“Butterfly” in 300 world languages and dialects

Community and Forum → Blog → “Butterfly” in 300 world languages and dialects

Lev Bely, 06.03.2012 18:29

How to say “butterfly” in !Xu bushman language or in Indian telugu? Easy. Just remember that Sorbian-Lower “mjatel” turns into “mjetel” when it's Sorbian-Upper, Cheyenne “hevavahkema” sounds quite different from Cornish tykki-Dyw, while Paiute “tsoapu” as much interesting as Pittsburgh “dupa erfly”. In all there are about 5000 languages in the world what kind of makes this language table a drop in the ocean... What an amazing ocean yet!

Language or dialect (country or a local place)	“Butterfly” word
Acoma (Native American)	buh’rai
Afrikaans (South Africa)	skoenlapper, vlinder
Aja-Gbe (Benin, Togo)	pkolinouhoin
Albanian (Albania)	flutura
Amharic (Ethiopia)	birrabirro
Anglo Saxon	fifoldara
Arabic (Standard)	farasha, abu daqeek(?)
Arabic (Algeria)	bofertoto, bu frtutu
Arabic (Morocco)	fertito
Arabic (Tunisia)	fartattu
Aragonese	birabolas(?), pitazana(?)
Armenian (Eastern)	teeter, titer, teeterneeg, teeternig
Assamese (India)	pokhila
Austria	falter (common term)
Ayamara	taparacu (?)
Baagandji (New South Wales, Australia)	bilyululijga
Balinese (Indonesia)	kupukupu
Bangla ('Bengali', Bangladesh)	projapoti, prajapati
Bambura	dimago
Basque	tximeleta, pinpirin, pinpilinpauxa
Bemba (Zambia)	cipelebesha
Bengali	prajapathi
Berber (North Africa)	tèfètuth
Berlinerisch (Berlin, Germany)	Schmettalüng
Breton (Brittany and Loire-Atlantique)	balafenn
Bulgarian (Bulgaria)	peperooda, peperootka
Buli (Gur language in N. Ghana)	kpalo?
Burmese (Burma)	lapia
Byelorussian	matylok
Cantonese (Yale)	Wùh dihp
Cape Verdean Criolu	gorgoleta
Carelian (Finno-Ugric Group- former province of Finland)	liippo, liipponen
Catalan (Ancient)	papalló
Catalan (Dialectical)	paloma, palometa, babaiana
Catalan	papallona
Cebuano (Philippines)	Alibangbang/kaba-kaba
Central Carrier (Western Canada)	tsangwelht'ah
Chamorro (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands)	ababang
Chechen (Chechnya)	polla
Cheremissian (Finno-Ugric Group)	lepe, lepene
Cherokee (Native American)	kamama
Cheyenne (Native American)	hevavahkema
Cornish	tykki-Dyw
Corsican	barabulella
Croatian	leptir
Czech	motýl
Dagon	peplim (pee plim´)
Danish (Denmark)	sommerfugl (=summer bird)
Danish (N. Jutland)	sommerflue
Danish (S. Jutland)	skurvefugl
Deri (Afghanistan)	showparak
Dhivehi (Maldives)	kokaa
Djingli (Australian N.T.)	marlimarlirni
Dutch (Netherlands)	vlindeer; dagvlinder; vlinderslag
Dutch (Middle Dutch)	viveltre
Eischwiele Platt (West German dialect)	Sommevuel
English	butterfly
English (Middle English)	buterflie
English (Old English)	buttorfleoge
Esperanto	papilio
Estonian (Estonia)	liblikas
Ewe (Togo)	dyekpakpa
Faroese	summurfuglur; firivaldur
Farsi (Persian - Iran)	parvanè or parvanèh (stress on final è-sound)
