# God



## panjabigator

In light of all the religious discussion in the cultural forums, I would like to know what are the words for God in your languages.  

For Panjabi's it is dependendent on Religion,

Sikhs:  Vaheguru, Babaji
Hindus and Sikhs:  Parmatma, Bhagvaan, Parmeshwar, Narayan
Muslims:  Allah has 99 names, but most common ones I hear are Allah and Khuda

Words for god that are irrespective of religion:  Rabba, Data, Malik​


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## Cereth

well, for catholics God is *DIOS*, we can also say Yavé, Osana  (although Yavé and Osana are not spanish words we use it rarely but we understand it), we also refer to God as: "EL SEÑOR" (the lord)


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## Etcetera

Russian: Бог, Господь
Polish: Bóg
Finnish: Jumala
Italian: Dio


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## Whodunit

German: Gott

Maybe this thread can be of help.


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## Knuð

This depends on what "god" you're talking about. The Christian god is called "Gud", while some of the Norse Pagan "gods" (they're not really gods, you see) are called "Odin", "Tor", "Njord", "Frøy", "Tyr", etc.. Some of the Greek Pagan gods are called "Zevs", "Poseidon", "Ares", "Hades", etc., and the similar names of the Roman Pagan gods are "Jupiter", "Neptun", "Mars", "Pluto", etc.. The Jewish god is called either "Gud", "Jahve" or "Jehova", and the god of Islam is called "Allah".


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## Outsider

Portuguese and Latin (nominative?): *Deus*

Actually, in old Portuguese texts you will read "Deo", which we would spell "Deu" nowadays. I suppose the Church must have reintroduced the word with "s" to avoid any confusion with "deu", which is a form of the verb "dar" (to give). It might sound like we were taking our deity for granted...


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## übermönch

Knuð said:
			
		

> This depends on what "god" you're talking about. The Christian god is called "Gud", while some of the Norse Pagan "gods" (they're not really gods, you see) are called "Odin", "Tor", "Njord", "Frøy", "Tyr", etc.. Some of the Greek Pagan gods are called "Zevs", "Poseidon", "Ares", "Hades", etc., and the similar names of the Roman Pagan gods are "Jupiter", "Neptun", "Mars", "Pluto", etc.. The Jewish god is called either "Gud", "Jahve" or "Jehova", and the god of Islam is called "Allah".


 The Jewish equivalent of "Allah" is "Eluchem" and Jew also use the latter. The word with "Ja-" or "Je-" is his personal name which probably also has an arabic spelling and, at least for Jews, it's forbidden to pronounce, to write and to think his name and that is why they call him "Eluchem".
The main German pagan gods are Wotan (Odin) and Donnar (Thor). The slavic gods I can recall are Perun, Veles, Lel, Polel and Lada, but they are all referred to as "бог" in Russian, just like the christian guy. Isn't the norwegian "gud" used in context of the pagan gods?


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## Whodunit

Outsider said:
			
		

> Portuguese and Latin (nominative?): *Deus*


 
Right, "deus" is the nominative singular for "God" in Latin.



> Actually, in old Portuguese texts you will read "Deo", which we would spell "Deu" nowadays.


 
In Latin, "deo" is the accusative singular from "deus".


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## Knuð

übermönch said:
			
		

> Isn't the norwegian "gud" used in context of the pagan gods?


The Norwegian word "gud" (the equivalent to the English word "god") is a word that in common speech refers to any important religious spirit/force such as God, Allah, Buddha, Zeus, Odin, etc.. "Gud" (with a capital g) is the Christian god. But if you're more specific you should avoid using this term at least on Buddha and Norse Pagan gods (as there is no English equivalent to the real Norwegian word). Buddha was, as far as I know, merely a person who guided other people to Nirvana. The Norwegian word for the Norse Pagan male god(s) is:

en *ås* (singular indefinite) 
*åsen* (singular definite)
flere *æser* (plural indefinite)*
*æsene* (plural definite)*

*note: the *æ* is pronounced like a Norwegian *e*. There are even many Norwegians who do not know this, so they pronounce it like an *æ* instead.

