Icelandic (íslenska) is a North Germanic language spoken in Iceland as its official language. It’s most closely related to Faroese and Western Norwegian and has around 314,000 speakers. The language is more conservative than most other Western European languages.

Igbo

• nnọọ
• ndewo

Igbo is the principal native language of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria with around 45 million speakers and over 20 dialects.

Indonesian Bahasa

• halo (HAH-loh)
• hai (high)

Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia.With over 230 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is a group of varieties of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as the common language in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia uses the Latin alphabet system and Arabic numerals.

Inuktitut

• ᐊᐃᓐᖓᐃ (Ainngai)

Inuktitut is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in Arctic territories and the topmost span of North America including Alaska and Northern Canada.

Irish

• dia dhuit (DEE-ah GHWIT)

Irish (Gaeilge) is one of the three Goidelic languages, along with Scottish Gaelic and Manx. This Goidelic branch together with the Brythonic branch (Welsh, Cornish and Breton) form the Celtic language family.

Italian

How to say hello in Italian:

• ciao (chow)
  Ciao is informal and reserved only for close friends and for people you already know.
• buon giorno (bwohn JOHR-noh) — good day/hello
  Buon means “good” and giorno means “morning.”
• salve (SAHL-veh) — formal hello

Italian does have three time-specific ways to formally greet others:

• buongiorno — in the morning
• buon pomeriggio — in the afternoon.
• buonasera — in the evening
• buena notte — good night
• pronto — when answering the phone in Italia.

Italian (Italiano) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family spoken by over 90 million people, the vast majority of which are in Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia. Often considered to be the most beautiful language, it is the official language of Italy, San Marino, and the Vatican City.

Japanese

Say hello in Japanese:

• Kon’nichiwa (kohn-nee-chee-wah) こんにちは

Konnichiwa is widely-used to say “hello” in Japanese and cab be used at any time – day or night. It would be appropriate for both formal and informal settings.

To be time-specific, use:

• お早うございます (ohayō gozaimasu) in the morning
• 今日は (konnichiwa) in the afternoon
• 今晩は (konbanwa) in the evening.

Bowing, dating back to the 5th century, is a huge part of Japanese culture and is a sign of respect.

Japanese (日本語 Nihongo) is an East Asian language of the Japonic language family. It is spoken by about 125 million people, mostly in Japan, where it is the official and national language.

Kannada

• namaskār ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ

Kannada, spoken by nearly 45 million native speakers, is a Dravidian language of the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, and by significant linguistic minorities in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and abroad.

Kazakh

• sälem (sah-lem) Сәлем — casual hello
• sälemetsiz be (sah-lem-met-siz beh) — formal hello
• assalamu aleikum (as-sa-laamu a-lay-kum)
  When greeted first, the response should follow: wa aleikum ssselam

Kazakh is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia and the official language of Kazakhstan. The language comprises 21 million native speakers including regions of Bayan-Ulgii in Mongolia and the Dzungarian region of Xinjiang, China.

Korean

Saying hello in Korean:

• 안녕하세요 Anyeong haseyo (AHN-young-ha-say-yo) — formal hello
• Anyoung (AHN-young) — informal greeting

Anyeong haseyo, roughly meaning “please be well,” is the standard Korean greeting for anybody – friends and elders alike. It can be used for any occasion at any time of the day.

Korean, an East Asian language, is the official language of South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) spoken by more than 75 million people.

Kurdish

How to say hello in other languages such as Kurdish:

• silav (slaw)
• as-salaamu’ alaykum is also used

Kurdish is spoken by about 30 million Kurds in western Asia including parts of Kurdistan, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. It is one of the Indo-Iranian languages, ranks as the third largest Iranian language, after Persian and Pashto.

Kyrgyz

• salamatsyzby (sah-lam-aht-seez-bee) — formal
• salam (sah-lam) — casual

Kyrgyz is a member of the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language family spoken by over 4 million speakers mainly in Kyrgyzstan, and also in China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkey.

