# Ball



## Sina

What does ball means in your language?

Top, Erkan = Turkish
Ball = English
Pelota = Spanish

and in your language?


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## Honour

Erkan? Turkish?  
şaka mı bu?


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## Whodunit

In German it is "*Ball*", too, pronounced like "bulk" without "k".


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## übermönch

*Мяч / Myach *in Russian.


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## Vanda

Portuguese = bola


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## Chriszinho85

The same as Portuguese - 

Tagalog = bola


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## ronanpoirier

Hungarian:

Gömb (Not sure! Why do I keep posting if I'm not sure? Because if I'm wrong, someone who knows Hungarian will correct me ;-) )

Interesting, Tagalog's word for ball is the same as portuguese. I heard it has some influence in the languages of that area, ince it was used a _lingua franca _long time ago.


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## macta123

In Hindi

Ball = Gaend (Gend)


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## ukuca

In French: balle (f)
In Portuguese: bola
In Turkish: top   (He (Sina) is joking, to call a person "ball" in Turkish equals to call him gay)


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## badgrammar

O bir top = He is gay, or O bir erkan?  I don't get it either...


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## ukuca

No no, I think Erkan is a friend of him/her. He/She is just kidding


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## Chriszinho85

ronanpoirier said:
			
		

> Interesting, Tagalog's word for ball is the same as portuguese. I heard it has some influence in the languages of that area, ince it was used a _lingua franca _long time ago.


Hey Ronan. I'm not totally sure, but I think "bola" was introduced into Tagalog through Spanish. It was probably one of the thousands of Spanish words that entered into the indigenous Philippine languages during the time when the Philippines was a colony of Spain. I think Portuguese had more of an influence in Indonesia and Malaysia. However, I don't doubt the fact there may have been an influence in Tagalog from Portuguese. I was thinking and I noticed that the word "cha" means "tea" in both Tagalog and Portuguese.


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## linguist786

Whodunit said:
			
		

> In German it is "*Ball*", too, pronounced like "bulk" without "k".


Really? I thought it was pronounced "baaaal" (long a?)

Anyway, what kind of "ball" are we talking about? A kicking ball or a dancing ball?


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## amikama

Hebrew: *כדור* (_kadur_)


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## Outsider

Chriszinho85 said:
			
		

> Hey Ronan. I'm not totally sure, but I think "bola" was introduced into Tagalog through Spanish. It was probably one of the thousands of Spanish words that entered into the indigenous Philippine languages during the time when the Philippines was a colony of Spain.


Indeed, Spanish has the word "bola", too.



			
				Chriszinho85 said:
			
		

> I was thinking and I noticed that the word "cha" means "tea" in both Tagalog and Portuguese.


Portuguese got _chá_ from Cantonese.


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## linguist786

Chriszinho85 said:
			
		

> I was thinking and I noticed that the word "cha" means "tea" in both Tagalog and Portuguese.


In Hindi/Urdu/Gujarati too!

(It's actually "Tchai" - but you can see the similarity)


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## cajzl

Czech: *míč*
Slovak: *lopta* (from Hungarian)
Hungarian: *labda*


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## DearPrudence

In *French*, when referring to a foot ball, rugby ball, basket ball, ... it's not *une balle* (that you use in racket sports like tennis) but *un ballon* (un ballon de foot, un ballon de rugby, un ballom de basket, etc)
Not sure that answers your question.


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## parakseno

In Romanian it's called "minge".


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## CatStar

*In Irish*

liathróid

Cat


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## Maja

In Serbian:

*lopta *(лопта).


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## stargazer

In Slovenian it's ŽOGA


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## Chriszinho85

Outsider said:
			
		

> Indeed, Spanish has the word "bola", too.
> 
> Portuguese got _chá_ from Cantonese.


Thanks for the info. Outsider. I didn't know that. So then Tagalog got "chá" or "tsa" (as it's spelled in Tagalog) from Cantonese too.



			
				linguist786 said:
			
		

> In Hindi/Urdu/Gujarati too!
> 
> (It's actually "Tchai" - but you can see the similarity)


That's interesting.  Tagalog has also borrowed words from Sanskrit too. For example, "teacher" in Tagalog is "guro" from "guru."


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## Sisyphos

In Dutch:

*de bal* pronounced like in German


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## MingRaymond

It is 球 (qiu2) in Mandarin.
It is 波 (bo1) in Cantonese. (a transliteration of 'ball' without the 'l' sound). However, 波 can also mean the breasts of women in Cantonese.

Ming


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## Flaminius

Japanese:
Several words cover the semantic range of the English word _ball_.
ボール
bōru
Coming from English _ball_, this word is applied to the balls used in sports.  Baseball terminology "ball" is also translated as bōru.

玉, 珠 or 球 
tama
The word "tama" covers the most general area from ball-shaped jewels to those made of wool, for example.

球
kyū
When used alone, it means sphere, a mathematic term.  It can combine with other Sino-Japanese words to create compound nouns.


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## skatoulitsa

μπάλα in greek. Phonetically I guess something like bala


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## Becker

In Sinhalese it's bólaya


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## karuna

*In Latvian:*

ball (in sports) = _bumba _(this word is also used for _a bomb_ 
ball of yarn = _kamols_
ball (other spherical objects) = _lode_


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## Becker

Karuna... I don't know whether you know this or not, you probably do, but your username means "compassion" in Pali and Sinhalese.


