Som (সোম)
What does Hello mean?
Roughly "how is it going", "happy to see you", "I see / hear you" or even "are you there".

In India, it's a bit different. One can encounter many versions on the net, but what we still say in Hindi is <em>namaste</em> (नमस्ते) for both greeting and parting. Similar words are used in other Indian languages as well.

As per Sanskrit grammar, this is a compound word that breaks up as <em>namah</em>, नमः (I bow) and <em>te</em>, ते (to you). I bow to thee, I bow to the same divinity that is in thee as is in me.

What does the equivalent word mean in your language?
17. Okt. 2019 12:22
Kommentare · 43
4
Arabic:

As-salaamu alaykom = peace be upon you
Informally shortened to “salaam” = peace

Fun fact: the usage of the word “peace” in AAVE/American slang to mean “bye” is derived from Arabic.
17. Oktober 2019
3
'Hello' originally meant 'Hey! I'm here!'.

And just to add to what John said about 'Hello' ( also earlier spellings 'Hullo' and 'Hallo') being a relatively modern greeting that came into use with the advent of the telephone....

My understanding of was that 'Hello' came from the English exclamation and hunting cry 'Halloo!', used to attract attention and to encourage dogs to chase. I also believe that there was some debate about what convention to adopt for answering telephones, and that Alexander Graham Bell suggested the rather nautical 'Ahoy!' . 'Hallo' was apparently Edison's suggestion.
17. Oktober 2019
3
In Norwegian it's just "hallo" or "hei (hei)".
But in Korean, which I study, it's 안녕 (annyeong) for both "hello" and "good bye", litterally meaning "peace" in the informal form, and 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo) and 안녕히 가세요/계세요 (annyeonghi kaseyo/kyeseyo) for the polite for, litterally meaning "do/be in peace" and go/stay in peace respectively (depending on who's leaving).
But they use another word to mean peace nowadays (평화 - pyeonghwa).

17. Oktober 2019
3
Max, Devanagari can be applied to anything actually. An alphsyllabary with multiple conjoint letters can crack nearly anything.
17. Oktober 2019
3
No mister needed sister 😁

I'll never make a Shakespeare. But seriously, it's neither necessary nor expected in a forum where English and western culture prevail.

I understand your concern, though. We have the same thing here in India. We address those who are older to us or higher in social status using the suffix -ji, which is gender neutral and identical to the Japanese honorific san.

It goes with everything. A name (<em>somji</em>), a surname (<em>bhattaji</em>), a relative (<em>mataji</em> - mother, <em>pitaji</em> - father, <em>nanaji</em> - mother's father = grandpa, <em>chachiji</em> - father's brother's wife = aunt). It can also be used for elder brother (bhaiyaji) or elder sister (didiji) but isn't in practice. The base words bhaiya and didi are used instead.
17. Oktober 2019
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