The word for the Norse Pagan female god(s) is:

ei *åsynje* (singular indefinite) 
*åsynja* (singular definite)
flere *åsynjer* (plural indefinite)
*åsynjene* (plural definite)


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## Flaminius

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Right, "deus" is the nominative singular for "God" in Latin.
> 
> In Latin, "deo" is the accusative singular from "deus".


Deo is the dative or ablative of "deus."


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## Flaminius

übermönch said:
			
		

> The Jewish equivalent of "Allah" is "Eluchem"



A more popular transcription of the Hebrew name for the monotheistic God is Elohim.  This word stands in the majestic plural to "eloah," also meaning God.  The Arabic cognate is ilāh.


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## panjabigator

Is the term Yahweh not used?  Thats the term I recall from my High School history book.


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## Honour

Tanrı (afaik it is derived from tenri ) means all the gods on earth except Allah.


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## betulina

In Catalan we say "déu" generally speaking, as a generic noun. If we speak of the Catholic god, then we would use a capital D (Déu). Then, every "déu" has an own name: "Al·là", "Buda", "Zeus"...


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## ireney

In Greek it's _Theos_ (th as in theatre, e as in elephant, o as in omnibus)

For female deities it's _Thea_


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## litoxe2718281828

In Japanese, we say "kami."


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## Whodunit

Flaminius said:
			
		

> Deo is the dative or ablative of "deus."


 
Mea culpa. 

You are right, I've confused it with "deum".


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## Bienvenidos

Farsi: k*hudah

* The Farsi K is kind of different from a regular K. It comes from farther down the pharynx than the regular K. 

*Bien*


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## 地獄の森_jigoku_no_mori

In french one says dieu(masculin, singular) dieux(masculin, plural) diesse(feminin, singuar) diesses(feminin, plural).
The Christian God is dieu.


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## Pivra

Thai:
Mahadeva
Deva
Devada 
Phra Jao


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## panjabigator

That makes sense Pivra...in India, the words Dev and Devii are god.  And Maha is a prefix for "great."

Mahatma Gandi-- Maha-great, atma-soul (although him being a mahatma is arguable!)


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## Maja

In Serbian:
Bog (Бог)
Gospod (Господ).


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## Pivra

Parmatma,= Parma + atma= Great Being
Bhagvaan,= Bhagva = Perfect, Good, Virtue ( or guna?) + suffix??
Parmeshwar, = Parma + Ishwar= Great Leader
Narayan = Nara (water)+ ayana (dwells/ moves in)= He who dwells in water?

If i say Deva in India will people understand me?? lol


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## Manuel_M

*In Maltese*:

God = Alla
goddess = alla mara


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## Tisia

*Persian:
* *خدا *(khoda)

*Kurdish:
* *خوا *(khwa)

*Finnish:
* Jumala

Tisia


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## Anatoli

litoxe2718281828 said:
			
		

> In Japanese, we say "kami."


 Written in kanji: 神 (かみ) (hiragana syllabary in brackets)

In Chinese Mandarin there are a few words:
神 shén, 上帝 shàngdì, 天神 tiānshén, 主 zhǔ, 天王 tiānwáng




			
				Flaminius said:
			
		

> The Arabic cognate is ilāh.


 الله  The word uses a special ligature llāh (ﷲ).  So, the word is letter alef + just one ligature. Transliterated as [Allāh]. Doesn't show correctly in all word processors!


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## Andrutzu

In Romanian, for the Christian God we have _Dumnezeu _and for the generic noun we have_  zeu_ (masc. sing.), _zei _(masc. pl)_, zeiţă_ (fem. sing.), _zeiţe_ (fem. pl.)


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## panjabigator

In Farsi and Arabic, do the non muslims use the word Khoda and Allah, respectively?  

In South Asia, the phrase "khoda hafiz" is popular amoung the muslim population and means "God protect you."  The phrase is originally from Farsi.  Now many South Asian muslims are seeing the term Allah as being a better choice over Khoda, and have started saying Allah hafiz.  Is this view point popular in Iran and Afghanistan also?