Fijian (Fiji)	bebe (pronounced mbeh-mbeh, 'eh' elongated) from "A New Fijian Dictionary", 1968
Finnish (Finland)	perhonen
Font (Benin)	awadapepe
French	papillon
Fulani (West and Central Africa)	lilldeh
Futurese (The American Language in 3000AD)	batuhfle
Gaelic (Ireland)	féileacán, follican
Gaelic (Scotland)	dearbadan-de, dealan-dé
Galician	volvoreta, bolboreta
Gen (Ghana)	abèbe, abè, abey
Geordie (England - Tyneside region)	lowey
Georgian (Georgia)	pepela
German (Germany)	Schmetterling
German (poetic)	Falter
German (Early New High German)	feifalter, sommervogel
German (Low German)	Botterlicker, Ülepüle
German (Middle High German)	Vivalter
German (Old High German)	Fifaltra
Greek (Modern)	petalou'da
Greek (Ancient)	psyche
Guarani (A dialect in Paraguay)	panambi (XI)
Gujarati (India)	patangeo, patangiyu
Gurage (Ethiopia)	billambilloot
Hadiya (Ethiopia)	birabira
Hanty or Ostjak (Finno-Ugric Group Ob-Ugrian branch)	lepentaj
Hausa (Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cóte D´ivoire (Ivory Coast), Togo, Benin, Cameroon and Ghana)	bude littafi, malam bu'de littafi
Hawaiian (Hawaii)	pulelehua
Hebrew (Israel)	parpar
Hessian (Germany)	Schmedderling
Hindi (India)	titli; thithili
Hmong (Vietnam)	npau npaim
Hopi (Native American - USA)	povolhoya (monarch: hookona)
Huastec (Mexico)	lemtutu
Hungarian (Hungary)	lepke pillango, pillangok
Ibu (Nigeria)	olookolombooka
Icelandic (Iceland)	fiðrildi
Icelandic (Old Iceland)	fífrildi
Ido (a 'universal' second language)	papiliono
Igbo (Nigeria)	ihe n'efe-efe or uru baba
Ila (Zambia)	inkongolo; sikapempenya
Ilocano (Phillipines)	kulibangbang
Indonesian	kupu-kupu, rama rama
Interlingua (a universal second language)	papilion
Interlingue (a universal second language)	papilio
Inuit (Greenland)	pakkaluak; paluak; utsuppaluak; takalekisa
Inupiak (Alaskan native language)	taqalukisaq
Irish	féileacán (in phonetic English pronounced "faylacawn")
Italian (Italy)	farfalla
Italian (Neapolitan)	palomma
Jacaltec (Mexico)	nam
Japanese (Japan)	choo; chou chou; chocho
Javanese	kupu
Jèrriais (form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, Channel Islands - in decline)	papillote
Jívaro (Amazonian lowlands, Ecuador to Peru)	wámpishuk
Kaibab Paiute (Native American)	aïcïvïtsi (ï = barred-i, c = long-s)
Kalderash Romanes "Gypsy"	peperuga
Kamaba (Kenya)	kimbalut'ya
Kambaata (Ethiopia)	bilatishu
Kannada (South India)	chitta, baruthe, barutha
Karok (NW California, nearly extinct)	xatimniim
Kashmiri (India/Pakistan)	titili
Kazakh (Kazakhstan)	kobelek
Kikongo (Congo Brazaville)	lumbebeba
Kikuyu (Kenya)	kihuruta
Kinyarwanda (Rwanda)	ikinyugunyugu
Kirundi (Burundi)	ikinyugunyugu
Kisuaheli (Suaheli )	ikinyugunyugu
Kitaita	kifurute
Koasati (Native American - AL, LA, TX - USA)	hacokpalpa
Kokani (India)	pakho
Konni (Gur language in N. Ghana)	kpanjabi?
