“Breath” is a fundamental aspect of life, something we often take for granted until the moment we can’t catch one. This simple act of breathing varies little in execution around the globe, but the word for it varies greatly across languages, reflecting the rich diversity of human tongues. In this article, we’ll explore how the word for “breath” is expressed in different languages around the world.
Here is a list of how to say “breath” in 70 different languages:
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – Frymë | Pronunciation: free-muh
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – نفس (Nafs) | Pronunciation: nafs
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – շունչ (Shunch) | Pronunciation: shoonch
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Nəfəs | Pronunciation: nuh-fess
- Basque (🇪🇸) – Arnasa | Pronunciation: ar-nah-sah
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Дыханне (Dykhannie) | Pronunciation: dih-han-nyeh
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – শ্বাস (Shash) | Pronunciation: shwaash
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Dah | Pronunciation: dah
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Дъх (Dah) | Pronunciation: duh
- Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – Alient | Pronunciation: ah-lee-ent
- Czech (🇨🇿) – Dech | Pronunciation: dekh
- Danish (🇩🇰) – Åndedræt | Pronunciation: awn-deh-draet
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – Adem | Pronunciation: ah-dem
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – Breath | Pronunciation: breth
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – Hingamine | Pronunciation: hing-ah-mee-nuh
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – نفس (Nafas) | Pronunciation: nah-fass
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – Hengitys | Pronunciation: heng-ee-tys
- French (🇫🇷) – Respiration | Pronunciation: res-pi-ra-tion
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – სუნთქვა (Suntkva) | Pronunciation: soon-tk-vah
- German (🇩🇪) – Atem | Pronunciation: ah-tem
- Greek (🇬🇷) – Αναπνοή (Anapnoí) | Pronunciation: ah-nah-pno-ee
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – נשימה (Neshima) | Pronunciation: neh-shee-mah
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – साँस (Saans) | Pronunciation: saans
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Légzés | Pronunciation: lay-gez
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Andardráttur | Pronunciation: an-dar-draht-ur
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Napas | Pronunciation: nah-pass
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Análú | Pronunciation: ah-nah-loo
- Italian (🇮🇹) – Respiro | Pronunciation: res-pee-ro
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – 呼吸 (Kokyū) | Pronunciation: ko-kyoo
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Тыныс (Tynys) | Pronunciation: tee-nis
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – ដង្ហើម (Dong ph’aem) | Pronunciation: dong-pem
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 호흡 (Hoheub) | Pronunciation: ho-hup
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – Nefs | Pronunciation: nef-s
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Дем (Dem) | Pronunciation: dem
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ການຫາຍ (Kanhai) | Pronunciation: kan-hai
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – Elpa | Pronunciation: el-pah
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Kvėpavimas | Pronunciation: kve-pa-vi-mas
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Otem | Pronunciation: oh-tem
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Здив (Zdiv) | Pronunciation: zdeev
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Nafas | Pronunciation: na-fas
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – Nifs | Pronunciation: nifs
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 呼吸 (Hūxī) | Pronunciation: hoo-shee
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – श्वास (Shvās) | Pronunciation: shvaas
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Амьсгал (Am’sgal) | Pronunciation: am-sgal
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – स्वास (Swās) | Pronunciation: swaas
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Pust | Pronunciation: poost
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – ساه (Saah) | Pronunciation: saah
- Persian (Farsi) (🇮🇷) – نفس (Nafas) | Pronunciation: nah-fass
- Polish (🇵🇱) – Oddech | Pronunciation: od-dehkh
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Respiração | Pronunciation: hes-pi-ra-sown
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – Respirație | Pronunciation: re-spi-ra-tsee
- Russian (🇷🇺) – Дыхание (Dykhanie) | Pronunciation: dih-kha-nee-ye
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – Дах (Dah) | Pronunciation: dah
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – හුස්ම (Husma) | Pronunciation: hus-mah
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – Dych | Pronunciation: dikh
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Dih | Pronunciation: deeh
- Somali (🇸🇴) – Neefsasho | Pronunciation: nef-sash-o
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – Respiración | Pronunciation: res-pi-ra-thee-on
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Pumzi | Pronunciation: pum-zee
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – Andning | Pronunciation: and-ning
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – Нафас (Nafas) | Pronunciation: nah-fas
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – மூச்சு (Mūccu) | Pronunciation: moo-choo
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – శ్వాస (Shvāsa) | Pronunciation: shva-sa
- Thai (🇹🇭) – หายใจ (H̄āy ci) | Pronunciation: haai jai
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – Nefes | Pronunciation: neh-fes
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – Дихання (Dykhannya) | Pronunciation: dih-khan-nya
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – سانس (Saans) | Pronunciation: saans
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Nafas | Pronunciation: nah-fas
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Hơi thở | Pronunciation: hoy tho
- Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – Anadl | Pronunciation: ah-nadl