how do you say : "hello" in your language ?

Sander   Saturday, June 11, 2005, 21:24 GMT
Does "Haai" mean 'Shark' in Afrikaans as in Dutch?
andre in south africa   Saturday, June 11, 2005, 21:33 GMT
Yes, it does!!

But it's not the only meaning. Also used as greeting, as I mentioned, or to indicate surprise *Haai regtig!* (Oh really!)
greg   Saturday, June 11, 2005, 22:54 GMT
Bonjour.
Damian   Saturday, June 11, 2005, 22:57 GMT
Usually it's just "Hi" but it depends who you are meeting really.
Kai   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 00:35 GMT
Haifisch in German.
Travis   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 00:43 GMT
Here's another version of such in German, which is more informal: "moin". Unlike "guten Morgen" and "morgen", it can be used at any time of the day; also note that unlike what some Germans, especially southern Germans, would think, "moin" is not derived from German "morgen", but rather is a loan from Low Saxon, in which it is used natively, into German, and is related to the Dutch word "mooi", which means "beautiful" (as in "have a beautiful day", in this usage). Of course, one is likely to get some weird looks if one uses the word in southern parts of German, Austrian, or Switzerland, but it has been steadily spreading southwards and westwards through German as of late.
Travis   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 00:45 GMT
That should be "Austria" above.
Travis   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 00:47 GMT
Make that "Germany, Austria, and Switzerland".
Ori   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 00:47 GMT
Shalom! (which also means 'peace' and therefore is one of the most beautiful words of the Hebrew language).
bernard   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 00:54 GMT
salut !!
Sander   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 07:42 GMT
I thought that the litt. translation of "hello" was 'allo' in French (http://www.coldcut.com/video/aa/images/aatheme.mp3) :)


Other Dutch ways to say 'hello' (in a broader way):

-Goedenavond (good evening)
-Goedemorgen (good morning)
-Goedendag (good day)
-Hé!
Kirk   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 08:27 GMT
I say "hey" more common than "hello" and "hi" in English, just as I almost never say "yes," preferring "yeah," which is pretty much the most common word used here.
Linguist   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 08:36 GMT
i say "priv'et" to my friends
in official situation is say "zdrastvuyt'e"
when i meet people whom i know but they are older me i say "zdras't'e"

Dobroe utro - good morning
Dobriy d'en' - good afternoon
Dobriy v'ech'er - good evening

apostrophe means palatalisation

that was in Russian
Linguist   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 08:37 GMT
is ment I.....
Travis   Sunday, June 12, 2005, 08:59 GMT
Kirk, I too generally use "hey" (/he/ --> [he] or [heI]) or "ey" (/e/ --> [e] or [eI]) in my everyday speech, but I also at times will use what I'd write as "hlo", which'd be pronounced as /hlo/ --> [5_0o] or [5_0oU]. I rarely use "hello" or "hi", except occasionally using "hello" per se in quite formal contexts.

As for "yeah", though, I use that alongside "yes" and "yep", but the former is generally a weak affirmative (like, say, Japanese "hai"), whereas the latter two are generally strong affirmatives, especially in the case of "yes". I also use "yah" in the same place where I'd use "yeah", and such does not differ from it in meaning or usage. Of course, at times confusion can result because I'll say "yeah" in response to something, but I was only affirming that I *heard* what they said, whereas they interpreted such as actually being answering a question in an affirmative fashion (which is often case with my parents, for some reason).