Every once in a while we highlight some interesting ways in which different languages say something that other cultures share. This time around, we want t o highlight something that’s around, aka, Christmas. Precisely, how different languages say “Merry Christmas”. We figured it would be best to show you these differences on a map. We found this beautifully-put map by Czech linguist and cartographer Jakub Marian that we think sums it all up.
Here is a list of all the greetings:
Albanian: Gëzuar Krishtlindjet
Basque: Eguberri on
Belarusian: з Калядамі or з Божым Нараджэннем
Breton: Nedeleg laouen
Bulgarian: Весела Коледа or Честито Рождество Христово
Catalan: Bon Nadal
Croatian: Sretan Božić
Czech: Veselé Vánoce
Danish God jul or Glædelig jul
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest
English: Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas
French: Joyeux Noël
Estonian: Häid jõule
Finnish: Hyvää joulua
Galician: Bo Nadal
German: Fröhliche Weihnachten or Frohe Weihnachten
Greek: Καλά Χριστούγεννα
Hungarian: Boldog karácsonyt
Icelandic: Gleðileg jól
Irish: Nollaig Shona + Dhuit (singular) or Daoibh (plural)
Italian: Buon Natale
Latvian: Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus
Lithuanian: Linksmų Kalėdų
Luxembourgish: Schéine Chrëschtdag
Macedonian: Среќен Божиќ or Христос се роди
Maltese: il-Milied it-Tajjeb
Norwegian: God jul
Northern Sami: Buorre juovla
Romanian: Crăciun fericit
Occitan: Bon Nadal
Polish: Wesołych Świąt (Bożego Narodzenia)
Portuguese: Feliz Natal
Russian: с Рождеством (Христовым)
Scottish Gaelic: Nollaig Chridheil
Serbian: Srećan Božić or Hristos se rodi
Sardinian: Bona Pasca de Nadale
Slovak: Veselé Vianoce
Slovene: Vesel božič
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God jul
Turkish: Mutlu Noeller
Ukrainian: з Різдвом (Христовим)
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
How about you? How do you say Merry Christmas in your language?
