# Hello



## jet

i was wondering if anybody knew how to say hello in these languages: 

japanese 
korean 
cantonese 
mandarin 
thai 
tagalog 
samoan 
ilocano 
chamorro 
tahitan 
tongan 
malay 

help would be appreciated or you could give me a website where i could find it easily. i need to do this for one of my work at college


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## Neru

Hi jet. Have a look here:

http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/hello.htm


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## jet

thanks a lot for the link neru


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## Isis

hi jet! this is Isis from the Philippines and am here to help you with the translation

japanese 
korean  -    anyeong ( an-yong)
cantonese 
mandarin -   ni hao (ni-haw)
thai -  sawadee   (sa-wa-di)
tagalog - kamusta  (ka-moos-tah)
samoan   -  maalelouay   (ma-al-le-lu-ay)
ilocano - naimbag nga isasangbay   (na-im-bahg-nga-ee-sah-sahng-bhay)
chamorro 
tahitan 
tongan 
malay - apa khabar  (ap-pa-kah-barrh)


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## ayed

In Arabic, we are used to saying:"Ahlan" or "Hala".
*أهلاً أو هلا *


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## naery

Japanese:

general: Konnichiwa
morning: Ohayo Gozaimass
evening: Konbanwa
also, the good night farewell: Oyasumi Nasai


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## Whodunit

ayed said:
			
		

> In Arabic, we are used to saying:"Ahlan" or "Hala".
> *أهلاً أو هلا *



Hi ayed, how d'ye do?

Does the word أهلاً refer to the 'family' or something like this? And doesn't the word هلا mean 'if not' or 'isn't...?' ?

Please add some other ways. I also know آلو but I think it refers to calling, doesn't it?


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## elroy

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Hi ayed, how d'ye do?
> 
> Does the word أهلاً refer to the 'family' or something like this? And doesn't the word هلا mean 'if not' or 'isn't...?' ?
> 
> Please add some other ways. I also know آلو but I think it refers to calling, doesn't it?



Yes,أهلاً does refer to family.  The original sense of the expression was that of welcoming somebody as a member of the family.  هلا is a shortened form. آلو is used strictly for telephone conversations, at least in Palestinian Arabic.  

Another alternative is ﺍﺒﺤﺮﻤ [marhaba].  That's actually the most common greeting in Palestinian Arabic.  I hope this helps. 

(Übrigens: Dein Arabisch ist klasse!   )


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## Whodunit

elroy said:
			
		

> Yes,أهلاً does refer to family.  The original sense of the expression was that of welcoming somebody as a member of the family.  هلا is a shortened form. آلو is used strictly for telephone conversations, at least in Palestinian Arabic.
> 
> Another alternative is ﺍﺒﺤﺮﻤ [marhaba].  That's actually the most common greeting in Palestinian Arabic.  I hope this helps.
> 
> (Übrigens: Dein Arabisch ist klasse!   )



Thank you very much. Now I know the origin much better than before. Thanks for the compliment. I'm still studying it.


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## elroy

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Thank you very much. Now I know the origin much better than before. Thanks for the compliment. I'm still studying it.



I just realized I failed to answer your question about هلا .  

The correct form for "isn't" is اﻻ. "if not" is ﺍﻦ ﻻ.  

In short, the opposite of هل is not هلا . By the way, هل  can be substituted by ا.

Viel Erfolg noch! Du lernst doch schnell!


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## Whodunit

elroy said:
			
		

> I just realized I failed to answer your question about هلا .
> 
> The correct form for "isn't" is اﻻ. "if not" is ﺍﻦ ﻻ.
> 
> In short, the opposite of هل is not هلا . By the way, هل  can be substituted by ا.
> 
> Viel Erfolg noch! Du lernst doch schnell!



Well, I didn't mean "if not" in the sense of "wenn nicht (in German)", but rather like ""ob nicht". Since your German is unbeatable and you seem to be very fly, I had to compare it with German.


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## mino

in mandarin, hello is Ni Hao (你好）


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## elroy

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Well, I didn't mean "if not" in the sense of "wenn nicht (in German)", but rather like ""ob nicht". Since your German is unbeatable and you seem to be very fly, I had to compare it with German.



