How to say “talk” 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.
- hablar/aˈblaɾ/ Spanish
- поговорить[pəɡəvɐˈrʲitʲ] Russian
- बात/bɑːt̪/ Hindi
- আলাপ/alap/ Bengali
- സംസാരം/sɐmsäːɾɐm/ Malayalam
- صحبت[soɦ.bǽt̪ʰ] Persian
“talk” in Spanish: hablar · German: reden · Italian: parlare · Russian: поговорить · Hindi: बात
It is commonest in Urdu, where بات is the 46th most used word.
Talk in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans praat/prɑːt/ to talk, to speak #88
- Albanian biseduar/bisɛduaɾ/ to talk, to converse #1,025
- Arabic تحدث/taħaddaθa/ to speak, to talk #346
- Armenian զրուցել/zəɾuˈt͡sʰel/ to talk to, to talk with #1,417
- Bengali আলাপ/alap/ #855
- Bosnian razgovor/râzɡoʋoːr/ talk, conversation #760
- Bulgarian говоря[ɡoˈvɔrʲɐ] to speak, to talk #222
- Chinese 商量/ʂɑŋ⁵⁵ li̯ɑŋ²/ to consult; to discuss; to talk over #933
- Croatian govoriti/ɡoʋǒriti/ to speak, talk, converse #622
- Czech probrat[ˈprobrat] to discuss, to consult, to talk sth over #2,095
- Danish tale/tsʰaːlə/ speech, talk, address, discourse #149
- Dutch praten/ˈpraːtə(n)/ to talk #174
- English chatter/ˈt͡ʃætɚ/ Talk, especially meaningless or unimportant… #2,206
- Esperanto parolas/paˈrolas/ to speak, talk #190
- Estonian rääkida/ˈræːkid̥ɑ/ to talk, to speak #176
- Finnish puhua/ˈpuhuɑˣ/ to speak, talk #172
- French parler/paʁ.le/ to speak, talk #141
- Galician falar/faˈlaɾ/ to speak, to talk #148
- Georgian საუბარი[säubäɾi] conversation, talk #412
- German reden/ˈʁeːdən/ to talk, to speak, to orate #183
- Greek μιλάς/miˈlas/ to speak; to talk #398
- Hebrew שיחה/siˈχa/ conversation; talk, chat #682
- Hindi बात/bɑːt̪/ #53
- Hungarian beszélni[ˈbɛseːlni] to speak, talk #268
- Icelandic talar/ˈtʰaːlar/ to talk #394
- Indonesian berbicara/bərbit͡ʃara/ to talk; to speak #236
- Italian parlare/parˈla.re/ to talk, to speak #186
- Korean 얘기[ˈjɛ(ː)ɡi] contraction of 이야기: talk; story #161
- Latvian runā/ˈrunaː/ to speak, to talk #172
- Lithuanian pakalbėti[pɐkɐlʲ¹ˈbʲeːtʲɪ] to talk #572
- Macedonian разговор[ˈrazɡɔvɔr] talk, conversation #805
- Malay cakap/ˈt͡ʃakap/ to talk; to speak #90
- Malayalam സംസാരം/sɐmsäːɾɐm/ talk, speech, conversation #505
- Norwegian tale/ˈtɑːlə/ speech, talk, address, discourse #1,271
- Persian صحبت[soɦ.bǽt̪ʰ] talk, speech #101
- Polish powiedzieć/pɔˈvjɛ.d͡ʑɛt͡ɕ/ to speak, to talk #121
- Portuguese falar/faˈla(ʁ)/ to speak; to talk #99
- Romanian vorba/ˈvorba/ talk, talking, speaking #316
- Russian поговорить[pəɡəvɐˈrʲitʲ] to have a conversation, to talk #234
- Serbian razgovor/râzɡoʋoːr/ talk, conversation #774
- Slovak hovoriť/ɦɔvɔric/ to talk, to speak #173
- Slovenian razgovor/razɡɔ́ːʋɔr/ conversation, talk #1,141
- Spanish hablar/aˈblaɾ/ to talk; to speak; to communicate using words #154
- Swedish prata/ˈprɑːˌta/ to talk, to speak #140
- Tagalog magsalita/maɡsaliˈtaʔ/ to speak; to talk #272
- Tamil பேச்சு/peːtʃtʃɯ/ conversation, speech, talk #385
- Telugu మాట్లాడు/maːʈlaːɖu/ to speak, talk #599
- Turkish konuşmak/ko.nuʃˈmak/ to speak, to talk, to use verbal language #355
- Ukrainian поговорити[pɔɦɔwɔˈrɪte] to talk, to speak, to have a word #359
- Urdu بات/bɑːt̪/ talk, conversation #46
- Vietnamese nói[nɔj˧˦] to speak, to talk, to say, to tell #30
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.