / Goden Dag | |
| Luxembourgish | Moien / Salut | |
| Macedonian | Здраво (Zdravo) | Ало (Alo) - on phone |
| Malay | Selamat pagi (good morning) Selamat petang (good afternoon) Selamat malam (good night) Assallamaleicum |
|
| Manx | Dy bannee diu, Ta shiu/oo cheet! | |
| Maltese | Hello / Hawn, x'ghandnda | |
| Māori | Kia ora, Kia ora rā kōrua (dl) Kia ora koutou (pl) Tēnā koe (sg/frm) Tēnā kōrua (dl/frm) Tēnā koutou (pl/frm) |
|
| Mongolian | Сайн уу? (Sain uu?) Сайн байна уу (Sain baina uu) | |
| Nama | !gai //oas | |
| Navajo | Y´'át'ééh | |
| Nepali | नमस्ते (namaste) | |
| Norwegian | Goddag / Hei / Morn | Hallo |
| Occitan | Bonjorn! Adieu! Adieussiatz! | |
| Old English | Wes hāl (sg) Wesaþ hāl (pl) | |
| Persian | (dorood) درود (salâm) سلام | |
| Pitjantjatjara | Wai, Wai palya | |
| Plautdietsch | Goondach | |
| Polish | Cześć | Halo / Słucham |
| Portuguese | Olá (Portugal) Oi! E aí? Tudo bem? Tudo certo? Opa! (Brazil) |
Alô? |
| Romanian | Salut / Bună ziua | Alo |
| Russian | Здравствуйте (Zdravstvujte) - frm, Привет (Privet) - inf | Алло (Alló) |
| Samoan | Talofa | |
| Sardinian | Bona die | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Halò, Ciamar a tha thu/sibh? | |
| Serbian | Здраво (Zdravo) | Хало (Halo) Молим (Molim) |
| Sesotho | Lumela / Dumela (to one person) Dumelang (to more than one person) |
|
| Shona | Mhoro (to one person) Mhoroi (to more than one person) |
|
| Sicilian | Ciau | |
| Shona | Mhoro (sg) Mhoroi (pl) | |
| Slovak | Ahoj (sg/inf) Ahojte (pl/frm) Nazdar, Servus | |
| Slovenian | Zdravo, Živjo | Halo |
| Spanish | ¡Hola! | ¡Diga! ¡Dígame! ¿Sí? ¿Bueno? ¡Hola! ¿Aló? |
| Stellingwarfs | Hoj | |
| Swahili | Habari (inf), Hujambo / Sijambo (reply) | |
| Swedish | Hej / Hallå | Hallå, Hej God dag (frm) |
| Tagalog | Mabuhay! (frm) Hoy / Uy (inf) | Hello |
| Tamil | வணக்கம்! (vaṇakkam) | |
| Thai | สวัสดี (sawùt dee) | ฮัลโหล (hanlǒh) |
| Tok Pisin | Gude | |
| Tongan | Malo e lelei / Malo e tau lava | |
| Tsez | АсаламугIалейкум! (Asalamuʔaleykum!) СаламгIапейкум! (Salamʔaleykum!) СаламгIапейкум! (Biziyä!) (>f) Изийаь! (Iziyä!) (>m) Ризийаь! (Riziyä!) (>pl) |
|
| Turkish | Merhaba, Selam, İyi günler | Alo, Efendim |
| Ukrainian | Вітаю (Vitayu) - frm Агов (Ahov) - inf |
Алло (Allo) Слухаю (Sluchaju) |
| Urdu | (āssālam 'alaykum)
السلام علیکم |
(helo) ەيلو |
| Uzbek | Assalomu Alaykum! Vaalajkum assalom! (reply) |
Labbay! |
| Venda | I nhlikanhi | |
| Vietnamese | Chào anh (to a man) Chào chị (to a woman) |
Á-lô! |
| Volapük | Glidis | |
| Walloon | Bondjoû | |
| Warlpiri | Ngurrju mayinpa | |
| Welsh | Helô / Hylô / Shwmae | |
| Xhosa | Molo (sg) Molweni (pl) | |
| Yappese | Mogethin | |
| Yiddish | (A gutn tog) אַ גוטן טאָג | |
| Yorùbá | Ẹ n lẹ | |
| Zulu | Sawubona (sg) Sanibonani (pl) |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please
contact me. If you can provide audio recordings
of any of these phrases, please send them to
Hello in many languages
http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/hello.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hello
World Telephone Cultures
http://www.netjeff.com/humor/item.cgi?file=HelloOnTelephoneWorldwide
Useful phrases in various European languages
http://www.geocities.com/mailjohan/
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