Hello, Thank You, & You're Welcome

How to Say

Hello, Thank You, and You're Welcome

in Different Languages/Dialects (27, as of October 2007)

These may be the most important 3 words you can know in a foreign tongue. They can make a person feel welcome and they can express your appreciation. Carol & I try to collect them and remember them; some are harder to recall than others.

Seems like if we all knew a few of these we might be able to reduce some of the misunderstandings in the world. But probably not the hate. No, I think that's too deep for words. Only actions can destroy hate.

Many of these, not collected by us as we meet new people in life, have been contributed by people from all over (thanks Google).

Language

Hello

Thank You

You're Welcome

Afghani

(sah-LAHM)

(teh shah-KOR)

(teh ah shah-MEL)

Albanian

(SKA-jeh)

(fah-la-MEN-dur-it)

Arabic

(read right-to-left)

Assalamou Alaikoum
(ah-SAH-lah-moo AH-li-koom)

Choukran
(chu-KRON)

âFowan

Thanks to the Moroccan waitress at Hank's Persian & Italian Restaurant in Hawthorne, CA

Australian

G'day (geh-dye or geh-doi)

Thank you! (thoink yew where the oi is said closer to a "long I")

No worries, mate. (now wurrees mite)

Brazilian Portugese

Oi (Hi)
Bom Dia (Bom-JEE-uh) (Good Day)
Boa Tarde (Good Afternoon)
Boa Noite (Good Night)
[Thanks, João]

Muito Obrigado
(moo-IT-o-bri-GAD-o)
(the first word slides into the second)

De nada (Jee-NAH-duh) literally, "of nothing"
[thanks, Farley]

Chinese
(Cantonese)

(lay ho)

(mm goy OR do tzeh)
(depends on context)

(mm ha hay) Thanks Chan Wei-Ming from San Diego

Chinese
(Mandarin)

(NEE how)

(SHYEH-shyeh) sounds like SHEH not Shy-Eh

(bu kuh CHEE) Thanks Peter Chan from San Diego

Danish

Goddag (goh-DEH or goh-DOW)
Hej (hi) [informal]

Tak (tock) [thanks]
Mange tak (MAHNG-eh tock) [many thanks]

Selv tak (SELL tock) [thanks yourself]
Det var så lidt (Deh vah sah LIT) [it was nothing] [Thanks, Michael C.]

Dutch

Hallo

Bedankt (beh-DONKT) [thanks]
Dank u wel (DONK oo vel) [thank you much]

Graag gedaan (grog GEH-don) [Thanks, Marjolein at Vons.]

Farsi (Iran)

(sah-LAHM)

(MEHR-see) (like the French)

(kha-HESH ME-ko-nahm) where "kh" is prounounced gutterally like "ch" is in GErman and Hebrew)

Finnish

(KEE tose) [ose is pronounced like it is in sucrose]

(oh la HU va)

French

Bonjour (Bawn-ZHUR)
[the "N" sound is made in the throat, similar to how we'd say "bong" without the "g". Close the epliglottis for a nasal sound]

Merci (mehr-SEE)

De rien (deh REE-en) [ the "r" is said in the back of the throat almost as if hocking a lugie but without the disgusting noise in front. "it's nothing" ]
Avec plaisir (ah-VEK pleh-ZEER) [ "with pleasure"]
[Merci, Martinolli from Montreal]

German

Guten Tag (GOOT-en tahg) [good day
Guten Morgen (GOOT-en MOR-gen) [good morning]
Guten Abend (GOO-ten AH-bend) [good evening]

Danke Schoen (DONK-eh shern) [but dont say the " r " ]
or Danke or Vielen Dank (FEE-len donk)

Bitte schoen (BIT-eh shern) or just
Bitte (BIT-eh)

Ghanaian
TWI dialect

Kyia (Chee-ah)

Med 'ase (Meh-DAH-see)

Ye n’ase da (Yuh nah-see dah)
[thanks Sonya from Detroit]

Hawaiian

aloha (ah LO-hah)

mahahlo (mah-HAH-lo)

A'ole pilikia (ah-O-lay pih-lih-KEE-ah)
[thanks Jonathan from Hawaii & Danielle R.]

Hebrew

toda raba (toe-dah ruh-bah)

Bevlakisha (bev-lah-kih-shah)

Shalom (shah-LOME) [translates as "Peace"]
[thanks Scott B.]

Icelandic

Hallo

Takk (tahk)

Gerdu suo vel
[thanks Gudrun, the very pretty nurse at Grossmont Hospital]

Italian

Buon Giorno (bwon JYOR-no)
(the "JYOR" here is pronounced like the name George, without the last "j" sound) ( Thanks Sarah T.)

