How to say “joy” 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.
- alegría/aleˈɡɾia/ Spanish
- سرور/su.ruːr/ Arabic
- मज़ा/mə.zɑː/ Hindi
- χαρά/xaˈɾa/ Greek
- שמחה/simˈχa/ Hebrew
- სიხარული[siχäɾuli] Georgian
“joy” in Spanish: alegría · French: joie · Italian: gioia · Portuguese: alegria · Arabic: سرور · Hindi: मज़ा · Turkish: oh · Greek: χαρά
It is commonest in Turkish, where oh is the 162nd most used word.
Joy in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian gaz/ˈɡaz/ #1,744
- Arabic سرور/su.ruːr/ joy, pleasure, satisfaction #2,262
- Armenian ուրախություն/uɾɑχuˈtʰjun/ #1,022
- Bengali আনন্দ/anond̪o/ joy, pleasure, delight, glee, enjoyment, fun #624
- Bulgarian радост[ˈradost] joy, delight #1,533
- Catalan alegria[ə.ləˈɣɾi.ə] joy, happiness #2,331
- Czech radost[ˈradost] #1,149
- Danish glæder/ˈɡlɛːðɐ/ #1,124
- English welcome/ˈwɛl.kəm/ Whose arrival is a cause of joy; received… #490
- Estonian rõõm/ˈrɤːm/ joy, happiness #786
- Finnish ilo/ˈilo/ joy, happiness, delight, merriment, mirth #1,785
- French joie/ʒwa/ #1,588
- Galician alegría/aleˈɡɾia/ #1,959
- Georgian სიხარული[siχäɾuli] #1,171
- German glück/ɡlʏk/ happiness, joy, bliss #376
- Greek χαρά/xaˈɾa/ joy; pleasure #269
- Hebrew שמחה/simˈχa/ joy, happiness, glee #532
- Hindi मज़ा/mə.zɑː/ joy, pleasure #1,099
- Hungarian öröm[ˈørøm] joy, pleasure #2,482
- Italian gioia/ˈd͡ʒɔ.ja/ joy, delight #2,182
- Latvian prieks[pɾiɛ̂ks] joy, delight #394
- Macedonian радост[ˈradɔst] #1,963
- Norwegian glede/ˈɡleːdə/ happiness, joy, delight, gladness, pleasure #1,015
- Portuguese alegria/a.leˈɡɾi.ɐ/ joy, happiness #2,355
- Romanian fericire/fe.riˈt͡ʃi.re/ happiness, joy, felicity #1,365
- Slovak radosť/radɔsc/ joy, delight #821
- Slovenian radost/ràːdɔst/ #1,758
- Spanish alegría/aleˈɡɾia/ joy, happiness #2,229
- Swedish lycka/²lʏkːa/ joy, happiness #666
- Tamil மகிழ்ச்சி/mɐɡɪɻtʃtʃiː/ happiness, joy #213
- Turkish oh/ˈoh/ exclamation of relief, joy, admiration,… #162
- Urdu سرور/sʊ.ɾuːɾ/ exhilaration, delight, joy, cheerfulness #235
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), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.