# Words for God



## Benmaat

Quels sont les mots traduisant "Dieu" dans différents langues et dialectes africains et du monde?  De préférence plus transcription phonétique


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## Abu Rashid

In the Semitic languages, the most common word for dieu/god is based around the root a-l[-h].

Arabic: allah/ilah
Aramaic: alaha
Hebrew: eloah/el
Old South Arabian: il
Phoenician: il
Ugaritic: il
Akkadian: ilu


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## Orlin

Bulgarian, Russian: Бог.
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Бог/Bog.


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## apmoy70

Greek: «Θεός» (θe'os, _masculine noun_)

[θ] is a voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative


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## mediterraneo24

Abu Rashid said:


> In the Semitic languages, the most common word for dieu/god is based around the root a-l[-h].
> 
> Arabic: allah/ilah
> Aramaic: alaha
> Hebrew: eloah/el
> Old South Arabian: il
> Phoenician: il
> Ugaritic: il
> Akkadian: ilu



  In hebrew we also say "Elohim".
 XXXX-im is the plural suffix, much like "Dios" in spanish.


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## Agró

mediterraneo24 said:


> In hebrew we also say "Elohim".
> XXXX-im is the plural suffix, much like "Dios" in spanish.



There's no plural suffix in Dios (plural Dioses).

*Catalan*: Déu /déw/
*Basque*: Jaungoikoa /xauŋɡoɪkoa/ (lit. "the Lord above")


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## mediterraneo24

Agró said:


> There's no plural suffix in Dios (plural Dioses).



Right, but the word Dios "seems" like the plural form of the word dio (which doesn't exist). Like the word Elohim is the singular (and occasional plural in certain cases) form of the same word.

Un solo Dios = אלוהים אחד ויחיד = one and only god


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## Agró

apmoy70 said:


> Greek: «Θεό*ς*» (θe'os, _masculine noun_)





mediterraneo24 said:


> Right, but the word Dios "seems" like the plural form of the word dio (which doesn't exist). Like the word Elohim is the singular (and occasional plural in certain cases) form of the same word.
> 
> Un solo Dios = אלוהים אחד ויחיד = one and only god



That's right. It may seem a plural noun but it's not. The final -s comes directly from Greek Θεό*ς *through Latin Deu*s.*


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## Abu Rashid

mediterranean said:
			
		

> In hebrew we also say "Elohim".
> XXXX-im is the plural suffix...



Yep, just thought I'd only use the singular masculine forms though for all the languages I listed, to avoid confusion and maintain the similarity between the various cognates.


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## olaszinho

Italian:

*Dio,* irregular plural *gli dèi*
formal or literary *Iddio*


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## Frank06

Hi,

Dutch: God
Afrikaans: God (not really a surprise)
Persian: خدا (khoda, +/- [xod'a:])

Frank

PS: the similarity between Latin Deus and Greek Θεός is coincidential.


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## Abu Rashid

Frank said:
			
		

> PS: the similarity between Latin Deus and Greek Θεός is coincidential.



They are not cognates/borrowings?


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## Frank06

Hi,


Abu Rashid said:


> They are not cognates/borrowings?


A quick one, because I don't want to get too off topic with my remark:
Greek theos: from PIE *dhes-
Latin Deus: from PIE *deiwos

Groetjes,

Frank


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## jazyk

In Portuguese: Deus. Plural: deuses.


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## Rallino

Turkish:

God - *Tanrı*
Gods - *Tanrılar*


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## apmoy70

Frank06 said:


> Hi,
> 
> A quick one, because I don't want to get too off topic with my remark:
> Greek theos: from PIE *dhes-
> Latin Deus: from PIE *deiwos
> 
> Groetjes,
> 
> Frank


If I may intervene, the etymology of «Θεός» is obscure. It definitely does not derive from PIE base *deiwos (Ζεῦς/Zeus, derives from it cognate with Latin Deus) but the hypothesis of it deriving from *dhes- (cognate with Latin festus) is problematic also. Hoffmann suggests from *dhe-w- ,_to put, to set_


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*: Jumala

Et la transcription phonétique: 
IPA: ['ju.mɑ.lɑ] (_what a surprise..._)


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## Maroseika

Orlin said:


> Bulgarian, Russian: Бог.
> Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Бог/Bog.


