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).
| Language | Hello | Hello (on phone) |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Hallo, Goeie dag | |
| Albanian | C'kemi, Tungjatjeta | |
| Alsatian | Hallo, Güete Tag | |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) | (assa'lām aa'laykum) السلام عليكم response - (wa aa'laykum assa'lām) و عليكم السلام informal - (marḥabā) مرحبا |
('ālló) آلو |
| Arabic (Egyptian) | (is salām 'alaykum) ألسّلام عليكم response - (wa 'alaykum is salām) وعليكم السّلام (ahlan wa sahlan) أهلاً وسهلاً response - (ahlan beek) أهلاً بيك informal - (ahlan) أهلاً |
|
| 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) |
| Armenian (Western) |
Բարեւ: (Parev) inf Բարեւ ձեզ: (Parev tsez) frm |
|
| 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 | নমশ্কর (namaskar) | haelo! |
| Bosnian | Dobar dan (frm) Zdravo / Merhaba (inf) | Halo, Molim |
| Breton | Salud, Mat an traoù ganeoc'h? | |
| Bulgarian | Здравейте (Zdravejte) | Ало (Alo) |
| Catalan | Hola, Bon dia | Digui, Si, Hola |
| Chamorro | Hafa Adai | |
| 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) | |
| Cimbrian | Guuten takh | |
| Cornish | Dydh da, Hou, You, Ha, Hou sos | |
| Corsican | Bonghjornu | |
| Croatian | Zdravo, Bok, Bog | |
| Czech | Ahoj / Dobrý den | Haló |
| Dalecarian | Hej, Høj, Góðdag | |
| Danish | Hej | Hallo |
| Dutch | Hallo / Goede dag | |
| 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 | |
| Gaelic (Irish) | Dia duit, Dia is Muire duit (reply) | |
| Gaelic (Manx) | Dy bannee diu, Ta shiu/oo cheet! | |
| Gaelic (Scottish) | Halò, Ciamar a tha thu/sibh? | |
| Galician | Hola | |
| Georgian | გამარჯობა (gamardžoba) | ალო (alo) გისმენთ (gisment') |
| German | Hallo / Guten Tag | Hallo |
| Greek | Γειά σας
(Yiá sas) - frm Γειά σου (Yiá sou) - inf |
Ελλα (Ella) Λεγετε (Legete) Ἐμπρός! (Embrós) |
| 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) | |
| 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 | |
| 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 tengahari | |
| Maltese | Hello / Hawn, x'ghandnda | |
| Maori | Kia ora, Kia ora rā kōrua (dl) Kia ora koutou (pl) Tēnā koe (sg) Tēnā kōrua (dl) Tēnā koutou (pl) |
|
| Mongolian | Сайн уу? (Sain uu?) Сайн байна уу (Sain baina uu) | |
| Nama | !gai //oas | |
| Navajo | Y´'át'ééh | |
| Norwegian | Goddag / Hei / Morn | Hallo |
| Occitan | Bonjorn! Adieu! Adieussiatz! | |
| Old English | wes hāl (to one person) wesaþ hāl (to more than one person) | |
| Persian | (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 | |
| Serbian | Здраво (Zdravo) | Ало (Alo) 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 | |
| Slovak | Ahoj (sg/inf) Ahojte (pl/frm) Nazdar, Servus | |
| Slovenian | Zdravo, Živjo | Halo |
| Spanish | Buenas dias / ¡Hola! | ¿Aló? ¡Bueno! ¡Diga! ¡Dígame! ¡Hola! |
| 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 | |
| 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 (Sluxaju) |
| Urdu | (āssālam 'alaykum)
السلام علیکم |
(helo) ەيلو |
| Uzbek | Assalomu Alaykum! Vaassalomu alaykum! (reply) |
Abbay! |
| 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) | |
| Yapese | Mogethin | |
| Yiddish | (A gutn tog) אַ גוטן טאָג | |
| Zulu | Sawubona (sg) Sawubonani (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
You can send me audio files in any format. If you don't know how to make recordings on a computer, you can send me recordings on audio cassette. Let me know if you want to do this and I'll send you my snailmail address. Or you can call me on Skype (omniglot) and I'll do the recording.
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/
Welcome | Hello | How are you? | Long time no see | What's your name? | Where are you from? | Pleased to meet you | Good morning | Good afternoon | Good evening | Good night | Good bye | Good luck | Cheers/Good health | Have a nice day | Bon appetit | Bon voyage | I don't understand | Please say that again | Please speak more slowly | Can you please write it down? | Do you speak ...? | Excuse me | How much is this? | Sorry | Thank you | Where's the toilet? | This gentleman/lady will pay for everything | Would you like to dance with me? | I love you | Get well soon | How do you say ... in [your language]? | Leave me alone! | Help! | Call the police! | Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year | Happy Easter | Happy Birthday | Idioms | It's all Greek to me | It's raining cats and dogs | As easy as falling off a log | A sandwich short of a picnic | When pigs fly | 'Useful' phrases | My hovercraft is full of eels | Tongue twisters | Proverbs, quotations and sayings about language | One language is never enough | Stop the world, I want to get off! | Days of the week
Copyright 1998- Simon Ager