Welcome in Many Languages: How to Say Welcome in 240 Languages
Welcome is Willkommen in German, Bienvenue in French, Karibu in Swahili, Добро пожаловать (dobro požalovat') in Russian, أهلاً وسهلاً (ahlaⁿ wa-sahlaⁿ) in Arabic, स्वागत (svāgat) in Hindi and ようこそ (yōkoso) in Japanese; the tables give the greeting in 240 languages and 31 scripts.
Good coming, good arrival
Many welcomes are built the same way: a word for good or well joined to a word for coming. English welcome, German Willkommen, Dutch and Afrikaans welkom and the Scandinavian velkommen and välkommen belong together, as do the Romance forms Bienvenue, Benvenuti, Bienvenidos and Bem-vindos. The South Slavic dobrodošli, in Croatian, Slovenian, Bosnian and Serbian, starts from the same idea, with dobro, good.
Other greetings wish something instead of describing an arrival. Turkic languages pair xoş or hoş with a verb of coming: Hoş geldiniz in Turkish, Xoş gəlmisiniz in Azerbaijani, Qoş keldiñiz in Kazakh Latin letters. The same xoš opens خوش آمدید in Persian, Dari, Urdu and Tajik. Hebrew has ברוכים הבאים (bərūḫīm ha-baʾīm), Yiddish ברוכים־הבאָים (bruḫim-haboim).
South Asia shares one word from Sanskrit, svāgata: स्वागत in Hindi, Marathi and Nepali, স্বাগতম in Bengali and Assamese, ಸ್ವಾಗತ in Kannada, స్వాగతం in Telugu. Tamil answers with வணக்கம் (vaṇakkam), Sinhala with ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan) and Punjabi with ਜੀ ਆਇਆਂ ਨੂੰ (jī āiāṃ nū̃).
Welcome in Latin-script languages, A to L
Phrases shared by several languages come first, from Welkom to Dobrodošli; then single languages from Acehnese to Kurdish by ISO code.
| Language · ISO 639 code | Welcome | Romanisation |
|---|---|---|
| English · eng | Welcome | |
| Afrikaans, Dutch, Tok Pisin · afr, nld, tpi | Welkom | |
| Danish, Norwegian · dan, nor | Velkommen | |
| Lower Sorbian, Polish · dsb, pol | Witamy | |
| Croatian, Slovenian · hrv, slv | Dobrodošli | |
| Acehnese · ace | Seulamat Trôk Teuka | |
| Akan · aka | Akwaaba | |
| Alabama · akz | Ontitoka | |
| Aragonese · arg | Biemplegau | |
| Asturian · ast | Bienveníu | |
| Aymara · aym | Jallallt’atapxtawa | |
| Azerbaijani (Latin) · aze | Xoş gəlmisiniz | |
| Azerbaijani (Cyrillic) · aze | Хош ҝәлмисиниз | |
| Bosnian (Latin) · bos | Dobrodošli | |
| Bosnian (Cyrillic) · bos | Добродошли | |
| Bosnian (Arabic script) · bos | دۉبرۉدۉشلٖى | |
| Breton · bre | Deuet mat oc’h | |
| Catalan · cat | Benvinguts | |
| Cebuano · ceb | Maayong pag-abot | |
| Czech · ces | Vítejte | |
| Chamorro · cha | Håfa adai; Bien binidu | |
| Choctaw · cho | Halito | |
| Cheyenne · chy | Va’ohtama | |
| Klallam · clm | ʔənʔá či č̕ə́yəxʷ | |