Lao

• ສະບາຍດີ (sa-baai-di)

Lao is the main language of Laos. It is a Kra–Dai language serving as a common language among all citizens of Laos, who speak approximately 90 other languages, many of which are unrelated to Lao. Modern Lao is heavily influenced by the Thai language and comprises over 30 million native speakers.

Latin

Hello in Latin:

• salve (sal-way)
• salvete (sal-way-tay) is used when talking to more than one person.

Latin was the dominant language of the Roman Empire from 6th century BC to 600 AD. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Latin evolved into the various languages that we know today. Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian all consider Latin as their parent tongue. Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages.

That’s hello in 100 languages so far! Keep reading to discover even more ways…

Latvian

Say hello in Latvian:

• sveiki (SVYEH-kah) when speaking to a woman
• sveiks (SVEH-eeks) is used when speaking to a man.

Latvian (latviešu valoda) is an Indo-European Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region. It is the official language of Latvia and one of the official languages of the European Union.

Lebanese

• marHabā مَرْحَبا

Limburgish

• hallau
• hoi
• daag

Limburgish is a member of the East Low Franconian group of the Germanic languages considered a variety of German or Dutch by many people. It is spoken by around 1.6 million people in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Lingala

• mbote (mboh-teh) — hello

Lingala is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a large part of the Republic of the Congo by over 70 million people.

Lithuanian

Hello in Lithuanian:

• sveiki (SVEH-kii) is used when speaking to a man
• sveika (SVYEH-kah) when speaking to a woman
• laba diena — good day

Lithuanian (lietuvių kalba) is an Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region as the official language of Lithuania. It is also one of the official languages of the European Union spoken by just under 3 million native speakers. The language is one of the oldest in the world.

Luxembourgish

• Hello in Luxembourgish: moïen (MOY-en)

Luxembourgish is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 390,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.

Luganda

• ki kati (chi kati) — informal hi languages
• oli otya to one person
• muli mutya to a group

Luganda, a Bantu language,is an official language of Uganda along with English and Swahili. It is spoken primarily in Kampala, but may be understood in much of the country and in the African Great Lakes region.

Macedonian

• Здраво zdravo — hello
• Добар ден dobar den — good day

Macedonian, the official language of the Republic of North Macedonia, is a south Slavic language spoken as a first language by 2 million people.

Malagasy

• salama(sah-lAHm-ah) — hello
• manao ahoana (man-ow ah-ohn-ah) — how is it

Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar belonging to the Austronesian Malayo-Polynesia family of languages spoken by 25 million people.

Malay

• hello (he-loh) — hello
• hai (hai) — casual hello
• selamat tengahari (suh-lah-mat teng-a-haari) — good afternoon
• selamat pagi (suh-lah-mat puh-guee) — good morning

Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is an Austronesian language spoken as the sole official language of Malaysia and Brunei. It is also heard in Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand at a total of 250 – 300 million speakers.

Malayalam

Hello in other language Malayalam is:

• halēā
• namaskkaram (nah-mah-skahr-ahm)

Malayalam (മലയാളം) belongs to the Dravidian language family, spoken mostly in the Southern Indian states of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Around 36 million people use this language, which is one of the 22 official languages of India.

Maltese

Say hello in Maltese:

• bongu (Ħelow)

Maltese, a language of central Semitic origin written in the Latin script, is the national language of Malta. It is spoken by around 420,000 people on the Mediterranean islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino. The Maltese language developed from Sicilian Arabic. Over the centuries, it has incorporated many words derived from English, Italian, and French.

Mandinka

• salaam aleekum

Mandink, also called Mandingo, is a member of the Manding branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It is the official language of Senegal and is also spoken by the Mandinka people of Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Mali, Gambia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Chad.

