Common phrases in different languages
Here is a list of common phrases in different languages.It is possible for tourists in a country whose language they do not understand to get along with a surprisingly short list of phrases, combined with pointing, miming, and writing down numbers on paper.
You are invited to add more languages to the list. Please use the minimum number of words that would be understandable and put the pronunciation in slashes according to SAMPA or X-SAMPA transcription if possible. If desired, also add a pseudo-English pronunciation guide for those not familiar with SAMPA or IPA. However, actual pronunciations of the pseudo-English spellings will vary from speaker to speaker. Enclose the "spelling guide" in parentheses, separate syllables with dashes, use English words that sound like the syllables if possible, and render the stressed syllable in ALL CAPS.
The language family of every language is listed in parentheses.
As a sample, here's English, according to British Received Pronunciation, followed by American English/Standard American English:
Note that this is relevant only to Classical Arabic; since these are commonplace words, they're often changed in local dialects, meaning most Arabs, even educated ones, will have difficulty understanding these in common usage.
Pronunciation guide: Stress in Arabic is most often on the penult syllable (i.e. one preceding the last). For the SAMPA transcriptions, /h/ is a glottal fricative; /h./ represents a voiceless pharyngeal fricative; /‘/ represents a voiced pharyngeal fricative; /’/ represents a glottal stop, and /:/ represents lengthening of the preceding phoneme. These are represented as double letters in the "spelling guide", and should be emphasized; the other spellings should be apparent from comparison with the SAMPA transcription.
Note on SAMPA: a comma after a fricative indicates that it is apical rather than laminal.
(SAMPA schema used, beware that is NOT IPA)
Note: tone 1 is high and level; 2 is rising; 3 is dipping; 4 is falling. A dot following SAMPA palatals indicates a retroflexed phoneme. For more info, see pinyin. Also note that the first set of characters preceding the slashes are in simplified Chinese characters and the ones following the slashes are in traditional characters.
(note: N is pronounced like ng in king)
Note: Hangul Revised Romanization of Korean /SAMPA/
See also: Names of Korea
Pronunciations given are the Ecclesiastical Pronunciation (Based on Italian, and used in some ceremonies by the Catholic church)
SAMPA notes:
(dialects may vary)
Usage Note: Greetings in Swahili are an incredibly complex affair and are a crucial aspect of Swahili culture; it is not uncommon for a conversation to last five minutes before it actually moves beyond saying "Hello". There is no generic word for "Hello" in the language, rather there are numerous options depending on the relative ages and/or race of the people involved, as well as singular and plural forms. A non-comprehensive list would include "hujambo" (reply "sijambo") for two people of similar age and race, "jambo" (reply "jambo") for between white and black people, "Shikamoo" (reply "Marahaba") for a young person to an elderly person, "Hodi" (reply "Karibu") when in the doorway of a house. There are additionally numerous informal greetings such as "Mambo", "Safi", and many more. Curiously, farewells are abrupt or even non-existent.
See article.
Note: [||\\] represents a lateral click, and [K] represents a voiceless lateral fricative (equivalent to Welsh "ll").
Examples
English (Germanic)
Albanian (Albanian)
Note: All the sounds above are in the Ogg Vorbis format.
Arabic (Semitic)
note: these were snagged off of Ajeeb.com's Web translator, with SAMPA and spelling guide renderings a best-guess only.
Basque
Breton (Celtic)
Catalan (Romance)
Chinese, Mandarin (Chinese)
(Usage Note: The first term is used in mainland China, while the second term is used on Taiwan.)
(Usage Note: The second syllable of "nei4 ge" is actually a generic measure word; it is replaced by the appropriate measure word for the noun it refers to. Therefore, one uses "nei4 zhi1" when referring to a chopstick, "nei4 zhang1" when referring to a table, and so forth. "Zhi1" means stick or branch,
and "zhang1" means "sheet" as in "sheet of paper".)
(Usage Note: This actually means "it is" and can only be used in an answer to a question with the verb "to be". Languages like Chinese, Irish, Toki Pona, and Welsh do not have words for "yes" or "no". Instead you repeat the main verb of the question in your answer.)
Czech (Slavic)
Danish (Germanic)
(Usage Note: No word directly corresponds to the word "please". Danish and Finnish express the concept of politeness in a request in various ways.)
Dutch (Germanic)
Estonian (Finno-Ugric)
Finnish (Finno-Ugric)
French (Romance)
Frisian (Germanic)
German (Germanic)
Greek (Greek)
Hawaiian (Malayo-Polynesian)
(Other useful words in Hawaiian:)
Hebrew (Semitic)
Hindi (Indo-Iranian)
Hungarian (Finno-Ugric)
Icelandic (Germanic)
Indonesian (Malayo-Polynesian)
Irish (Celtic)
Italian (Romance)
Japanese
Korean
Latin (Italic)
Low Saxon (Germanic)
Malay (Malayo-Polynesian)
Spelt
a
e
i
o
u
IPA
a
ε
ə
i
ɔ
ʊ
SAMPA
a
E
@
i
O
U
As in
father
get
about
see
law
put
Maori (Austronesian)
("4" is spelt "r" but is not trilled and is close to "d")Marathi (Indian languages)
Nigerian pidgin (English-based pidgin)
Norwegian (Germanic)
Pennsylvania German, Pennsylvania Dutch (Germanic)
Polish (Slavic)
Portuguese (Romance)
Romanian (Romance)
Russian (Slavic)
Sanskrit (Indo-Iranian)
Sardinian (Romance)
Serbian (Slavic)
Slovak (Slavic)
Slovene (Slavic)
Spanish (Romance)
Swahili (Bantu)
Swedish (Germanic)
Tagalog / Filipino (Malayo-Polynesian)
Taiwanese
Tamil (Dravidian)
Telugu (Indo-Dravidian)
Tok Pisin (Neo-Melanesian English creole)
Ukrainian (Slavic)
Vietnamese (Mon-Khmer)
Welsh (Celtic)
Xhosa language (Nguni languages, Bantu)
General usage notes
Toilet vs W.C. In many countries, the abbreviation W.C. for the British "Water Closet" may be used instead of the local word for "Toilet". In U.S. English "toilet" refers primarily to the fixture (the toilet itself) rather than the room which contains it. In German, "W.C." is pronounced with the German names of the letters, and the informal "Klo" for "Klosett" can refer to either the fixture or the room.