HOW TO SAY “HAPPY NEW YEAR” IN 40 LANGUAGES

Photo: Ginny

According to Ethnologue, the world currently has 6,909 living languages. Here’s how to wish someone a happy new year in 40 of them.

A-E

Language	Spelling	Pronunciation
Afrikaans	Gelukkige Nuwejaar	gha-likkikga-neeva-yaarr (“gh” is a throat scraping guttural sound)
Albanian	Gëzuar Vitin e Ri	gu-zoo-ar vi-tin e ri
Arabic	سنة سعيدة	sana sa’eedah
Azerbaijani	Yeni iliniz mübarək	ye-ni i-li-niz myu-ba-rack
Bahasa melayu	Selamat tahun baru	selamat tahun baru
Basque	Urte berri on	err-te berr-rri on
Bosnian	sretna nova godina	sr-et-na no-va go-din-a
Bulgarian	Щастлива Нова година	sh-tast-liva No-va go-din-a
Catalan	Feliç any nou	fe-LEES A-nee n-Ou
Cebuano (Philippines)	Mabungahong Bag-ong Tuig kaninyong tanan	ma-boon-ga-hong bag-ong too-eeg kan-een-yong tan-an
Czech	šťastný nový rok	SHTU-stnee NO-vee rrr-ok
Dutch	Fijne oudejaarsavond (Fine New Year’s Eve) / Gelukkig Nieuwjaar (Happy New Year)	fei-nee ow-de-yaarr-sa-vont / ghu-lukkikgh-neew-yaarr
Estonian	Head uut aastat	hed oot ah-staht

Photo: Tom Bricker

F-L

Language	Spelling	Pronunciation
Farsi	سال نو مبارک	sale nou mobarak
Filipino	Manigong Bagong Taon	mah-nee-gong bag-gong ta-on
French	Bonne Année	bon a-nay
Gaelic (Scotland)	Bliadhna mhath ur	bleenah vahth oohr
German	Frohes Neues Jahr / Gutes Neues Jahr	frohes neuyis yar / gutes neu-yis yar
Greek	Καλή χρονιά	kali chronya
Gujarati	સાલ મુબારક	saal mubarak (happy year)
Hebrew	שָׁנָה טוֹבָה	shana tova
Hindi	नये साल की हार्दिक शुभकामनायें	nayye saal ki haardik shubh-kaam-nayen
Hungarian	Boldog Új Évet / Buék	bawl-dawg-uuy-aevet / boo-ayk
Irish	Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhuit / Bhliain nua sásta	awh-tvleen fwee mm-hay-sheh gutch
Italian	Buon anno / Felice anno nuovo	boo-on ah-nno / fae-lee-chae ah-nno noo-o-vo
Japanese	あけましておめでとうございます	akemashite omedeto gozaimasu
Korean	새해 복 많이 받으세요	seh heh bok mahn ee bahd euh sae yo

Photo: Jeff Krause

M-Z

Language	Spelling	Pronunciation
Maltese	Is Sena it -Tajba	iz sena it taybah
Mandarin Chinese	新年快乐	xīn nián kuài lè
Maori	Kia hari te tau hou	kia hari tay tau ho
Polish	Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku	shch-eng-shlee-vego novego roku
Portuguese	Feliz Ano Novo	feh-liz an-oh noh-voh
Quechua	Allin wata kachun qanpaq (singular) / Allin wata kachun qanqunapaq (plural)	all-yin wa-ta ka-chun kan-pak / all-yin wa-ta ka-chun kan-koon-a-pak
Romanian	La Mulți Ani	laa mooltsi ani
Russian	С Новым Годом	s novim godom
Spanish	Feliz Año Nuevo	feh-liz an-yoh n-way-vo
Thai	สวัสดีปีใหม่	saa-wat-dii pi-mai
Turkish	Mutlu yıllar (happy year) / Yeni yılınız kutlu olsun (May your new year be celebrated)	moot-loo yill-lar / yen-ee yill-uh-niz coot-loo ohl-son
Urdu	نايا سال مبارک	nayya saal mubarak
Welsh	blwyddyn newydd dda	BLOOdhin NEHwidh dha

Do you know how to say Happy New Year in any other languages? Share in the comments section below to get us closer to representing the world’s 6,000+ languages!