Māori

• kia ora —  casual
• tēnā koe (teh-nah koy) — when saying hello to one person

Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. it has also gained recognition as one of New Zealand’s official languages.

Marathi

• namaskār नमस्कार

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 83.1 million Marathi people of Maharashtra, India. It is the official language and co-official language in the Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India, respectively, and is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.

Marshallese

• yokwe (YAW-kweh) — hello

Marshallese, also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands by about 44,000 people. It is an official language of the Marshall Islands, along with English, and is used as the language of instruction in most primary schools.

>> Do you know how to say hello in 100 languages?

Mauritian Creole

• bonzour (bon-zoor)
• allo (ah-low) — informal hi

Mongolian

How to say hello in Mongolian:

• sain baina uu (sain bai-na OO) — formal
• sain uu (say-noo) —  casual

Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely-spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. It is an Altaic language spoken by approximately 5 million people in Mongolia, China, Afghanistan, and Russia.

Montenegrin

• ćao (ciao)
• zdravo (zdrah-voh)

Montenegrin, the official language of Montenegro, is a South Slavic language spoken by almost 250,000 people in the country.

Nepali

• namaste (nah-mahs-teh) नमस्ते

Nepali (नेपाली), is an Indo-Aryan language of the sub-branch of Eastern Pahari written in Devanagari script It is the sole official language of Nepal and one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. While most Nepalese people speak at least some Nepali, there are more than 100 different languages and dialects spoken in Nepal.

Neapolitan

Hello in another language Neapolitan:

• cia
• cha

Neapolitan is a Romance language of the Italo-Dalmatian group spoken across much of southern Italy by 6 million people. It is related to but generally not mutually intelligible with Italian.

Nkore

• oraire ota
• osiibire ota

Northern Sotho

• dumela (doo-MAY-lah) when addressing a single person.
• dumelang (doo-MAY-lang) when speaking to more than one person
• khotso (coat-so) — casual hello

Northern Sotho, or Sepedi, is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages. It is spoken by about 4.2 million people in the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga.

Norwegian

Say hello in Norwegian:

• hei (hay) — informal hi
• Hallo — formal hello
• god dag (goo dahg) — good day
• halla — the slag version if you want to chill with the cool kids

Norwegian (norsk) is a Germanic language derived from Old Norse spoken primarily in Norway by over 5 million people where it is the official language.

Odia

• ନମସ୍କାର namaskār

Odia is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha where it is the official language.

Oromo

• akkam

Oromo is a Cushitic language spoken by about 30 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Egypt. It is the third largest language in Africa.

Palauan

• alii (ah-LEE)

Palauan is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by almost 20,000 people in the Republic of Palau, where it is one of the two official languages, alongside English. It is also heard in Guam and Northern Mariana Islands.

Papiamento

• konta
• kumbai

Papiamento is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean by less than 500,00 native speakers. It is the most-widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands, having official status in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.

Pashto

Hello in Pashto:

• سلام salam
• khe chare (KHEH chah-reh) — casual hello

Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European family spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. It is an official language of Afghanistan along with Dari.

Polish

Ways to say hello in Polish:

• dzień dobry (jeyn dob-ry) — good morning
• cześć (cheshch) — informal hello
• siema — used only by young people to say hi
• hej — casual hey in different languages

Polish (polski) is a West Slavic language spoken by about 45 million people. Said to be one of the hardest languages to learn, it is the official language of Poland. It is understood and can be used for communication in the western parts of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania.

Portugese

Here is how you say hello in Portuguese:

• olá (oh-LAH) — formal hello
• oi — casual hi
• bom dia — good day

Portuguese (português) is a Romance language spoken as the official language of Portugal and Brazil. It is also the official language of Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé e Príncipe, Angola, Mozambique, and the co-official language of East Timor, and Macau. There are around 200 million native Portuguese speakers.