| Cornish · cor | Dynnargh dhis | |
| Corsican · cos | Benvinuti | |
| Crimean Tatar (Latin) · crh | Hoş keldiñiz | |
| Crimean Tatar (Cyrillic) · crh | Хош келдинъиз | |
| Kashubian · csb | Witómë | |
| Welsh · cym | Croeso | |
| German · deu | Willkommen | |
| Esperanto · epo | Bonvenon | |
| Estonian · est | Tere tulemast | |
| Basque · eus | Ongi etorri | |
| Ewe · ewe | Woezɔ loo | |
| Extremaduran · ext | Bienviniu | |
| Faroese · fao | Vælkomin | |
| Fijian · fij | Bula vinaka | |
| Finnish · fin | Tervetuloa | |
| French · fra | Bienvenue | |
| Franco-Provençal · frp | Benvegnua | |
| West Frisian · fry | Wolkom | |
| Friulian · fur | Benvignût | |
| Gagauz (Latin) · gag | Hoş geldiniz | |
| Gagauz (Cyrillic) · gag | Хош гелдиниз | |
| Scots Gaelic · gla | Fàilte | |
| Irish Gaelic · gle | Fáilte | |
| Galician · glg | Benvidos | |
| Manx · glv | Failt | |
| Guarani · grn | Eguahẽ porã | |
| Alsatian · gsw | Willkomme | |
| Haitian Creole · hat | Byenvini | |
| Hausa · hau | Maràbaa | |
| Hawaiian · haw | ʻAloha kākou | |
| Upper Sorbian · hsb | Witajće | |
| Hungarian · hun | Üdvözlünk | |
| Interlingua · ina | Benvenite | |
| Indonesian · ind | Selamat datang | |
| Icelandic · isl | Velkomin | |
| Italian · ita | Benvenuti | |
| Ingrian · izh | Terveeht tullooa | |
| Javanese · jav | Sugeng rawuh | |
| Jersey Norman French · jnf | Beinv’nus | |
| Karakalpak (Latin) · kaa | Xosh keldinʻiz | |
| Karakalpak (Cyrillic) · kaa | Хош келдиңиз | |
| Greenlandic · kal | Tikilluarit | |
| Kinyarwanda · kin | Urakaza neza | |
| Karelian · krl | Terveh tulgua | |
| Kurmanji Kurdish · kur | Bi xêr hatin; Bi xêr bên |
Võro is listed under its ISO 639-3 code vro.
Welcome in Latin-script languages, L to Z
From Latin Salvete and Swahili Karibu to Zulu Uyamukelwa and Zazaki Şıma xeyr amey.
| Language · ISO 639 code | Welcome | Romanisation |
|---|---|---|
| Latin · lat | Salvete | |
| Latvian · lav | Laipni lūdzam | |
| Lingua Franca Nova (Latin) · lfn | Bonveni | |
| Lingua Franca Nova (Cyrillic) · lfn | Бонвени | |
| Ligurian · lij | Benvegnùo | |
| Limburgish · lim | Wilkóm | |
| Lingala · lin | Mbɔ́tɛ | |
| Lithuanian · lit | Sveiki atvykę | |
| Livonian · liv | Sidāmist pōlam | |
| Lakota · lkt | Taŋyáŋ yahí | |
| Ladin · lld | Benvegnus | |
| Lombard · lmo | Benvegnüü | |
| Luxembourgish · ltz | Wëllkomm | |
| Micmac · mic | Pjila’si | |
| Malagasy · mlg | Tonga soa | |
| Maltese · mlt | Merħba | |
| Moldovan (Latin) · mol | Bine ați venit; Bun venit | |
| Moldovan (Cyrillic) · mol | Бине аць венит; Бун венит | |
| Maori · mri | Haeremai | |
| Malay (Latin) · msa | Selamat datang | |
| Malay (Arabic script) · msa | سلامت داتڠ | |
