How to say “debt” in 32 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.
- долг[doɫk] Russian
- ऋण/ɾɪɳ/ Hindi
- պարտք/pɑɾtkʰ/ Armenian
- ধার/d̪ʱaɾ/ Bengali
- கடன்/kɐɖɐn/ Tamil
- കടം/kɐɖɐm/ Malayalam
“debt” in German: schuld · Russian: долг · Hindi: ऋण · Turkish: borç
It is commonest in Armenian, where պարտք is the 228th most used word.
Debt in other languages, A to Z
- Armenian պարտք/pɑɾtkʰ/ #228
- Basque zor/s̻or/ #430
- Bengali ধার/d̪ʱaɾ/ debt, loan #965
- Bosnian duže/ˈduʒɛ/ #1,135
- Bulgarian дълг[dɤɫk] #1,961
- Catalan deute[ˈdɛw.tə] #2,392
- Croatian duže/ˈduʒɛ/ #1,194
- Danish gæld/ɡɛlˀ/ debt, debts #1,759
- Dutch schuld/sxʏlt/ debt, account payable #479
- Esperanto ŝuldojn/ˈʃuldoi̯n/ #2,457
- Finnish velkaa/ˈvelkaː/ #822
- German schuld/ʃʊlt/ #513
- Greek χρωστάω/xɾoˈsta.o/ to owe, be in debt #1,863
- Hindi ऋण/ɾɪɳ/ debt, loss #1,239
- Icelandic skuld[ˈskʏlt] a debt #2,177
- Indonesian berutang/bəˈrutaŋ/ to owe money, to be in debt #1,677
- Lithuanian kaltė[kɐlʲ²ˈtʲeː] guilt, debt #588
- Malay hutang/ˈhutaŋ/ #1,279
- Malayalam കടം/kɐɖɐm/ #399
- Norwegian gjeld/ˈjɛl/ debt, indebtedness #2,155
- Persian بدهکار[be.d̪eɦ.kʰɒ́ːɹ] in debt #2,414
- Romanian datorie/da.toˈri.e/ #2,380
- Russian долг[doɫk] #1,797
- Serbian duže/ˈduʒɛ/ #1,015
- Slovak dlh/dl̩x/ #1,389
- Swedish skuld/skɵld/ #1,685
- Tagalog utang/ˈʔutaŋ/ debt; account; liability or obligation to… #847
- Tamil கடன்/kɐɖɐn/ debt, loan #241
- Telugu అప్పు/apːu/ loan, debt #1,103
- Turkish borç/ˈbɔɾtʃ/ #1,859
- Urdu قرض/qəɾz/ debt; loan; credit #1,267
- Vietnamese nợ[nəː˧˨ʔ] #913
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), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 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.