Punjabi

• sata sri akaal (saht sree ah-kahl) ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ — Sikh formal hello
• as-alam-walaykum (ah-sah-lahm-wah-lay-koom) — Muslim formal hello

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language with more than 130 million native speakers in the Indian subcontinent and around the world. It is the 10th most spoken language in the world.

Romanian

How to say hello in Romanian:

• bună (BOO-nuh) — casual hello
• salut (sah-LOOT) — formal hello

Romanian (limba română) is a Balkan Romance language spoken by approximately 24–26 million people as a native language, primarily in Romania and Moldova, and by another 4 million people as a second language. It is an official and national language of both Romania and Moldova.

Romansh

• ciao
• allegra

Romansh is a Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Grisons and Graubünden. Romansh, recognized as an official language of Switzerland, is considered an endangered language.

Russian

Hello in Russian:

• zdravstvuyte (ZDRA-stvooy-tyeh) здравствуйте — your go-to Russian greeting in any situation which translates to “be healthy, be well”
• zdorovo (zduh-ROH-vuh) — hello (informal)
• привет privet (pree-VYEHT) — informal hey/hi
• Алло allo is a Russian hello when answering the telephone

Russian is an East Slavic language spoken by 300+ million people world-wide. It is an official language in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, while many other people in Central Asia, the Baltic states, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe know it as a second language.

Samoan

• talofa (tah-low-fah)

Samoan is the official language spoken in the Samoan Islands, which is made up of the Independent State of Samoa and the American Samoa. The language is the most spoken of the Polynesian language family with a total of 510,000 speakers worldwide.

Sanskrit

How to say hello in languages of Sanskrit:

• namaste
  namah translates as “salutations” while te means “to you.” Namaste is a way of saying “salutations to you” to honor the light of universal awareness that lives within each of us. 
  

Sanskrit is a 4,000-year-old classical language that belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Known as ‘the mother of all languages,’ Sanskrit is the root of many, but not all, Indian languages. It is also the liturgical language of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Sanskrit has less than 15,000 native speakers at present and is mostly used by Hindu priests during religious ceremonies.

Sardinian

• bone die
• saludi

Sardinian or Sard is a Romance language spoken by over 1.5 million inhabitants of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia in Italy.

Scottish Gaelic

• haló (ha-LAW)

Scots Gaelic is a Goidelic language of the Celtic and Indo-European language family, native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish.

Serbian

• zdravo (ZDRAH-voh) Здраво
• ćao (chow) — informal way to say hello

Serbian is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and Macedonia by about 9 million people. Serbian is the official and main language of Serbia and Montenegro.

Sesotho

• dumela (doo-meh-lah) when speaking to one person
• dumelang (doo-meh-lang) when speaking to more than one, meaning hello to all

Sesotho (Sotho) is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho-Tswana group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language, South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages and in Zimbabwe where it is one of 16 official languages.

Seychellois Creole

• allo

Shanghainese

• noŋ hɔ 侬好

Shanghainese, part of the Sino-Tibetan language family, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas by 10 – 14 million speakers.

Shona

• mhoro

Shona, one of the most widely spoken Bantu languages, is the main language in Zimbabwe.

Sicilian

• ciao

Sicilian is a Romance language spoken by more than 4 million speakers on the island of Sicily in Italy.

Sindhi

• assalamu alaikum هيلو

Sindhi, an Indo-Aryan language, is the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh and spoken by over 25 million Sindhi people.

Sinhala

• āyubōvan (ah-yuh-boh-van) — formal hello
• halō (ha-loh) — casual hello

Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 16 million Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka and is one of two official languages of Sri Lanka.

Slovak

• ahoj (AH-hoy)  —  informal
• dobrý deň (dOH-bree deñ) —  formal greeting

Slovak, the official language of Slovakia, is a West Slavic language where it is spoken by approximately 5.6 million people.

