Monday, February 4, 2013

25 Ways to Say Good Morning!

For those of you who've been following my blog for awhile, you know I've been trying to learn to say "Good morning!" in as many different languages as I can because it's always fun to tell people that in their native language--even if it's not morning! =)

The Camino is an international trail and I picked up a lot of ways to say, "Good morning!" I thought I'd share them with you. Keep in mind, though--these are spelled phonetically so I could reproduce the sounds correctly. I cared nothing about the actual spelling since I wasn't going to stop to write a note that said, "Good morning!" for anyone. So sound out how I spelled it. =) At least for English-language speakers. Non-English speakers would probably sound them out wrong and think I've taken to Washington's legalized recreational pot laws a bit to enthusiastically. =)

I'll also point out that not all of these translate literally into "good morning." Some languages, I was told, don't use a literal translation of the word, so they gave me what they would normally say as a greeting which could be used appropriately at any time of day (such as the Korean). The French would say "bonjour" at any time in the morning or afternoon, but switch to "bonsoir" in the early evening. That kind of stuff. =)
  • Korean: ahn-nyon a-say-oh
  • Polish: jehn-dah-bray
  • Bulgarian: da-bro ul-tro
  • Dutch: who-yeah mor-ghan (There's almost a kind of cough between the g and h that I have no idea how to write!)
  • Norigean: goo-dag
  • Chinese: zah-anne (The person who told me this one kept telling me I was saying it wrong even though it sounded like, to me, exactly what she was saying. Then one time I said it correctly, but I swear I didn't say it differently than the other ten times I tried that she said was wrong! So I have absolutely no faith in this pronunciation!)
  • Portuguese: bone gee-a
  • Irish (Gaelic): gee-a gwitch
  • Welch: bor-da
  • Maori (New Zealand): key-or-a
  • Swedish: goh moh-ron
  • Italian: bone jour-no
  • Russian: doh-brah oo-tra
  • Hungarian: yoh-ray-get
  • High German: good-in mor-gan
  • Low German: good morn
  • Swiss German: gwit-a mor-ka
  • Hebrew: boker tov
  • Greek: cal-ee meh-ra
  • Basque: a-ru-nun (Don't roll the R! Apparently, I'm a terrible R-roller)
  • Danish: goo-morn
  • Estonian: tear-aye home-ee-coat
  • Australian: g'day mate!
  • French: bu-jour / bone-jour (I heard it both ways)
  • Spanish: buen-ohs dee-ahs
And, alas, this is my last post about the Camino. I've run out of material....

However! You can still do a virtual walk of the Camino on my new website Walking 4 Fun. There are currently 42 people virtually walking the Camino Frances (the Spanish section I hiked) and 7 people in the Chemin Le Puy (the French section I hiked). You can also drop in on it's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Walking4Fun and say, "Buenos dias!" or "Bonjour!" (or whatever suits your fancy).

7 comments:

Kristin aka Trekkie Gal said...

One problem....none of these tell us which syllable should have the emphasis. So even with your phonetic spellings, we might still be pronouncing them wrong!

Ryan said...

Yeah, I know, but to tell you the truth, I have a hard time figuring out which syllables are stressed just by listening to a word. I need to hear the wrong pronunciation to know how to mark the right stress! I'm weird like that.

But for whatever reason, I have no trouble sounding out my written pronunciations just fine. *shrug* Read it like it sounds, and you'll probably be right. =) Or give me a phone call and I'll tell you the pronunciation!

Papercrafts by Cindyellen said...

all good things come to an end. thank you, Ryan. it was a great journey with you. off to walk it, via the new website. . .

Celtic Roots said...

Thanks for sharing Ryan! We may never have the chance for that kind of an adventure. Loved the photos,they complimented the narration nicely.

Eidolon said...

Good Morning. That might have actually been useful. When I was in college a strange dinner conversation led to few friends and I putting together a list of how to say 'hairy breasts' in approximately 15 languages...

Anonymous said...

Ryan, when speaking Chinese, the same syllable can be said 9 different ways and have 9 different meanings. It is how you raise and lower your tone ( I think that is the right term).

Anonymous said...

Oh, this is fun! I am going to do the camp thing and more. I am from the US but now live in Thailand. My Camino starts June 1st. Love your blog and sense of humor. Check out my blog and maybe you can give me some advice? I love this life thing...Jim http://wp.me/p2xjTs-ch