| Nahuatl · nah | Ximopanōltih | |
| Neapolitan · nap | Bemmenute | |
| Navajo · nav | Yá’át’ééh | |
| Low German · nds | Willkamen | |
| Novial · nov | Bonvenio | |
| Norman French · nrm | Byinvenûn | |
| Northern Sotho · nso | Re a le amogela | |
| Occitan · oci | Benvenguda | |
| Papiamento · pap | Bonbini | |
| Plautdietsch · pdt | Wellkom | |
| Piedmontese · pms | Bin ëvnù | |
| Portuguese · por | Bem-vindos | |
| Romániço · rco | Bonvenanta | |
| Kalderash Romani (Latin) · rmy | Mišto avilyan | |
| Kalderash Romani (Devanagari) · rmy | मिश्तो आविल्यान | |
| Romansh · roh | Bainvegni | |
| Romanian · ron | Bine ați venit; Bun venit | |
| Aromanian · rup | Ghine vinit | |
| Sango · sag | Gä nzönî | |
| Sicilian · scn | Bonvinuti | |
| Scots · sco | Walcome | |
| Slovak · slk | Vitajte | |
| Slovio (Latin) · slo | Vitaj | |
| Slovio (Cyrillic) · slo | Витай | |
| Salar · slr | Xoş geldiñiz | |
| Southern Sami · sma | Buerie båeteme | |
| Northern Sami · sme | Bures boahtin | |
| Samogitian · smg | Svēkė atvīkė | |
| Lule Sami · smj | Buorre boahtem | |
| Inari Sami · smn | Tiervâpuáttim | |
| Samoan · smo | Talofa | |
| Skolt Sami · sms | Puä´đ tiõrvân | |
| Somali · som | Soo dhowow | |
| Southern Sotho · sot | Re a le amohela | |
| Spanish · spa | Bienvenidos | |
| Albanian · sqi | Mirë se vini; Mirë se erdhët | |
| Sardinian · srd | Benènnidos | |
| Saterland Frisian · stq | Wäilkuumen | |
| Swahili · swa | Karibu | |
| Swedish · swe | Välkommen | |
| Silesian · szl | Witůmy | |
| Tagalog · tgl | Maligayang pagdating | |
| Talysh (Latin) · tly | Xəş oməş | |
| Talysh (Cyrillic) · tly | Хәш омәш | |
| Tsonga · tso | Ha mi amukela | |
| Turkmen (Latin) · tuk | Hoş geldiňiz | |
| Turkmen (Cyrillic) · tuk | Хош гелдиңиз | |
| Turkish · tur | Hoş geldiniz | |
| Uzbek (Latin) · uzb | Xush kelibsiz | |
| Uzbek (Cyrillic) · uzb | Хуш келибсиз | |
| Uzbek (Arabic script) · uzb | خۇش كېلىبسىز | |
| Venetian · vec | Benvegnui | |
| Venda · ven | Vho ṱanganedzwa | |
| Veps · vep | Tulgat tervhin | |
| Vietnamese · vie | Chào mừng | |
| Volapük · vol | Vekömö | |
| Võro · vro | Olõq terveq tulõmast | |
| Votic · vot | Terve tultua | |
| Walloon · wln | Bénvnowe | |
| Wolof · wol | Dalal-jàmm | |
| Wymysorys · wym | Sgöekumt | |
| Xhosa · xho | Namkelekile | |
| Yoruba · yor | E̩ káàbò̩ | |
| Yucatec Maya · yua | Ki’imak in wóol, in k’ajoltikech | |
| Zhuang · zha | Angqcoux daeuj | |
| Zulu · zul | Uyamukelwa; Siyanamukela | |
| Zazaki · zza | Şıma xeyr amey |
Welcome in Cyrillic and Glagolitic script
Old Church Slavonic in both its alphabets, then the Cyrillic-script languages from Abkhaz to Kalmyk, with romanisations.
