Namastey, Marhabaan, Olá, Konnichiwa, Bonjour, Zdravstvuyte -have you ever stopped to wonder how a simple “𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐” sounds so different in every language. The stories that led to each if those specific hellos is even more fascinating. Lets dive into a few of these common phrases that we pick up as language learners and understand the history and culture behind it.
Ok so when we start learning a new language, we usually start with some basic phrases like “𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐,” “𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖,” “𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” What we often dont learn is the 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚, the 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, the 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 , 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚 behind each of these phrases
In English ,when we greet someone, we say “𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖?” It’s a polite question that conveys 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛/ 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 towards someone.
𝑵𝒐𝒘 lets take 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒆. In my class I usually start with Nǐ hǎo (你好) which is the dictionary equivalent of hello. But I always follow it up with a disclaimer: In daily life in China, you wont hear people greeting each other that way often. Instead, you are more likely to hear “𝑵𝒊 𝒄𝒉𝒊 𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂?” (你吃了吗?) which quite literally mean, “𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏?
To someone not accustomed to the cultural context, this sounds odd, and honestly while I was learning Chinese I actually thought when someone asks you “𝑵𝒊 𝒄𝒉𝒊 𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂?” (你吃了吗?) and when you answer no, a follow up meal invite would follow. Now I was using my Indian conditioning to understand Chinese culture. Well no surprises there, I never got invited over for meals after I answered “Hái méi” (还没), which seemed rather impolite at that time.
However once I learnt the profound historical reasons behind that question not only did I appreciate that way of greeting more, I also adopted it. So China was subjected to recurring famines and food shortages for centuries. In a time when food was scarce, to have eaten meant to be secure, healthy and fortunate. Thus “𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏? “ became and still remains a natural way to ask someone about their wellbeing.
Thinking about it, It is no different from asking “How are you?” its only through the prism of what mattered most to the folks back then and even now.
These stories are everywhere, I often hear “𝑶𝒕𝒔𝒖𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒖” (お疲れ様です) being exchanged among among coworkers, friends, family member here in Japan (my boss would always bow to me and say this while I finished work and was about to leave for home) . It literally means, “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅” 𝒐𝒓 “𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌.” Now this is a reflection of Japan’s intense work ethics and respect for efforts and persistence. There is a similar phrase in Chinese which conveys the exact same sentiment- “Xīnkǔ nǐle”（辛苦你了）
In Arab culture, people greet with blessings and peace wishes “𝑨𝒔-𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒌𝒖𝒎” which 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 “𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖,” testifying to the passionate and deep desire of peace and safety. Like every part of the world, the Arab world has also witnessed its share of destructions, wars and loss of human life, This simple greeting is a nod to those turbulent times and a heartfelt wish that such hardship never returns -a daily reminder to hope for peace for one another.
So what does it all mean? Simple yet profound.
𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔.
They evolve along with history, culture, climate, wars and the society. Just as each of us carry an imprint of our upbringing, education, culture, Languages too have a personality-Unique and multifaceted. So next time you acquire a new greeting or expression, do pause and reflect on the cultural and historical context. You might just discover that a simple “𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐” is not that simple after all.