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## Bienvenidos

Farsi/Persian:

*Toap*
I believe the Turkish word and the Farsi word are from the same origin, one took it from the other. It's pronounciation is special, however, (i.e. the English transliteration may not suffice)

*Bien*


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## shaloo

Becker said:
			
		

> Karuna... I don't know whether you know this or not, you probably do, but your username means "compassion" in Pali and Sinhalese.


 
Interestingly, it means the same in Telugu too.
I first mistook karuna to be of Indian origin(because of her name) but it really surprised me when I saw her profile.

Shalu


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## shaloo

And in Telugu, *ball = banti* 
(pron'ced as ...bun tee (soft *t*, like the french one))

(Othewise, it becomes the nickname of a person if you say bunty (like in bunti aur bubli) 

Now, that's a Bollwood film). 

Shalu


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## pickypuck

In Spanish it is also possible "un balón".

¡Olé!


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## Ilmo

Finnish: Pallo


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## Ilmo

NikaRasmussenWelling said:
			
		

> Ok..are there any suomi experts out there? I just started learning the language 3 weeks ago, and am astounded by the numerous rules, grammar, etc. Here's an example sentence:
> 
> ----------------------------------
> Hei Vicky,
> 
> Haluaisin kiittää sua tätä varten ajaksi koukeroinen ajokoira lämmin mieluinen.
> Mä puolustella ajaksi menuetti epäkelpo kielioppi. mä haluta jotta kuulla Suomi kielenkäyttö ja vyyhti hauskuus asettaa esikuvallinen jäljessä (kotona englannin kieli: the highlighted is way wrong.  Tom Welling höyty hotellipoika.
> 
> --Níka


 
Yes, there is at least one "suomi expert" around here. During the eight months that I have been on the forum I have "seen" only a few of my compatriots. During the last two months I have been away a lot for reasons of health.
Your "Finnish" is quite well written - I mean there are not many typing errors - but it there is not much sense in it. If you want help in your ambitious attempt, write me a PM; I promise to answer to you, though these days the short Finnish summer is going on and I may be sailing a lot. Ole kärsivällinen.
Ilmo


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## miu_miu

In Swedish:
boll


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## Mery_Dian

In Arabic : كرة --> Kura(toun)


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## avalon2004

Another Greek word for ball is* σφαίρα,* but it tends to be used more in the sense of 'globe' or 'sphere'. This is also the Ancient Greek word.


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## Cony

In spanish places like Colombia and Venezuela we said "Balón"

*Cony.*


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## alby

Maja said:
			
		

> In Serbian:
> 
> *lopta *(лопта).


 
It's the same in Croatian : Lopta

Nataša


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## Lore bat

Sina said:
			
		

> What does ball means in your language?
> 
> Top, Erkan = Turkish
> Ball = English
> Pelota = Spanish
> 
> and in your language?


 
In Spanish "ball" can be translated as "pelota", "bola" or "balón".


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## Mmart

In Catalan _pilota_


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## anthodocheio

In Greek is μπάλα (bala)
and baloon is μπαλόνι (baloni). I'm not sure though if it has a Greek origin. Propably is latin.


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## selters

I Norwegian it's _ball._ Pronounced /bal/.


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## Nineu

In basque:  pilota.


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## Confused Linguist

Bengali: golok (But everyone says ball!  )

Hindi: golak

Sanskrit: golaka


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## MarX

Hi!

In Indonesian it's *bola*. I guess a loanword from Portuguese.

Salam,


MarX


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## blue_jewel

In Tagalog: Bola  Tea: Tsa-a


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## mallujulia

In Spanish I've seen most people have said 
pelota ( e.g. tennis ball, tennis table ball. normally smaller than a balón)
balón ( e.g. a football ball, rugby ball)
bola ( something round, small and normally hard . we use it for golf but also in other 
contexts apart form sports. A round ornament on a table can be called a bola)
but don't forget we also use it as
baile ( when we refer to a dancing ball.)


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## MarX

alby said:


> It's the same in Croatian : Lopta
> 
> Nataša


It's probably related to Spanish *pelota*, with some consonant change. Like *milk* and *mliko*.


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## Nizo

The *Esperanto* word for ball is *pilko*, which comes from the Polish.


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## kusurija

In Czech:
Ball (as in football) : míč, mičuda, meruna, kulatý nesmysl(by joke)
Ball (as in other games) : the same + balón, míček
Ball (as sphere) : koule, kulička, sféra
Ball (as bullet, shot) : kulka
Ball (as party(dancing)) : bál, ples
Ball (of wool or threads) : klubko (and so on, etc.: too many meanings in English)

In Lithuanian:
Ball (as in football or other games) : kamuolys
Ball (as sphere) : rutulys
Ball (as bullet, shot) : šratas
Ball (as party(dancing)) : balius


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## kaverison

Tamil: 
Ball = panthu


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## apmoy70

anthodocheio said:


> In Greek is μπάλα (bala)


We took it from the Upper Italian _balla_ (perhaps from Lombard), but ultimately, it derives from the Proto-Germanic *ballaz


anthodocheio said:


> and baloon is μπαλόνι (baloni). I'm not sure though if it has a Greek origin. Propably is latin.


The Gr. *«μπαλόνι»* [baˈloni] (neut.) --> _balloon_, is a later Fr. loan (<ballon).


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