| Language · ISO 639 code | Welcome | Romanisation |
|---|---|---|
| Old Church Slavonic (Cyrillic) · chu | До́брѣ прити́ | |
| Old Church Slavonic (Glagolitic) · chu | Ⰴⱁⰱⱃⱑ ⱂⱃⰻⱅⰻ | Dóbrě prití |
| Abkhaz · abk | Бзиала шәаабеит | Bziala šwaabeit |
| Adyghe · ady | Шъукъеблагъ | Ṣ̌uqeblaġ |
| Avar · ava | Лъикӏ щварал | Łiḳ š̄waral |
| Bashkir (Cyrillic) · bak | Рәхим итегеҙ; Хуш килдегеҙ | |
| Bashkir (Latin) · bak | Räxim itegeź; Xuş kildegeź | |
| Belarusian (Cyrillic) · bel | Вітаем; Шчыра запрашаем | |
| Belarusian (Latin) · bel | Vitajem; Ščyra zaprašajem | |
| Buryat · bua | Орожо хайрлагты | Orožo ȟajrlagty |
| Bulgarian · bul | Добре дошли | Dobre došli |
| Chechen (Cyrillic) · che | Марша догӏийла | |
| Chechen (Latin) · che | Marşa doġiyla | |
| Chuvash · chv | Ырӑ сунса кӗтетпӗр | Yră sunsa kĕtetpĕr |
| Chukchi · ckt | Еттык | Jettyk |
| Nanai · gld | Ирусу | Irusu |
| Ingush · inh | Марша доагӏалда | Marša doaġalda |
| Kazakh (Cyrillic) · kaz | Қош келдіңіз | |
| Kazakh (Arabic script) · kaz | قوش كەلدىڭىز | |
| Kazakh (Latin) · kaz | Qoş keldiñiz | |
| Kabardian · kbd | Фыкъеблагъэ | Fyqeblaġă |
| Kyrgyz (Cyrillic) · kir | Кош келиңиз | |
| Kyrgyz (Arabic script) · kir | قوش كەلىڭىز | |
| Kyrgyz (Latin) · kir | Qoş keliñiz | |
| Khakas · kjh | Аалӌы полыңар | Aalǰy polyŋar |
| Komi · kom | Видза корам | Vidza koram |
| Karachay-Balkar · krc | Хош келигиз | Ȟoš keligiz |
| Kumyk · kum | Хош гелдигиз | Ȟoš geldigiz |
| Lak · lbe | Ча увкра | Ča uwkra |
| Lezgi · lez | Ша буюр | Ša bujur |
| Moksha Mordvin · mdf | Панжада оцювалкссь | Panžada ocjuvalkss' |
| Meadow Mari · mhr | Порын вашлийын | Poryn vašlijyn |
| Macedonian · mkd | Добредојдовте | Dobredojdovte |
| Mongolian · mon | Тавтай морил | Tavtaj moril |
| Hill Mari · mrj | Пурын ӱжӹнӓ | Puryn üžÿnä |
| Erzya Mordvin · myv | Эсь мелень коряс | Es' melen' korjas |
| Ossetian · oss | Ӕгас цӕут | Ägas cäut |
| Rusyn · rue | Вітайте | Vitajte |
| Russian · rus | Добро пожаловать | Dobro požalovat' |
| Yakut · sah | Нөрүөн нөргүй | Nörüön nörgüj |
| Kildin Sami · sjd | Пуэдтӭ тӣррвэнҍ | Puėdtë tīrrvėnʲ |
| Serbian (Cyrillic) · srp | Добродошли | |
| Serbian (Latin) · srp | Dobrodošli | |
| Tabassaran · tab | Хушгелди | Ħušgeldi |
| Tatar (Cyrillic) · tat | Рәхим итегез; Хуш килдегез | |
| Tatar (Latin) · tat | Räxim itegez; Xuş kildegez | |
| Tatar (Arabic script) · tat | رەخىم ئىتېگېز; خۇش كىلدېگېز | |
| Tajik (Cyrillic) · tgk | Хуш омадед | |
| Tajik (Arabic script) · tgk | خوش آمدید | |
| Tajik (Latin) · tgk | Xuş omaded | |
| Tat, Judeo-Tat (Cyrillic) · ttt, jdt | Хошомори | |
| Tat, Judeo-Tat (Hebrew script) · ttt, jdt | כאָשאָמאָראִ | |
| Tat, Judeo-Tat (Latin) · ttt, jdt | Xoşomori | |
| Tuvan · tyv | Кирип моорлаңар | Kirip moorlaŋar |
| Udmurt · udm | Гажаса ӧтиськом | Gažasa ötis'kom |
| Ukrainian · ukr | Ласкаво просимо | Laskavo prosymo |
| Kalmyk · xal | Ирхитн эрҗәнәвидн | Irȟitn ėrǰänävidn |
Welcome in Arabic, Thaana, Syriac and Hebrew script
The right-to-left scripts: Arabic, Persian, Urdu and the other Arabic-script languages, Dhivehi, Syriac, Hebrew, Bukharic, Ladino and Yiddish.
