How to say “call” in 51 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- зовут[zɐˈvut] Russian
- 콜[kʰo̞ɭ] Korean
- κλήση/ˈkli.si/ Greek
- უწოდებს[ut͡sʼo̞de̞bs] Georgian
- կանչ/kɑnt͡ʃʰ/ Armenian
- ডাকা/ɖaka/ Bengali
“call” in French: appelle · Portuguese: chamar · Korean: 콜 · Russian: зовут · Turkish: çağrı · Greek: κλήση
It is commonest in Basque, where deitu is the 112th most used word.
Call in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans noem/ˈnum/ to call, to name #267
- Albanian ej/ɛj/ a call for attention. hey!, oi! #417
- Arabic أذكر/ʔaðkara/ to remind, to call to mind #922
- Armenian կանչ/kɑnt͡ʃʰ/ call, summons; appeal #1,206
- Basque deitu/dei̯tu/ to call, summon #112
- Bengali ডাকা/ɖaka/ to call, to call for #892
- Bosnian zove/zǒʋe/ to call, to be called #338
- Bulgarian сигнал/siɡˈnaɫ/ signal, call #1,262
- Chinese 想到/ɕi̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ tɑʊ̯⁵¹/ to think of; to call to mind; to anticipate;… #221
- Croatian zove/zǒʋe/ to call, to be called #357
- Czech zavolat[ˈzavolat] to call #688
- Danish ringer/ˈʁeŋɐ/ To call, to telephone #368
- Dutch noemen/ˈnumə(n)/ to call, to name #618
- English ho/hoʊ/ halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or… #1,595
- Esperanto nomas/ˈnomas/ to name, to call #711
- Estonian väljakutse/ˈvæljɑˌkutse/ #1,607
- Finnish vaatii/ˈvaːtɪː/ to demand, insist, call for, order #1,332
- French appelle/a.pɛl/ to call #246
- Galician chama/ˈt͡ʃama/ to call; to refer to #528
- Georgian უწოდებს[ut͡sʼo̞de̞bs] to call, to name #1,380
- German ruf/ʁuːf/ to call out, to shout, to cry #653
- Greek κλήση/ˈkli.si/ #1,297
- Hebrew התקשר/hitkaˈʃeʁ/ to phone, call someone on a telephone #783
- Hindi आवाज़/ɑː.ʋɑːz/ voice; call, cry #1,289
- Hungarian hívják[ˈhiːvjaːk] to call #602
- Icelandic kalla[ˈkʰatla] to call, name, refer to #323
- Indonesian panggil/ˈpaŋɡil/ to call #651
- Italian ecco/ˈɛk.ko/ used as an affirmative response to a call or… #185
- Korean 콜[kʰo̞ɭ] #1,044
- Latvian sauc/sauts/ to call, to cry #183
- Macedonian повик[ˈpɔvik] #695
- Malay menelefon/məneˈlifon/ to call #966
- Malayalam വിളി/ʋiɭi/ #648
- Norwegian kaller/ˈkɑlər/ to call, name #506
- Persian صدا[se.d̪ɒ́ː] sound, call, voice #369
- Polish nazywa/naˈzɘ.va/ to call, to name #601
- Portuguese chamar/ʃaˈma(ʁ)/ to call; to summon #700
- Romanian apel/aˈpel/ #1,126
- Russian зовут[zɐˈvut] to call #341
- Serbian zove/zǒʋe/ to call, to be called #341
- Slovak volá/vɔlaː/ to call #293
- Slovenian klic/klíːt͡s/ #376
- Spanish llama/ˈʝama/ to summon, to call #414
- Swedish kallar/ˈkalar/ to call, denote, refer to; to give as a name #541
- Tagalog hoy/ˈhoj/ expression used to call the attention of… #94
- Tamil அழைப்பு/ɐɻɐɪ̯pːɯ/ invitation, call #154
- Telugu పిలుపు/pilupu/ A call #1,322
- Turkish çağrı/t͡ʃaːˈɾɯ/ call; announcement #2,145
- Ukrainian звати[ˈzʋate] to call #564
- Urdu پکار/pʊ.kɑːɾ/ cry, call #1,483
- Vietnamese gọi[ɣɔj˧˨ʔ] to call or hail #151
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.