Helllo is a salutation or greeting in the English language and its meaning is synonymous with other similar sounding salutations such as "Hi" or "Hey". Hello is thought to have been first recorded at 1588.[1] Many different languages use an equivalent expression which sounds similar often either starting with an "h" or having a "l" sound. Examples would be Russian "алло" (pronounced as 'allo'), Spanish "hola", and Thai "haloo".
Etymology
There are many different theories to the orgins of the word. It may be a contraction of archaic English "whole be thou". <sup class="plainlinks nourlexpansion citation" id="ref_<Bryson, Bill>">[2] Hello is alternatively thought to come from the word hollo (also holla, holloa). [3] The definition of hollo is to shout or an exclamation originally shouted in a fox hunt when a fox was spotted.[4]
Hullo
"Hello" may also be derived from "Hullo". "Hullo" was in use before hello and was used as a greeting and also an expression of surprise. Though much less common than it used to be, the word "hullo" is still in use, mainly in Britain. [5]
Telephone
The word hello is also credited to Thomas Edison specifically as a way to greet someone when answering the telephone; allegedly when expressing his surprise with a misheard "Hullo". [6] Because of hello's beginning association with telephones, around 1889 central telephone exchange operators were known as hello-girls. [7]
References
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Some equivalents in other languages
- American English: Hello!
- Bengali: Namaskaar!
- Bulgarian: Здравейте!
- Chinese: 你好!
- Czech: Ahoj!
- Eritrean: ታዲያስ? download font
- Esperanto: Saluton!
- Finnish: Terve!
- French: Salut! (For answering telephone: Allô?)
- German: Hallo!
- Modern Greek: Γειά!
- Dutch: Hallo!
- Korean: 안녕하세요!
- Hebrew: שלום
- Hindi: नमस्ते!
- Italian: Ciao! (friendly) - Buongiorno! (formal)
- Japanese: こんにちは!
- Lithuanian: Labas
- Malay: Hai!
- Монгол: Сайн уу!
- Norwegian: Hei!
- Polish: Cześć!
- Portuguese: Olá!
- Romanian: Salut! (however, when answering the phone, Romanians use "Alo?", equivalent to English "Hello?")
- Russian: Привет! (however, when answering the phone, Russian speakers use "ало" or "алё", equivalent to English "Hello?")
- Spanish: ¡Hola!
- Sri Lanka: வணக்கம்!
- Swedish: Hej!
- Thai: สวัสดีคะ!
- Turkish: Merhaba!
- Vietnamese: Chào!
- American Sign Language: Raise your signing hand to your forehead and then move it out diagonally away from the head.