| Language · ISO 639 code | Welcome | Romanisation |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic · ara | أهلاً وسهلاً | ahlaⁿ wa-sahlaⁿ |
| South Azerbaijani (Arabic script) · azb | خوش گلمیسینیز | |
| South Azerbaijani (Latin) · azb | Xoş gəlmisiniz | |
| Sorani Kurdish (Arabic script) · ckb | بەخێربێن | |
| Sorani Kurdish (Latin) · ckb | Bexêrbên | |
| Persian · fas | خوش آمدید | Xoš âmadid |
| Ottoman Turkish · ota | خوش گلدیڭز | ḫōš geldīṅiz |
| Western Punjabi · pnb | جی آیاں نوں | jī āyāṅ nūṅ |
| Dari · prs | خوش امدید | ḫōš amadīd |
| Pashto · pus | ښه راغلاست | ŝâ rāġlāst |
| Sindhi · snd | ڀلي ڪري آيا | bʰalē karē āyā |
| Uyghur (Arabic script) · uig | خۇش كەلدىڭىز | |
| Uyghur (Latin) · uig | Xush keldingiz | |
| Uyghur (Cyrillic) · uig | Хуш кәлдиңиз | |
| Urdu · urd | خوش آمدید | ḫōš āmadēd |
| Divehi · div | މަރުހަބާ | maruhabā |
| Syriac · syr | ܫܠܡܐ | šlamā |
| Bukharic (Hebrew script) · bhh | בּרוּכיִם הבּאָיִם; כוּשׁ אָמאַדיֵד | |
| Bukharic (Latin) · bhh | bruxim haboim; xush omaded | |
| Hebrew · heb | ברוכים הבאים | bərūḫīm ha-baʾīm |
| Ladino (Hebrew script) · lad | בואינוס בﬞינידוס | |
| Ladino (Latin) · lad | Buenos venidos | |
| Yiddish · yid | ברוכים־הבאָים | bruḫim-haboim |
Welcome in Tifinagh, Ethiopic, Greek, Armenian and Georgian
Berber and Kabyle Anṣuf yiswen, Amharic and Tigrinya, Greek in two orthographies, Armenian, Georgian, Laz and Mingrelian.
| Language · ISO 639 code | Welcome | Romanisation |
|---|---|---|
| Berber (Tifinagh) · ber | ⴰⵏⵚⵓⴼ ⵢⵉⵙⵡⴻⵏ | |
| Berber (Latin) · ber | Anṣuf yiswen | |
| Kabyle (Tifinagh) · kab | ⴰⵏⵚⵓⴼ ⵢⵉⵙⵡⴻⵏ | |
| Kabyle (Latin) · kab | Anṣuf yiswen | |
| Amharic · amh | እንኳን ደህና መጡ | ənkʷan dähna mäṭu |
| Tigrinya · tir | እንቋዕ ብደሓን መጻእኩም | ənḳʷaʿ bədäḥan mäṣa'əkum |
| Greek, Demotic (monotonic) · ell | Καλώς ορίσατε; Καλώς ήλθατε | Kalṓs orísate; Kalṓs ī́lṯate |
| Greek, Katharevousa (polytonic) · ell | Καλῶς ὁρίσατε; Καλῶς ἤλθατε | Kalō̃s horísate; Kalō̃s ī́lṯate |
| Armenian · hye | Բարի գալուստ | Bari galoust |
| Georgian · kat | გამარჯობათ | gamarǰobaṭ |
| Laz (Georgian) · lzz | იხაზირენ | |
| Laz (Latin) · lzz | ixaziren | |
| Mingrelian · xmf | ქუმმეხვარით | ḳummeȟvariṭ |
Welcome in the scripts of South Asia
Most of these phrases are forms of Sanskrit svāgata; Punjabi and Sinhala use their own greetings.