Korean (Korea)	nahby; nabi
Kroboo (Ghana)	kutuu
Kurdish (Turkey)	sepirek, pürpüruk
Kurmanji Kurdish	fepule, minni, tirtirk
Kwanyama (Namibia/Angola border)	onanga
Kwara'áe: (a language of the Pacific)	bébe
Kyaka Enga (East New Guinea Highlands)>	maemae
Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzstan)	göpölök
Lakhotah Sioux (Native American)	kimimila (key-me'-me-lah)
Lamba (Zambia)	ici-pempele
Lan (a language of the Pacific)	bébe
Lao (Laos)	meng kabeua; maingkabula
Latin	papilio
Latvian (Latvia)	taurins; tauriøð
Lihua (Sudan)	ukulukula
Limburgish (Limburg and Rhineland regions)	vlinder, piepel
Lingala (Democratic Republic of Congo)	kipouzala; mpornboli
Lithuanian (Lithuania)	drugelis; peteliske; petelishke
Lozi (Zambia)	sipulumuki
Luganda or Ganda (Uganda)	ekiwojjolo
Luiseño (Native American)	avéllaka
Luo (Africa)	oguyo
Lushootseed (Native American)	yubec
Luxemburgish (Luxembourg)	Päiperlek
Majang (Nilo-Saharan)	bimbilo
Majang (Nilo-Saharan)	bimbilo
Malagasy (Madagascar)	lolo
Malayalam (Kerala-South India)	poompatta (meaning insect like a flower)
Malay (Malaysia and Brunei)	kupukupu; ramarama
Malaysian	rama-rama
Maltese	farfett
Mandarin - Pinyin	húdié
Mandarin - Yale	húdyé
Mandarin - Wades-Giles	hu-tieh
Mandarin - Gwoyeu Romatzyh	hwudye
Mandingo (Ivory Coast)	vrievran
Manobo (Philippines)	kelivangbang
Mansi (Finno-Ugric Group Ob-Ugrian branch)	läpääk
Manx Gaelic (Isle of Man)	follican
Maori	pepeké purerehua'
Mapudungun (spoken in central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche)	llampüdken (вариант: llampüdkeñ)
Maracucho (Vicinity of Maracaibo, Venezuela)	tara or tarita (XI)
Maranao (Philipines)	paroparo
Marathi (India)	phulpakhru, phoolpaharu
Mari (Finno-Ugric Group)	lepe, lepene
Masai	osampurumpuri
Mayan	pepen
Mayi-Kulan (Queensland, Aus.)	pardirr
Mekeo (Austronesian lang. of SE Papua)	fefe; fefe-fefe
Mekeo (West)	pepeo
Mende (Sierra Leone)	buwa
Micmac (Eastern Canada)	Miimiiges - pronounced "me me ges"
Mongolian	erveehey
Mopan (Mexico)	pempem
Moré (Burkina Faso)	pilimpiko; abaga
Motu (Papua)	kau-bebe
Mukuni (Zambia)	limpempele
Mvskoke (Creek - Native American)	tvffolopv, tvffolope
Nahuatl (Aztec)	paplotl; papalotl
Navajo (Native American)	k'aalogii (accent on "o"); ho'o neno
Ndumba (South Africa)	kaapura’rora
Nepali (Nepal)	putali
Neuro (Ethiopia)	mantech
Ngaju Dayak (Indonesia)	kakupo
North Frisian (North Frisia, Germany - endangered)	schrubföögel, samerföögel
Norwegian (Bokmål)	sommerfugl
Norwegian (Nynorsk)	sommarfugl
Occitan	parpalhol
Ojibway (Native American)	memenghwaah
Oriya (India)	prajapati
Oromic (Ethiopia)	billaacha
Osage (Native American)	dsithato’ga
Ossetian (Ossetia, on the borders of Russia and Georgia)	gælæbu
Paipai (Baja California Norte, Mexico)	minmin, nyirwir, maskarap
Paiute (Native American - Western USA)	tsoapu
Paiwan (native to Taiwan)	kalidungudungul
Pakistan (Northern region)	palmandook
Palauan (Palau, Micronesia)	bangikoi
Patois of St. Thomas	zanimo
Peul (Guinée Conakry)	pucharlar
Peul (Mauritania)	bidilallah, bedelallah
Peul (Sierra Leone)	palapala
Pittsburghese (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)	dupa erfly
Polish (Poland)	motyl
Portuguese (Portugal)	borboleta
Quechua (Bolivia, Peru)	aliñuahi(?), urubamba(?), pilpintu, pillpintu, pirpintu, pilipintu, pilhpintu
Rom or Kaalo (Gypsy language, Finland)	besko-chirikli (little bird) or deulesko besko-chirikli (God's little bird)
Roma (Gypsy language, Slovakia)	lepetka
Romanian (Romania)	fluture, fluturi; flutare
Romanish	fluture, fluturi; flutare