Slovenian

• zdravo (ZDRAH-voh)
• živjo (ZHEE-vyoh)

Slovenian, an Indo-European language of the South Slavic language branch is the official and national language of Slovenia spoken by less than 3 million people.

Somali

• salaam alaykum

Somali, an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by over 16 million people, is an official language of Somalia, a national language in Djibouti, and a working language in the Somali Region of Ethiopia.

Spanish

Learn how to say hi in Spanish:

• ¡hola! (O-laa)
  You can use hola in both formal and informal settings, at any time of day or night.

To be time-specific, you can use:

• buenos dias — good morning
• buenas tardes — good afternoon
• buenas noches — good night

Spanish is the second most widely used language in the world natively spoken by more than 437 million people including Spain, the Spanish islands, most of Central and South America, Mexico, and the USA. There are over 21 countries in the world that have Spanish as their official language, with Mexico being the largest Spanish speaking nation. It is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula.

Sundanese

• halo — informal hey
• sampurasun — formal greeting

Sundanese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by about 39 million people mainly in western Java in Indonesia. There are also speakers in Banten, Jakarta, parts of western Central Java and southern Lampung. It is the third most-spoken language in Indonesia.

Swabian German

• grüss gott

Swabian, a Germanic language closely related to German, Bavarian, and Dutch, is spoken by over 800,000 people, mainly in the Swabia region of southwestern Germany, as well as in parts of Hungary and Romania.

Swahili

• jambo
• hujambo
• habari gani —  what is the news?

Swahili is a Bantu languages spoken by the Swahili communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Swati

• sawubona (sah-woo-boh-nah) — hello

Swati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swazi people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 12 million.

Swedish

• hej
• hallå

Swedish is a North Germanic language, closely related to Norwegian and Danish spoken by over 9 million people. It is the national language of Sweden and the official language of the Åland Islands.

Swiss German

• hoi — informal hey
• grüezi — formal singular
• grüezi mitenand — formal plural hello all languages

Swiss German is the collective name for the great variety of Upper German dialects spoken in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, in parts of Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Alsace in France.

Tagalog Filipino

• kumusta (koo-moos-tah) — hello
  Kamusta really means “how are you?” but people use it as a form of “hello.”
• helów (hey-LOW) — informal hello

Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is the national language of the Philippines, and is one of two official languages alongside English.

Tahitian

• Ia ora na (ee-ah oh-rah-na)

Tahitian belongs to the Eastern Polynesian language group, spoken mainly on the Society Islands in French Polynesia and Bora Bora.

Taiwanese Hokkien

• Hello in Taiwanese is lí-hó (lee-hoh)

Taiwanese Hokkien is the Hokkien dialect of Min Nan as spoken by about 70 percent of the population of Taiwan.

Tajik

Hello in Tajik:

• cалом (sah-lohm) — casual hello
• ассалом (a-sah-lohm) — casual hello
• ассалому алейкум (asah-lomu ah-lay-koom)

Tajik is the main language of Tajikistan, closely related to Farsi and Kurdish. Since the late 1930s, it is written using a variant of the Cyrillic script.

Tamil

• vanakkam வணக்கம் (Vaa–NaK–Kam)

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken in southern India, Sri Lanka and Singapore by about 67.5 million people.

Tarifit

• Hello in Tarifit is azul, which means “peace”
• ola

Tarifit is spoken by 8 million speakers in Arrif (Northern Africa) and Europe.

Tatar

• isänmesez (ees-aen-meh-sehz)
• sawmısız (saw-mis-siz) — hello
• sälam (sae-lahm) — casual hello

Tatar (татарча), the national language of the Tatars, is a Turkic language spoken mainly in the Russian republic of Tatarstan as well as Siberia by about 7 million people.

Telugu

• namaskāram నమస్కారం

Telugu is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the union territories of Puducherry by 75 million Telugu people.

Tetum

• elo

Tetum is an official language of Timor-Leste belonging to the Austronesian language family and spoken by just under 400,000 people.

