Photo: Melinda Nagy/Shutterstock

How to Say "Happy New Year" in 40 Languages

Languages
by Camden Luxford Dec 31, 2014

ACCORDING TO Ethnologue, the world currently has 7099 living languages. Here’s how to wish someone a happy new year in French, a happy new year in Portuguese, a happy new year in Polish, and about 37 other ways.

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

 

F-L

You won’t be forgiven for not knowing how to say happy new year in Greek if you find yourself there for this celebration.

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

 

M-Z

LanguageSpellingPronunciation

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!

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