Here’s a list of common everyday greetings across major world languages, excluding English. These greetings reflect cultural norms for saying “hello,” “good morning,” “good evening,” and similar.
Contents
Languages of the Americas
- Spanish – Hola (Hello)
- Spanish (Formal) – Buenos días (Good morning)
- Portuguese – Olá (Hello)
- Portuguese (Brazil) – Oi (Hi)
- French (Canada) – Salut (Hi)
- Quechua – Rimaykullayki (Hello, informal)
- Mayan (Yucatec) – Bix a bel (How is your path?)
- Haitian Creole – Bonjou (Good morning)
- Guarani – Mba’éichapa (How are you?)
- Nahuatl – Niltze (Greetings)
European Languages
- French – Bonjour (Good morning)
- Italian – Ciao (Hi/Bye)
- German – Hallo (Hello)
- German (Formal) – Guten Tag (Good day)
- Dutch – Hallo (Hello)
- Swedish – Hej (Hi)
- Norwegian – Hei (Hi)
- Danish – Hej (Hi)
- Finnish – Hei (Hi)
- Russian – Здравствуйте (Zdravstvuyte – Formal hello)
- Polish – Cześć (Hi)
- Czech – Ahoj (Hi)
- Slovak – Ahoj (Hi)
- Hungarian – Szia (Hi)
- Greek – Γεια σας (Yia sas – Formal hello)
- Bulgarian – Здравейте (Zdraveyte – Hello)
- Croatian – Bok (Hi)
- Serbian – Здраво (Zdravo – Hello)
- Icelandic – Halló (Hello)
- Irish Gaelic – Dia duit (God to you)
Middle Eastern & Central Asian Languages
- Arabic – مرحبا (Marhaba – Hello)
- Arabic (Formal) – السلام عليكم (As-salamu alaykum – Peace be upon you)
- Hebrew – שלום (Shalom – Peace/Hello)
- Persian – سلام (Salam – Hello)
- Turkish – Merhaba (Hello)
- Pashto – سلام (Salaam – Hello)
- Kurdish (Kurmanji) – Silav (Hello)
- Armenian – Բարեւ (Barev – Hello)
- Georgian – გამარჯობა (Gamarjoba – Hello)
South Asian Languages
- Hindi – नमस्ते (Namaste – Greetings)
- Urdu – سلام (Salaam – Hello)
- Bengali – নমস্কার (Nomoskar – Greetings)
- Punjabi – ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ (Sat Sri Akal – Greetings)
- Gujarati – નમસ્તે (Namaste – Hello)
- Marathi – नमस्कार (Namaskar – Greetings)
- Sinhala – ආයුබෝවන් (Ayubowan – Greetings)
- Tamil – வணக்கம் (Vanakkam – Greetings)
- Telugu – నమస్కారం (Namaskaram – Hello)
- Kannada – ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ (Namaskara – Greetings)
- Malayalam – നമസ്കാരം (Namaskaram – Greetings)
East Asian Languages
- Mandarin Chinese – 你好 (Nǐ hǎo – Hello)
- Cantonese – 你好 (Néih hóu – Hello)
- Japanese – こんにちは (Konnichiwa – Good day)
- Korean – 안녕하세요 (Annyeong haseyo – Hello)
- Mongolian – Сайн байна уу (Sain baina uu – Hello)
- Tibetan – བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས། (Tashi delek – Hello)
Southeast Asian Languages
- Thai – สวัสดี (Sawasdee – Greetings)
- Lao – ສະບາຍດີ (Sabaidee – Hello)
- Khmer (Cambodian) – សួស្ដី (Suostei – Hello)
- Vietnamese – Xin chào (Hello)
- Malay – Selamat pagi (Good morning)
- Tagalog (Filipino) – Kamusta (How are you?)
- Javanese – Sugeng enjang (Good morning)
African Languages
- Swahili – Jambo (Hello)
- Zulu – Sawubona (I see you)
- Xhosa – Molo (Hello)
- Amharic – ሰላም (Selam – Hello)
- Yoruba – Bawo (How are you?)
- Hausa – Sannu (Hello)
- Shona – Mhoro (Hello)
- Wolof – Salaam aleekum (Peace be upon you)
Pacific & Indigenous Australian Languages
- Maori (New Zealand) – Kia ora (Hello)
- Hawaiian – Aloha (Hello)
- Samoan – Talofa (Hello)
- Tongan – Malo e lelei (Hello)
- Fijian – Bula (Hello)
- Aboriginal Australian (Arrernte) – Womurrpa (Hello)
- Torres Strait Creole – Gud pasin (Good morning)
Other Languages of Significant Populations
- Esperanto – Saluton (Hello)
- Uighur – ياخشىمۇسىز (Yaxshimusiz – Hello)
- Kazakh – Сәлеметсіз бе (Salemetsiz be – Hello)
- Uzbek – Assalomu alaykum (Peace be upon you)
- Tajik – Салом (Salom – Hello)
- Malayalam (Diaspora) – Namaskaram (Formal hello)
- Tamil (Sri Lankan Diaspora) – Vanakkam
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