Romansh (also spelled Romansch, Rumants(c)h, or Romanche (Switzerland)	tgiralla
Russian (Russia)	bábochka; babochka; motyliok
Samic (Native Lappish people in Lappland)	lablok
Samoan (Samoa and American Samoa)	Pepe
San (Bushman language)	tha thava, tavalele
Sardic (Sardinia, Italy)	mariavolavola
Saterfrisian (East Frisia, Germany)	Flinnerke
Saterfrisian (Utände)	Flitterke
Senegalese	lupe lupe
Sepedi (South Africa)	serurubele
Serbian	leptir
Setwana (Botswana)	serurubele
Shona	shavishavi
Shoshoni (Native American)	waayapputunkih
Sidamo (Ethiopia)	bilach'a
Sign Language	interlocked thumbs, flapping hands like wings
Sinhala (Sri Lanka)	samanalaya
Sioux (Native American)	kimimi
Slavic	neveah
Slovak (Slovakia)	motýl
Slovenian	metulj
Somali (N.E. Africa)	balanbaalis
Sotho (Bantu language, South Africa)	sororomele; serurubele
Sorbian-Lower (Slavonic minority in Germany)	mjatel or mjatelik (diminutive)
Sorbian-Upper (Slavonic minority in Germany)	mjetel or mjetelčka (diminutive)
Soussous (Guinée Conakry)	chuani
Spanish	mariposa
Spanish (Ancient and Dialectical)	paloma, palomica ('dove')
Sranantongo (Surinam)	kaperka
Stellingwarfs (Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf in Dutch province of Friesland)	vlinder
Sumatra Barat (Indonesia)	angiak
Swahili (Africa, Somalia to northern Mozambique)	kipepeo; kungu-urumu
Swazi (Swaziland)	luvivane
Swedish (Sweden)	fjäril
Swedish (Old Swedish)	fiädhal
Swiss German	Schmätterling
Tagalog (Philippines)	paru-paro
Tatar (a Turkic language)	kübelek
Taino	tanama
Taiwanese (Taiwan)	o' -tiap ("moth" is ya-a)
Tamil (India)	vannattuppucci; pattampoochi
Telugu (India)	chetakoka chiluka; sitakoka chiluka
Teso (Uganda, Kenya)	eporiporit
Tewa (Native American)	pojoaque
Thai (Thailand)	meng peeseua; pi sugnya
Tigre (Ethiopia)	tsenblale
Tigrigna (Ethiopia)	tsimblalee'a
Tiwi (Melville & Bathurst Islands, Aus.)	kwarikwaringa
Tok Pisin (New Guinea)	bataplai; bembe
Tshiluba (Congo (Zaire))	bulubulu
Tohono O'odham or Papago (Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States and northwest Mexico)	hohokimal
Tok Pisin (Melanesian Pidgin)	bataplai
Trukese or Chuukese (Island of Chuuk, Micronesia)	nipwisipwis
Tshiluba (Zaire)	bulubulu
Turkish (Turkey)	kelebek
Turkmen (Turkmenistan)	chuturast, kelebek
Tuvaluan (Tuvalu - a Polynesian nation of 9 islands)	pepe
Tuvinian (Siberia)	khovagan
Twi (Ghana)	afafranto
Ukrainian (Ukraine)	metelyk
Urdu (Pakistan)	titli
Urubu (Nigeria)	iyenye, yenjè
Uzbek (Uzbekistan)	kapalak
Venda (South Africa)	tshisusu
Veps (Finno-Ugric Group)	lipikäine
Vietnamese (Vietnam)	buom buom; ho diep
Visayan (Philippines)	kabakaba
Welsh (Wales)	iâr fach yr haf (literally "little summer hen"); glöyn byw"(roughly "living glow"); pila pala; bila bala
West Armenian	titernig
Wik-Ngathan (Australia)	kalpakalpay
Wolaytigna (Ethopia)	mukaw
Wolof (Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania )	lëpp-lëpp bi
Xhosa (Eastern Cape)	ibhabhathane
Xitchangani (Bantu lang. of Mozambique)	phapharati
Yaqui (Native American - USA)	vaisevo’i
Ygyde (an artificial language)	ykolobo
Yiddish	schmetterling; zomerfeygele ("summer bird"); flaterl; motyl
Yoruba (West Africa - Nigeria, Benin, and Togo)	labalaba
Yucatec Maya (Yucatán Peninsula, northern Belize, parts of Guatemala)	pepem
Yup'ik (Alaskan native language)	Caqelngataq
Yurok (Native American, northwest California)	wrrp
Zulu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)	iveveshane; uvemvane; ijubajubane; itwabitwabi
!Xu (Bushman language of the Kalahari Desert)	Dhad'hama