Thai

• sawasdee krap (sa-wat-dii-krap) สวัสดี ครับ/ค่ะ — hello as a male
• sawasdee ka (sa-wat-dii-kha) สวัสดี ครับ/ค่ะ — hello as a female

Thai ภาษาไทย, the sole official and national language of Thailand, spoken by 50 million people, belongs to the Tai group of the Kra–Dai language family of Southeast Asia.

Tibetan

• tashi delek (tah-shee del-ek) — hello in the Lhasa dialect of Tibetan
• cho demo — hello in the Amdo dialect of Tibetan

Tibetan is an official language of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. The Tibetic languages are a cluster of Tibeto-Burman languages descended from Old Tibetan, spoken across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.

Tsalagi Cherokee

• osiyo
  Osiyo means more than just hello to Cherokees. It’s a deeper spirit of welcoming and hospitality that has been a hallmark of the Cherokee people for centuries.

Cherokee (Tsalagi) belongs to the Iroquoian language family. The Cherokee language is unique among Native American languages in that it is both a written and spoken language.

Tshivenda

• ndaa — as a male
• aa — as a female

Tshivenda or Venda is a Bantu language spoken by the Venda people of South Africa where it is an official language.

Tsonga

• minjhani when saying hello to adults
• kunjhani when greeting your friends or children

Tsonga is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people totalling 12 million people mainly in South Africa, but also Mozambique and Eswatini.

Tswana

• dumela (doo-meh-lah)

Tswana is a Bantu language spoken by about 4.4 million people in Bostwana, where it is the national and majority language, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The majority of speakers, about 3.6 million, live in South Africa, where the language is officially recognised.

Turkish

• merhaba (mehr hah bah)
• selam (sell um) — informal hi language

Turkish is a Turkic language believed to be of the Altaic language family spoken mainly in Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Cyprus and other countries of the former Ottoman Empire by about 88 million people.

Turkmen

• salam
• salawmaleýkim

Turkmen belongs to the Turkic language family and is spoken by around 11 million Turkmen people of Central Asia, mainly in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.

Tuvaluan

• tālofa

Tuvaluan is a Polynesian language that is native to Tuvalu, Fiji, Kiribati, and Nauru.

Twi

• agoo

Twi, or Akan kasa, is a dialect of the Akan Niger-Congo language family spoken by the Akan people in southern and central Ghana.

Ukrainian

Hello in Ukrainian is:

• dobriy den (DOH-brihy dehn)
• vitayu (vee-TAH-yoo) — formal hello
• pryvit (prih-VEET) — informal hello

Ukrainian is an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine by about 51 million people.

Urdu

• assalam u Alaikum السلام علیکم meaning “peace be on you.”
  It’s used when people meet at any time of the day – morning, noon, or night.

Urdu is the official national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is a member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-European family of languages and is mutually intelligible with Hindi.

Uyghur

• yahshimusiz (yok-shee-moose-siz)

Uyghur is a Turkic language of the Karluk branch written in a Uyghur Perso-Arabic script. It is spoken primarily by 10 million Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

Uzbek

• hello in Uzbek is assalomu alaykum
• salom — an informal way to say hi languages

Uzbek is a Turkic language that is the official national language of Uzbekistan spoken by around 27 million people.

Vietnamese

How to say hello in Vietnamese:

• xin chào (sin CHOW)
• chào bạn — casual

Vietnamese is an Austroasiatic language spoken mainly in Vietnam, where it is the national and official language, by about 82 million people.

Welsh

How to say hello in Welsh:

• Helo
• shwmae (shoe-my)  — casual
• sut mae (sit my) — casual

Welsh is a Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken natively in Wales, and by some in England.

Woiworung

• womenjeka (woh-men-je-kah)

Woiworung is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria.