Slavic бог/bog originates from the PIE stem meaning "the one who allots, gives". Some even reckon it wa slonaed directly from Iranian. 
However at least *Mordvinian *really loaned this word directly from Iranian:
Iranian baga-, baɣa > *Mordvinian pavas, paz* (god)

Besides бог/bog, there is another word for god in *Russian *- *господь* (gaspod'), cognate of Latin _hospitis _- owner < *potis - mighty (Vasmer, Benvenista).


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## Orlin

Maroseika said:


> Besides бог/bog, there is another word for god in *Russian *- *господь* (gaspod'), cognate of Latin _hospitis _- owner < *potis - mighty (Vasmer, Benvenista).


Bulgarian: *Господ*, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian *Господ/Gospod* (stressed on the 1st syllable in all mentioned Slavic languages).


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## Maroseika

Orlin said:


> Bulgarian: *Господ*, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian *Господ/Gospod* (stressed on the 1st syllable in all mentioned Slavic languages).


Russian word господь is stressed on the 2nd syllable, but maybe earlier it also was stressed on the 1st one, such as now in all the oblique cases, incl. relict  of the Vocative (господи).


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## Orlin

maroseika said:


> russian word господь is stressed on the 2nd syllable, but maybe earlier it also was stressed on the 1st one, such as now in all the oblique cases, incl. Relict of the vocative (господи).


 
Простите за недоразумение - я комментировал только о болгарском и боснийском/хорватском/сербском языках.


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## rusita preciosa

Most languages also have euphemisms for God, in Russian it is 
*Всевышний* /vsevyshnyi/ – (lit. “the all-high” – stop laughing now !!) 

I think *господь */gospod'/ is also one of the euphemisms, meaning "the ruler".


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## Orlin

rusita preciosa said:


> Most languages also have euphemisms for God, in Russian it is
> *Всевышний* /vsevyshnyi/ – (lit. “the all-high” – stop laughing now !!)


 
Bulgarian: *Всевишният */vsevishniyat/.


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## Serafín33

In Chinese one has to consider the words for both the supreme God in the traditional Chinese religion and those of Chinese-speaking Christians.
Mandarin: 天 tiān [tʰjɛn˥˥]
上帝 shàngdì [ʂɑŋ˥˧ ti˥˩]
神 shén [ʂən˧˥]
(上)主 (shàng)zhǔ [(ʂɑŋ˥˧) tʂu˩˩]

Contributing with some IPA transcriptions:


Abu Rashid said:


> Arabic: allah/ilah


‎الله allāh: [ɑlˤ.ˈlˤɑːh] 
إله  ilāh: [ʔɪ.ˈlæːh]


			
				mediterraneo24 said:
			
		

> "Dios" in Spanish


[d̪jɔs]



Frank06 said:


> Latin Deus


[ˈd̪ɛ.ʊs]


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## Duvelly

Hi!

*Hungarian:*
- singular: _Isten_
- plural:_ istenek_
- _Úr_ ("Lord"), _Atya_ ("Father") and _Mindenható _("the Almighty") can also be used.


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## Noroît

@ Abu Rashid

Juste pour éclairer ma lanterne, je croyais que Dieu dans l'Ancien Testament s'appelait _Yaveh_ (Je Suis Celui qui Suis) ????

Merci.


Et comment traduire _King *of the* Most High_ (Roi des Cieux) ? Quelle est la nuance par rapport à _God *the* Most High_ (Dieu le Très Haut) ?


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## ilocas2

Orlin said:


> Bulgarian, Russian: Бог.
> Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Бог/Bog.





Maroseika said:


> Besides бог/bog, there is another word for god in *Russian *- *господь* (gaspod'), cognate of Latin _hospitis _- owner < *potis - mighty (Vasmer, Benvenista).





Orlin said:


> Bulgarian: *Господ*, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian *Господ/Gospod* (stressed on the 1st syllable in all mentioned Slavic languages).



Czech:

*Bůh*
*Hospodin*


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## aruniyan

Tamil

some common names with approx meanings

*Kadavul *: above soul, crossed everything...