Ah...I see now.  It's just that you wouldn't say "if not" in English.  Actually, "ob nicht" isn't an exact translation either, since the structure is not directly translatable, but "ob nicht" is closer to the meaning.  Either way, I can tell you understand the structure pretty well.  Just remember that it can be used ONLY with questions and that it is NOT هلا but اﻻ.  

Unbeatable - why that's quite the compliment!    Many thanks!   

"You seem to be very fly" - ich verstehe genau nicht, was du hiermit sagen möchtest. Eine Erklärung würde gerne abgeschätzt.


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## Merlin

Hello

Tagalog, Ilocano = kumusta/kamusta


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## Whodunit

elroy said:
			
		

> "You seem to be very fly" - ich verstehe nicht *genau*, was du hiermit sagen möchtest. Eine Erklärung würde * ich sehr* *schätzen*.



I just saw you answered here.   

"fly" is something like clever, I thought. So "you seem to be very fly" was supposed to mean "you seem to be very clever".


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## elroy

Whodunit said:
			
		

> I just saw you answered here.
> 
> "fly" is something like clever, I thought. So "you seem to be very fly" was supposed to mean "you seem to be very clever".


 
I can't say I've heard that expression.  It could be British, or just simply unknown to me.


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## JLanguage

elroy said:
			
		

> I can't say I've heard that expression. It could be British, or just simply unknown to me.


 
Nope not British, but hip enough to be unknown to you. Being fly generally is slang for either fine, sexy or cool, in style.


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## Whodunit

JLanguage said:
			
		

> Nope not British, but hip enough to be unknown to you. Being fly generally is slang for either fine, sexy or cool, in style.



Haha, that sounds kinda mean.   

Okay, seriously, have you ever used or heard the word "fly" as an adjective? And what about the adverb then? Could that be "flily" then?


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## JLanguage

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Haha, that sounds kinda mean.
> 
> Okay, seriously, have you ever used or heard the word "fly" as an adjective? And what about the adverb then? Could that be "flily" then?


 
There's no adverb, it's always used as an adjective as far as I know. I've never actually heard anyone say it, but I've heard it in a song, "pretty fly for a white guy".


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## elroy

JLanguage said:
			
		

> Nope not British, but hip enough to be unknown to you. Being fly generally is slang for either fine, sexy or cool, in style.


 
Are you saying I'm not hip?!


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## MingRaymond

Hello is 'nei ho' in Cantonese. But it is not commonly used. When two Cantonese-speaking people meet, we often say 'Hello' or ' Hi' in English. 'nei ho' is not very common. Of course, you can also say this.

Just like ' ng on'(good afternoon)and ' man on'(good evening) , Cantonese- speaking people seldom use them.


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## Andræs

JLanguage said:
			
		

> Nope not British, but hip enough to be unknown to you. Being fly generally is slang for either fine, sexy or cool, in style.


 
There is a song from Offspring, I don´t remember it´s name but it says "and all the girls say I´m pretty fly (for a white guy)". So I understood it means something like _cool_.


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## fob-soldier

Isis said:
			
		

> hi jet! this is Isis from the Philippines and am here to help you with the translation
> 
> japanese
> korean - anyeong ( an-yong)
> cantonese
> mandarin - ni hao (ni-haw)
> thai - sawadee (sa-wa-di)
> tagalog - kamusta (ka-moos-tah)
> samoan - maalelouay (ma-al-le-lu-ay)
> ilocano - naimbag nga isasangbay (na-im-bahg-nga-ee-sah-sahng-bhay)
> chamorro
> tahitan
> tongan
> malay - apa khabar (ap-pa-kah-barrh)


 
i there this is Mathew from Melbourne and there are a few mistakes on what Isis has written down so I have just corrected it. I have also added a few others that are not there.

Japanese - Kanichua
Samoan - Talofa
Tahitian - Iorana
Tongan - Maloelelei

I hope that clears things up and helps you out! Cheers


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## ~*LaNa-J*~

*In Hebrew : שלום*
*In Italian : ciao *
*In Turkish : merhaba*


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## Roshini

In Tagalog, isn't hello also means - Mabuhay/hello as well?
Correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.


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