| Language · ISO 639 code | Welcome | Romanisation |
|---|---|---|
| Hindi, Marathi, Nepali · hin, mar, nep | स्वागत | svāgat |
| Sanskrit · san | स्वागतम् | svāgatam |
| Assamese, Bengali · asm, ben | স্বাগতম | sbāgôtôm |
| Gujarati · guj | સ્વાગત | svāgat |
| Odia · ori | ସ୍ବାଗତମ | sbāgôtôm |
| Punjabi · pan | ਜੀ ਆਇਆਂ ਨੂੰ | jī āiāṃ nū̃ |
| Sinhalese · sin | ආයුබෝවන් | āyubōvan |
| Kannada · kan | ಸ್ವಾಗತ | svāgata |
| Malayalam · mal | സ്വാഗതം | svāgataṃ |
| Tamil · tam | வணக்கம் | vaṇakkam |
| Telugu · tel | స్వాగతం | svāgataṃ |
Welcome in East and Southeast Asian scripts and in syllabaries
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Burmese, Thai, Lao and Khmer, then the Cherokee and Canadian syllabaries.
| Language · ISO 639 code | Welcome | Romanisation |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese (traditional characters) · zho | 歡迎光臨 | huānyíng guānglín |
| Chinese (simplified characters) · zho | 欢迎光临 | huānyíng guānglín |
| Japanese · jpn | ようこそ | yōkoso |
| Korean · kor | 환영합니다 | hwanyeong hamnida |
| Burmese · mya | ကြိုဆိုပါ၏ | kyosʰopaēʿ |
| Thai · tha | ยินดีต้อนรับ | yindī tɔ̄́nrâp |
| Lao · lao | ຍິນດີຕ້ອນຮັບ | ñindī tɔ̄́nhâp |
| Khmer · khm | ស្វាគមន៍ | svākom[n] |
| Cherokee · chr | ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ | ulihelisdi |
| Cree · cre | ᐙᒋᔮᒄ | wâciyâkw |
| Inuktitut · iku | ᐊᕆᐅᙵᐃᐹ | ariunngaipaa |
Burmese is given in Unicode encoding (ကြိုဆိုပါ၏, with the polite particle ပါ); Korean in standard spelling 환영합니다, which is how hwanyeong hamnida is written.
How the welcome tables are arranged
Languages that share one spelling share a row, so Afrikaans, Dutch and Tok Pisin all stand next to Welkom. A language written in more than one alphabet has one row per script: Uzbek appears as Xush kelibsiz, Хуш келибсиз and خۇش كېلىبسىز, Tatar in Cyrillic, Latin and Arabic letters.
Romanisations follow each non-Latin entry. German, Irish, Luxembourgish and Low German were also shown in Fraktur or Gaelic type in older lists; in Unicode those are the same letters, so each word appears once here.
Questions about saying welcome
What does Anṣuf yiswen mean?
It is welcome in Berber and Kabyle, written ⴰⵏⵚⵓⴼ ⵢⵉⵙⵡⴻⵏ in Tifinagh letters.
How do you say welcome in Swahili?
Karibu. Its neighbours in the table are Zulu Uyamukelwa or Siyanamukela and Xhosa Namkelekile.
How do you say welcome in Uzbek?
Xush kelibsiz in Latin letters, Хуш келибсиз in Cyrillic and خۇش كېلىبسىز in Arabic script.