*Aandavan* : One who ruled

*Deivam* : Supporting Natural force

*Perumaal *: The all mighty

*Iraivan* : Invisible(not sure)


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## Abu Rashid

Noroît said:


> @ Abu Rashid
> 
> Juste pour éclairer ma lanterne, je croyais que Dieu dans l'Ancien Testament s'appelait _Yaveh_ (Je Suis Celui qui Suis) ????
> 
> Merci.



That word also appears (YHWH), but the Old Testament opens with the verse:

"In the beginning *God* created the heaven and the earth"

And the word "God" here is from the root I mentioned. As are most references to God in the Old Testament.


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## Noroît

Thank you Abu Rashid


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## ancalimon

Rallino said:


> Turkish:
> 
> God - *Tanrı*
> Gods - *Tanrılar*



There are several theories regarding this widely used word for God.

The most famous and probable one belongs to  Talat Tekin. The word Tanrı (from old Turkic Tengri) is derived from _Täg- _meaning "to turn around", "to return back", "to encircle", "to surround". (since eternity encircles the Earth, it's perfectly understandable why the Proto-Turks related outer heavens with God) The word "teker" meaning "wheel" or "değir" meaning "to turn, circle" are also related with this word and I think the source culture of this word is not people speaking Proto-Indo-European.

In my opinion the word "tek" today meaning "solitary", "single" is also related with this word...  So the plural usage "tanrılar" is wrong and alien to Turkic language and culture. It's like saying "the only people"



> Proto-Turkic: *tēk
> 
> Altaic etymology: Altaic etymology
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Meaning: 1 odd 2 only, solitary 3 understanding nothing 4 zero 5 vain, in vain
> 
> Russian meaning: 1 нечетный 2 единственный, только 3 ничего не понимающий 4 ноль 5 напрасный, напрасно
> 
> Old Turkic: tek 2 (OUygh.)
> 
> Karakhanid: tek 2 (MK, KB)
> Turkish: tek 1, 2
> Tatar: tik 2
> Middle Turkic: tek 2 (Sangl.)
> Azerbaidzhan: täk 1, 2
> Turkmen: tǟk 1, 2
> Khakassian: tik 3
> Shor: tek 5
> Tuva: tik 3, tek 3, 4
> Kirghiz: tek 5
> Kazakh: tek 2
> Noghai: tek 2
> Bashkir: tik 2
> Balkar: tegaran 2
> Gagauz: tek 1, 2
> Karaim: tek 2
> Karakalpak: tegin 2
> Kumyk: tek 2
> 
> Comments: VEWT 470, TMN 2, 660, EDT 475. Turk. > Mong. Khalkha _teg_ `zero', Kalm. _teg_ 'kurz, niedrig' (KW 389).




The Turkish word çevre (meaning surroundings) should also be related. ("çevir" is "to turn, to twist" today)



> Proto-Turkic: *Tegre
> 
> Altaic etymology: Altaic etymology
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Meaning: surroundings
> Russian meaning: окружение, округа
> Old Turkic: tegre (OUygh.)
> Karakhanid: tegre (MK)
> Middle Turkic: tegre 'side' (Pav. C.)
> Uzbek: tegra
> Chuvash: tavra
> Yakut: dieri 'to, towards'
> Dolgan: dieri 'to, towards'
> Comments: EDT 485, VEWT 469, ЭСТЯ 2, 178-179, Stachowski 80.


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## AutumnOwl

Swedish:
_Gud_ - God
_Gudar_ - Gods
_As_ (male), _asynja_ (female), _aesir_ (plural) - one of the groups of gods in the Nordic Pantheon
_Vanr_ (singular), _vanir_ (plural) - a second group of gods in the Nordic Pantheon


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## mataripis

The  Spanish "Dios" became "Diyos" in Filipino and now commonly used. But the Tagalog term for "God" is "Maykapal" (Creator)  and the Lord (Panginoon). The word of God in Tagalog is "Ang Salita ng Maykapal". This term 'May' + 'Kapal'  means 'there is' + ' omnipresent'/omnipotent/all knowing.


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## Halfdan

Faroese: Gud


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