This Is How Europeans Say ‘Merry Christmas’. A Map That Shows the Linguistic Variety of Christmas Wishes
The cultural heritage of Europe is really vast, which is clearly visible in all the languages spoken there. So if you were thinking of saying or writing 'Merry Christmas in an original language, why not make use of one of them?
Christmas in various European languages
This unique maps were created by Jakub Marian, a Czech linguist and an author of numerous scientific publications. The maps are just a fraction of his works. Others include maps of how to say 'I love you' and words standing for 'Easter'.
The colors on the map refer to the origins of a given language. For example red stands for Romanic languages that use a Latin word referring to the birth of Jesus. As you can see, some other languages, for instance Celtic, use expressions borrow from the Romanic languages. In the north (in green), however, people use a phrase referring to an old Nordic pagan festival called Jul.
The list below contains some of the most interesting versions of 'Merry Christmas' in Some of the languages spoken in Europe.
Albanian: Gëzuar Krishtlindjet
the Basque language: Eguberri na
Belarusian: з Калядамі or з Божым Нараджэннем ('z Kaljádami' or ‘z Bozym Naradžénnjem')
the Bretonic language: Nedeleg laouen
Bulgarian: Весела Коледа or Честито Рождество Христово (VESELÁ Kolęda or Chestito Roždestvo Hristovo)
Catalonian: Bon Nadal
Croatian: Sretan Božić
Czech: Veselé Vánoce
Danish: God jul or Glædelig jul
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest
English: Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas
Estonian: Haid Joule
Finnish: Hyvää joulua
French: Joyeux Noël
The Galician language: Bo Nadal
German: Fröhliche Weihnachten or Frohe Weihnachten
Greek: Καλά Χριστούγεννα ( K alá Christoúgenna )
Hungarian: Boldog karácsonyt
Icelandic: Gleðileg Jol
Irish: Nollaig Shona + Dhuit (singular) or Daoibh (plural)
Italian: Buon Natale
Latvian: Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus
Lithuanian: Linksmų Kalėdų
Luxembourgish: Scheine Chrëschtdag
Macedonian: Среќен Божиќ or Христос се роди (Sreḱen Božik or Hristos se Rodi)
Maltese: il-Milied go-Tajjeb
Norwegian: God jul
Northern Sami: Buorit juovllat
Romanian: Crăciun fericit
The Occitan language: Bon Nadal
Portuguese: Feliz Natal
Russian: Рождеством (Христовым)
Scottish: Nollaig Chridheil
Serbian: Srećan Božić or Hristos SE Rodi
The Sardinian language: Bona Pasca de Nadale
Slovakian: Veselé VIANOCE
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God jul
Ukrainian: з Різдвом (Христовим)
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