Grazie (GRAHT-zee)

(thanks Dennis Pieri)

Prego (PRAY-goh)

Japanese

(oh-HAI-oh go-ZAI-mahs) [Good Morning]
(ko-NEE-chee-wah) [good day]
(kohn-BON-wah) [good evening]

(DO-mo a-ree-GA-toh) or just (DOh-mo)

Doc D. recommends:
(a-ree-GAH-toe go-ZAI-mas) as more formal & broadly accepted

(DOH ee-tah-shi-MAH-shi-tay) [Thanks, Farley]

Korean

(an-yong hah-SAY-yo)
[thanks Jonathan from Hawaii]

(KAHM-sa HAHM-nee-dah)

(tun mon-AY-oh)

Romanian

Buna Ziua (bo-nah zee-wah) or just Buna
[thanks Daniel from Bucharest]

Multumesc (moolt-zo-mesk)

Cu placere (Coo plah-chair-ay)
[multumesc, Anna Maria from Detroit]

Russian

(ZTRAS-vehtz-yah)

(speh-SEE-bah)

Slovak

(doh-BRIN-dyen)

(YA-kwee-em)

(PRO-sim)

Spanish
(Latino)

Buenos Dias (BWEN-ose DEE-ahs) or
Hola (OH-la)

Gracias (GRAH-see-us)

De nada (deh NAH-dah) or Por nada or Mi Gusto (mee GOO-stoh) which means "My pleasure" [Gracias Rodrigo de Espana]

Swedish

Hejsan (HAY-san) or just
Hej! (HAY)

Tack så mycket (Tawk saw myick-eh) [where myick is one syllable and the "y" is like "yuh" not "I"] OR just
Tack [which seems to be the case for all Scandinavian languages]

Varsågod (var-SHA-goo)
[Thanks Paul S.]

Tagalog (Phillipino)

Mabuhay (mah-BOO-hi) [long live]
Kumusta? (koo-MOO-stah) [familiar, "How are you?"]
Ano'ng balita? [What's news?]

Salamat po (sah-LUH-maht poh) [formal]
Salamat [familiar]

Walang Anuman (wah-LUNG A-noo-mun) [no problems]
Sige (see-geh) [continue] [from Adam B in Astralya & Ray F]

Thaitian

ia ornana (EE-yah or-NAH-nah)

mauruuru (mor-oo-OO-roo)

aita peapea (ah-EE-tah PAY-ah-PAY-ah)
[thanks Jonathan from Hawaii]

Ukrainian

(doh-pro-BAH-chin-ya)

(YAH-koo-yu)

Obviously, I'm not a linguist. I dont have the proper symbols to use for a real, dictionary quality, pronunciation guide. I'm using dipthongs the way I SPEAK THEM, a typical American. Many of the foreign languages have sounds that don't exist in English (Chinese has 2 or 3 ways to say the same "noise" or syllable, each having completely different meanings) so it's hard to provide accurate direction for pronunciation. Some words can't be spelled with a Western (Latin) keyboard, so I've only included the pronunciation; the ones in bold are the actual spellings less possible diacritical marks. Also, I'm probably not even pronouncing many of these words right. But, it's a start.

I use an "h" on the ends of some phonetic examples if the vowel COULD be pronounced more than one way. For example, in American English, "bo" is always pronounced with a long "o", like "oboe". But the "o" in "do", which really SHOULD be pronounced long ("doe"), is actually pronounced like "oo" ("dew"). Same with "to" (said "too" vs "toe"). Same with "de"; could be short like "den" or could be said long like "deep" so I use "deh" for short and "dee" for long. Other vowels in other pairings don't need the specificity since there's no dichotomy.

Email additions/corrections to

More on Language

From my 5th cousin, Howard, of Dartford, Kent, this link to recordings of many different variations of British English (sounds redundant), some recorded as long ago as the 1950's and the people recorded were born before 1900. Not just accents but also history from regular chaps and ladies. Go here, http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/search/advanced.cfm?objectPage=name then enter a COUNTY as the search term and RECORDED SPEECH as the object type.

Fellow Mensan and neighbor, Richard Lederer, created a wonderful radio show called A Way With Words. Now hosted by Martha Barnette (see her website; she's a Babe-liophile, guys), & Grant Barrett it's heard on SOME NPR Radio stations (ask YOURS to pick it up if they don't carry it). It's about etymology, usage, puns (Richard's Specialty) and just the love of language. Not pedantic or sesquipedalian, it's always fun, sometimes, titillating, and, well, ya loins sumthin', too. Both are authors and lecturers about language and you can tell they love it. You can hear the show via streaming audio if you're not in a Verbivore Visited Ville.