Wolof

• salaam alaikum (sa-laam a-lay-kum)

Wolof is a national language of Senegal, where it is spoken by approximately 5.4 million people as a first language. It belongs to the Atlantic group of the Niger-Congo language family and is the native language of the Wolof people.

Xhosa

• molo

Xhosa is a Nguni Bantu language with click consonants and is one of the official languages of South Africa. It is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a second language in South Africa, mostly in Eastern Cape Province.

Yiddish

• a gutn tog (a goo-ten tawg) — good day / hello
• sholem-aleykhem (shoh-lem ah-leh-khem) — hello greetings in different languages
• aleykhem-sholem (ah-leh-khem shoh-lem) — hello response

Yiddish is the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews originating during the 9th century in Central Europe. Belonging to the Indo-European language family, it is spoken by 1.5 million people.

Yoruba

• bawo ni

Yoruba is a pluricentric language spoken in West Africa with the number of speakers estimated between 30 and 40 million. It is a language spoken principally in Nigeria and Benin, with communities in Sierra Leone, Liberia, other parts of Africa.

Zulu

Say hello in Zulu:

• sawubona (sah-woo-boh-nah)

Zulu is a member of the Bantu/Nguni family of languages. It is one of the official languages of South Africa spoken by about 10 million people mainly in Zululand and northern Natal in South Africa and also other places in Africa such as Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Eswatini.

Do you now know how to say hello in every language? Here are some final ways on how to say hi in different languages…

Hello in Different Languages — BONUS

American Sign Language (ASL)

How to say hello in American Sign Language:

• squeeze the fingers in your right hand together, touch the tips of your fingers to your forehead, palm facing outward, and move your hand away from your forehead in a saluting motion.

American Sign Language is a complete, natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken languages, with grammar that differs from English, expressed by movements of the hands and face.

British Sign Language (BSL)

How to say hello in British Sign Language:

• dominant hand wave, from inside to out with the palm facing towards recipient. As the hand moves bring it into a thumbs up gesture — formal hello
• give two thumbs up — informal

British Sign Language is a sign language used in the United Kingdom as the first or preferred language of some deaf people. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face, and head.

Dothraki

• m’athchomaroon
• this can be shortened to m’ath and m’ach

Dothraki is a constructed fictional language spoken by the Dothraki, a nomadic people in the fictional world of George Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptation the Game of Thrones.

Elvish Sindarin

• aiya
• mae g’ovannen

Elvish Sindarin is one of the fictional languages created by J.R.R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin.

Espetanto

• saluton

Esperanto is an artificially constructed language and belongs to no linguistic family, with most of its vocabulary coming from the Romance languages. This phonetic language is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language.

Klingon

• Say hello in Klingon: nuqneH (nook-neck)

Klingon is a language that was made for the Klingons in the Star Trek movie. It is a constructed language, and not one that developed naturally. Only a few people can speak the Klingon language well enough to talk in it.

Lojban

• coi

Lojban is a carefully constructed spoken language created by the Logical Language Group in 1987. Lojban is proposed as a speakable language for communication between people of different language backgrounds. With its 1350 root words that can be easily combined to form a vocabulary of millions of words, it is considered as easy to learn.

Minionese

• bello

Minionese spoken by the minions of the Despicable Me movie series appears to be a polyglot language which borrows words and grammatical rules from many different languages to say hello.

Na’vi

• kaltxì (kal-T-ì) —  informal way to say hello
• oel ngati kameie (o-el nga-ti kamei-e) — formal way to say hello in all languages

Na’vi is a constructed language, created for the fictional Na’vi, the humanoid inhabitants of the moon Pandora in the 2009 film Avatar.

Quenya

• aiya
• namárië

Quenya is one of the fictional languages devised by J.R.R. Tolkien and used by the immortal Elves in the Lord of the Rings and as inspiration for countless traveling quotes. Tolkien began devising the language around 1910 and restructured the grammar several times until Quenya reached its final state. The vocabulary remained relatively stable throughout the creation process.