How to say “role” in 30 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.
- роль[rolʲ] Russian
- 角色/t͡ɕy̯ɛ³⁵ sɤ⁵¹/ Chinese
- ρόλο/ˈrolo/ Greek
- դեր/deɾ/ Armenian
- വേഷം/ʋeːʂɐm/ Malayalam
- نقش[næʁʃ] Persian
“role” in French: rôle · Italian: ruolo · Chinese: 角色 · Russian: роль · Turkish: rol · Greek: ρόλο
It is commonest in Chinese, where 角色 is the 513th most used word.
Role in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans rol/rɔl/ #558
- Armenian դեր/deɾ/ #649
- Bosnian ulogu/ˈuloɡʊ/ #1,570
- Bulgarian роля[ˈrɔlʲɐ] #1,731
- Catalan paper[pəˈpe] #933
- Chinese 角色/t͡ɕy̯ɛ³⁵ sɤ⁵¹/ role; part; character #513
- Croatian ulogu/ˈuloɡʊ/ #1,580
- Czech roli[ˈrolɪ] role, part #1,626
- Danish rolle/ˈʁɐlə/ a role, character, part #1,511
- Dutch rol/rɔl/ role, function #1,303
- English nurse/nɝs/ Anyone performing this role, regardless of… #1,538
- French rôle/ʁol/ #1,176
- Greek ρόλο/ˈrolo/ role, part #1,375
- Hebrew תפקיד/tafˈkid/ function, role, job #1,383
- Hindi कर्तव्य/kəɾt̪əʋjə/ duty, role, obligation #1,839
- Italian ruolo/ˈrwɔ.lo/ #2,008
- Lithuanian vaidmuo[ʋɐɪ²ˈdmuɔ] role, part #2,289
- Macedonian улога[ˈuɫɔɡa] role, function #1,588
- Malayalam വേഷം/ʋeːʂɐm/ #571
- Norwegian rolle/ˈrɔlə/ a role #788
- Persian نقش[næʁʃ] role; part #679
- Romanian rol/ˈrol/ #2,031
- Russian роль[rolʲ] role, part #1,478
- Serbian ulogu/ˈuloɡʊ/ #1,509
- Swedish roll/ˈrɔl/ #568
- Tagalog bilang/ˈbilaŋ/ as; in the capacity of; in the role of #240
- Turkish rol/ˈɾol/ #1,389
- Ukrainian роль[rɔlʲ] role, part #1,095
- Urdu شرکت/ʃɪɾ.kət̪/ contribution, role #1,247
- Vietnamese phận[fən˧˨ʔ] a role #991
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 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.