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## zaby

A small correction for the French words  :



			
				地獄の森_jigoku_no_mori said:
			
		

> In french one says dieu(masculin, singular) dieux(masculin, plural) d*é*esse(feminin, singuar) d*é*esses(feminin, plural).
> The Christian God is *D*ieu.


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## Tisia

panjabigator said:
			
		

> In Farsi and Arabic, do the non muslims use the word Khoda and Allah, respectively?
> In South Asia, the phrase "khoda hafiz" is popular amoung the muslim population and means "God protect you."  The phrase is originally from Farsi.  Now many South Asian muslims are seeing the term Allah as being a better choice over Khoda, and have started saying Allah hafiz.  Is this view point popular in Iran and Afghanistan also?


In Iran (muslims or non-muslims) and in the Kurdish-speaking areas in the Middle East, they say *"Khoda hafez"* which literally means "God protect/be with you". I think the English equivalent is "God speed". I don't know in Afghanistan. In pakistan I think they say "Allahh afez". In Arabic, eg. in Irak they say "Allah ma'ak/Allah weyak". *Allah* is the Arabic word and *Khoda* is the Persian word for *God*.

Tisia


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## übermönch

panjabigator said:
			
		

> Is the term Yahweh not used?  Thats the term I recall from my High School history book.


 I cannot talk about christians, but Jews do not use this term. It's a no-no, a forbidden word in Judaism. Orthodox jews also can get upset if you say this word in their presence (Monty Phyton made fun of it in it's "Life of Brian" ). According to our faith god is too great to be referred to by his personal name. That's why it's "Elohim"/"Eluchem" or just "El", but the latter can refer to any god.


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## tinujei

Hello, 

In Triqui, an indigenous language of Mexico, Dios is Ya'anj


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## larosa

In Hungarian:  

God = Isten


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## cherine

panjabigator said:
			
		

> In Farsi and Arabic, do the non muslims use the word Khoda and Allah, respectively?


I don't speak Farsi, but in Arabic the word Allah is the word for God, and it's used by both muslims and christians, at least here in Egypt.
The word for god is "rabb" (with a little stress on the final b) رب this is an indefinite word, if we add the article "al" ar-rabb الرب it means God.


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## panjabigator

We say rabb too!  Does rab get a tashdid on it?  In the Punjabi pronounciation it would have an emphasis on the B...which is why I wrote it with a double b.


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## cherine

panjabigator said:
			
		

> We say rabb too! Does rab get a tashdid on it? In the Punjabi pronounciation it would have an emphasis on the B...which is why I wrote it with a double b.


Yes, same in Arabic : ربّ


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## showerbabies

*cantonese* - "sun" (not raising the end like in english, but with a flat or monotone)



			
				Anatoli said:
			
		

> Written in kanji: 神 (かみ) (hiragana syllabary in brackets)
> In Chinese Mandarin there are a few words:
> 神 shén, 上帝 shàngdì, 天神 tiānshén, 主 zhǔ, 天王 tiānwáng



If my mardarin is correct, "tiānshén" is "sky/ heaven god."  I am not sure if that is the correct one for thee God.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong.


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## Anatoli

showerbabies said:
			
		

> *cantonese* - "sun" (not raising the end like in english, but with a flat or monotone)
> 
> 
> 
> If my mardarin is correct, "tiānshén" is "sky/ heaven god."  I am not sure if that is the correct one for thee God.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong.



天神 tiānshén n. ①god; deity ②〈Budd.〉 Skt. deva, devata; a god; a spiritual being still subject to metempsychosis


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## showerbabies

Anatoli said:
			
		

> 天神 tiānshén n. ①god; deity ②〈Budd.〉 Skt. deva, devata; a god; a spiritual being still subject to metempsychosis



So does it mean "God"?


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## elroy

cherine said:
			
		

> I don't speak Farsi, but in Arabic the word Allah is the word for God, and it's used by both muslims and christians, at least here in Egypt.
> The word for god is "rabb" (with a little stress on the final b) رب this is an indefinite word, if we add the article "al" ar-rabb الرب it means God.


I agree with your first statement, but not with the second one. 

To me, the word for "god" is إله (ilaah), while رب (rabb) means "lord."


