How to say “motion” in 38 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.
- गति/ɡə.t̪iː/ Hindi
- গতি/ɡot̪i/ Bengali
- ചലനം/t͡ʃalanam/ Malayalam
- కదలికలు/ˈkadaˌlikalu/ Telugu
- حرکت[hæ.ɹæ.kʰʲǽt̪ʰ] Persian
“motion” in German: bewegung · Hindi: गति
It is commonest in Persian, where حرکت is the 255th most used word.
Motion in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans beweeg/bəˈvɪə̯χ/ to move, to be in motion, to stir #341
- Albanian lëviz/ləviz/ to move, set in motion, transfer #290
- Arabic فلم/film/ film, motion picture #830
- Armenian ֆիլմ/film/ film; motion picture, movie #461
- Basque ibili/ibili/ to move, to be in motion #143
- Bengali গতি/ɡot̪i/ motion, passage #769
- Bosnian kreni/ˈkrɛnɪ/ to move, set in motion #853
- Bulgarian филм[fiɫm] film, movie, motion picture #705
- Chinese 影片/iŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰi̯ɛn⁵¹/ film; motion picture; movie #1,058
- Croatian krenuti/krěːnuti/ to move, set in motion #908
- Czech pohyb[ˈpoɦɪp] motion, movement #929
- Danish film/film/ a movie, a film, motion picture #644
- Dutch bewegen/bəˈʋeːɣə(n)/ to move, to be in motion #1,119
- English still/ˈstɪl/ Without motion #143
- Esperanto filmo/ˈfilmo/ film, movie, motion picture #792
- Estonian liikumist/ˈliːkumist/ #1,884
- Finnish liikettä/ˈliːketːæ/ motion, movement #1,169
- Galician a/a/ to, toward; indicating direction of motion #2
- German bewegung/bəˈveːɡʊŋ/ #969
- Hebrew תנועה/tə.nuˈʕɔ/ movement, move, motion #1,397
- Hindi गति/ɡə.t̪iː/ #693
- Hungarian film[ˈfilm] film, movie, motion picture, picture #1,426
- Icelandic hreyfingu/ˈr̥eiːviŋkʏ/ motion, movement #1,628
- Indonesian gerakan[ɡəˈrakan] physical motion between points in space #1,291
- Malay gerak/ɡəˈrak/ movement; motion; action #877
- Malayalam ചലനം/t͡ʃalanam/ motion, movement #1,983
- Persian حرکت[hæ.ɹæ.kʰʲǽt̪ʰ] #255
- Polish film/ˈfilm/ film, movie, motion picture #778
- Portuguese filme/ˈfiw.mi/ film; movie; motion picture #613
- Russian кино[kʲɪˈno] movie, motion picture, film #1,353
- Serbian kreni/ˈkrɛnɪ/ to move, set in motion #902
- Swedish igång/ˈiːɡɔŋ/ in motion, moving, running #723
- Tagalog pelikula/peˈlikula/ film; movie; motion picture #698
- Tamil இயக்கம்/ɪjɐkːɐm/ movement, motion, moving about, function,… #509
- Telugu కదలికలు/ˈkadaˌlikalu/ #1,915
- Ukrainian кіно[kʲiˈnɔ] movie, motion picture, film #1,279
- Urdu رفتار/ɾəf.t̪ɑːɾ/ #764
- Vietnamese rung[zʊwŋ͡m˧˧] to put in motion; to shake; to agitate; to… #1,849
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) 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.