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## cherine

Your English is sure much better than mine, so I can't even pretend knowing the exact difference between god and lord 
But the word رب and its variants ربي - ربكم - ربنا are used in the Qur'an, maybe indeed it means "lord".


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## linguist786

cherine said:
			
		

> Your English is sure much better than mine, so I can't even pretend knowing the exact difference between god and lord
> But the word رب and its variants ربي - ربكم - ربنا are used in the Qur'an, maybe indeed it means "lord".


Yes it does. Well, it's always translated like that anyway. We use the same word in Urdu.

[Remember in Islam, the 3 questions asked in the grave - one of them is "mar-rabbuka?" (who is your lord?)]


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## MarX

In Indonesian:

*Tuhan
Allah*

*Tuhan Allah* or *Allah Tuhan* is also common.

These are used by both Muslims and Christians.


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## Cilquiestsuens

übermönch said:


> I cannot talk about christians, but Jews do not use this term. It's a no-no, a forbidden word in Judaism. Orthodox jews also can get upset if you say this word in their presence (Monty Phyton made fun of it in it's "Life of Brian" ). According to our faith god is too great to be referred to by his personal name. That's why it's "Elohim"/"Eluchem" or just "El", but the latter can refer to any god.


 
According to a Jewish friend of mine, the name Yahweh's proper prononciation (vocalization) is lost and no one knows to read it properly. So out of respect, every time this name appears in text, one should read *Adonaï* (Lord)... 

Can someone confirm???


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## Nizo

The *Esperanto* word for God (god) is *Dio* (*dio*).  The capitalization is based on whether one is referring to the one God (monotheistic) or one of many gods (pantheistic).

Jews and Christians know God by the name *Javeo*.  This is not the word for God; it is his actual name.  Orthodox Jews, however, might write this *JHVH*, to avoid actually saying his name.  The *ja* at the beginning or end of many Hebrew personal names (*Elija*) comes from this name.  He is referred to in the Esperanto version of the Tanakh/Old Testament as *la Eternulo*, the Eternal One.

When working with Islamic themes or texts, Esperantists will sometimes use *Alaho* to refer to God.

The many gods of ancient Scandinavia, Greece, Rome and modern India, for example, all have their own names (*Zeŭso, Jovo, Toro, Viŝnuo*), but generically are referred to as *dioj *(gods).

The feminine form is *diino*, which translates into English as _goddess_.


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## kusurija

In Czech:
Bůh (Masculine), bohyně (feminine)
božstvo(deity)
Christianic: Bůh, Hospodin, Pán(-bůh), Spasitel, Jahve(when needed show original language)

In Lithuanian:
Dievas (Masc.), deivė (fem.)
Christianic: Dievas, Išganytojas


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## MarX

MarX said:


> In Indonesian:
> 
> *Tuhan
> Allah*
> 
> *Tuhan Allah* or *Allah Tuhan* is also common.
> 
> These are used by both Muslims and Christians.


I forgot to add:

We also have the word *Dèwa* (feminine *Dèwi*) used for the polytheistic Gods, such as in Hinduism or Buddhism.

There is also the word *ilah*, of which the closest English translation would be "idol".
Interestingly, the word for "godly" is *ilahi*.

Salam,


MarX


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## sokol

In German, besides *Gott*, there's also commonly used *Herr *(an equivalent to English *'Lord'*) but only as an *appellation *form.

Apart from that, biblical names for God also are used, if not too often - *Jahwe *or *Jehova *(Yahwe) [Jahwe being biblical and Jehova being a Germanised version] being one of them; as far as I can remember there are others too (which arose from the need of Jews not addressing God with his proper name Yahwe which is taboo for them; and the Old Testament of Christianity is, basically, Jewish - probably even identical to the Tora in great parts, but of that I'm not sure as I don't know the Tora).

A typical form of address also would be (at least in Catholic liturgy) *'mein Herr und Gott'*, that is, 'My Lord and God'.

Apart from that, I believe that Jehovah's Wittnesses (German: Jehova's Zeugen) might even use *'Jehova'* only for the name of God: or more precise, this is what Non-Jehovas in Austria think they do. However, as I am not part of this community I can't be sure.


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