Literature in Different Languages
Discover 'Literature' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Literature
Afrikaans literatuur | ||
Albanian letërsi | ||
Amharic ሥነ ጽሑፍ | ||
Arabic الأدب | ||
Armenian գրականություն | ||
Assamese সাহিত্য | ||
Aymara litiratura | ||
Azerbaijani ədəbiyyat | ||
Bambara gafesɛ bɛnnenw ani kumakan maralenw | ||
Basque literatura | ||
Belarusian літаратура | ||
Bengali সাহিত্য | ||
Bhojpuri साहित्य | ||
Bosnian književnost | ||
Bulgarian литература | ||
Catalan literatura | ||
Cebuano literatura | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 文学 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 文學 | ||
Corsican letteratura | ||
Croatian književnost | ||
Czech literatura | ||
Danish litteratur | ||
Dhivehi އަދަބީ | ||
Dogri साहित्य | ||
Dutch literatuur | ||
English literature | ||
Esperanto literaturo | ||
Estonian kirjandus | ||
Ewe nuxexlẽ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) panitikan | ||
Finnish kirjallisuus | ||
French littérature | ||
Frisian literatuer | ||
Galician literatura | ||
Georgian ლიტერატურა | ||
German literatur | ||
Greek βιβλιογραφία | ||
Guarani ñe'ẽporãhaipyre | ||
Gujarati સાહિત્ય | ||
Haitian Creole literati | ||
Hausa adabi | ||
Hawaiian palapala | ||
Hebrew סִפְרוּת | ||
Hindi साहित्य | ||
Hmong ntaub ntawv | ||
Hungarian irodalom | ||
Icelandic bókmenntir | ||
Igbo akwụkwọ | ||
Ilocano literatura | ||
Indonesian literatur | ||
Irish litríocht | ||
Italian letteratura | ||
Japanese 文献 | ||
Javanese sastra | ||
Kannada ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ | ||
Kazakh әдебиет | ||
Khmer អក្សរសិល្ប៍ | ||
Kinyarwanda ubuvanganzo | ||
Konkani साहित्य | ||
Korean 문학 | ||
Krio buk | ||
Kurdish hêdane | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) وێژە | ||
Kyrgyz адабият | ||
Lao ວັນນະຄະດີ | ||
Latin litterae | ||
Latvian literatūra | ||
Lingala mokanda | ||
Lithuanian literatūra | ||
Luganda bwawandikibwa | ||
Luxembourgish literatur | ||
Macedonian литература | ||
Maithili साहित्य | ||
Malagasy boky sy gazety | ||
Malay sastera | ||
Malayalam സാഹിത്യം | ||
Maltese letteratura | ||
Maori tuhinga | ||
Marathi साहित्य | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯈꯣꯔꯤꯂꯣꯜ | ||
Mizo thu leh hla | ||
Mongolian уран зохиол | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) စာပေ | ||
Nepali साहित्य | ||
Norwegian litteratur | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mabuku | ||
Odia (Oriya) ସାହିତ୍ୟ | ||
Oromo og-barruu | ||
Pashto ادبیات | ||
Persian ادبیات | ||
Polish literatura | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) literatura | ||
Punjabi ਸਾਹਿਤ | ||
Quechua lteratura | ||
Romanian literatură | ||
Russian литература | ||
Samoan tusitusiga | ||
Sanskrit साहित्यं | ||
Scots Gaelic litreachas | ||
Sepedi dingwalo | ||
Serbian књижевност | ||
Sesotho lingoliloeng | ||
Shona zvinyorwa | ||
Sindhi ادب | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) සාහිත්යය | ||
Slovak literatúry | ||
Slovenian literatura | ||
Somali suugaanta | ||
Spanish literatura | ||
Sundanese pustaka | ||
Swahili fasihi | ||
Swedish litteratur | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) panitikan | ||
Tajik адабиёт | ||
Tamil இலக்கியம் | ||
Tatar әдәбият | ||
Telugu సాహిత్యం | ||
Thai วรรณกรรม | ||
Tigrinya ስነ ጽሑፍ | ||
Tsonga matsalwa | ||
Turkish edebiyat | ||
Turkmen edebiýaty | ||
Twi (Akan) kasadwini | ||
Ukrainian література | ||
Urdu ادب | ||
Uyghur ئەدەبىيات | ||
Uzbek adabiyot | ||
Vietnamese văn chương | ||
Welsh llenyddiaeth | ||
Xhosa uncwadi | ||
Yiddish ליטעראַטור | ||
Yoruba litireso | ||
Zulu izincwadi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Afrikaans, "literatuur" not only means "literature" but also refers to the "letters" of the alphabet. |
| Albanian | Letërsi is a term used in Albanian both to refer to "literature" and "letter", as a message in written form. |
| Amharic | The word comes from the root 's-n', meaning "to know" or "to learn". |
| Arabic | الْأَدَبْ is also the plural of لَطَائِفُ, meaning 'nuances, subtleties' |
| Azerbaijani | Etymology: Persian ادبیات ('adabiyyāt) < Arabic آداب ('ādāb, "manners, customs, style, good education"). Originally, a term from religious studies applied to the knowledge needed for the understanding of religious texts, now denotes any kind of scholarly learning. |
| Basque | In Basque, the word 'literatura' can also mean 'collection of writings' or 'body of written works'. |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "літаратура" comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "литература", which in turn comes from the Greek word "γραμματική", meaning "the art of writing". |
| Bengali | In Bangla, "সাহিত্য” derives from Sanskrit, where “sahi,” meaning friend or companion and ‘ta', a suffix signifying possession or association, combine for a concept of "companion or friend in thought". |
| Bosnian | The word 'književnost' is derived from 'knjiga', meaning 'book'. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "литература" originates from the Latin "littera, |
| Catalan | Catalan "literatura" is derived from the Latin "litteratura" denoting "learning" or "writing". |
| Cebuano | The word "literatura" derives from the Latin word "littera" (letter), and refers to written works in general. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 文学 (wénxué) can also mean 'the study of characters' (文字学) or 'the study of language' (语言学). |
| Chinese (Traditional) | In pre-Qin era Chinese, "文學" referred to "Confucianism" and later took on its modern meaning during the Han dynasty. |
| Corsican | In Corsican "letteratura" may also refer to "education" or "learning". |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "književnost" originates from the Old Church Slavonic word "knjigi", meaning "books", and initially referred to all forms of written works, including religious, historical, and legal texts. |
| Czech | In Czech, "literatura" has a broader meaning, encompassing not only written works but also oral traditions such as folktales and legends. |
| Danish | The Danish word "litteratur" also carries the meaning of "waste". |
| Dutch | "Literatuur" in Dutch comes from "littera" (letter) and can also refer to documents in general. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word 'literaturo' comes from the Latin word 'litteratura', meaning 'a writing' or 'an epistle'. |
| Estonian | "Kirjandus" is cognate with the Finnic words "kirja" (character) and "luenta" (reading), and in Karelian it means "alphabet". |
| Finnish | The word "kirjallisuus" in Finnish refers both to literature and literacy, as it is derived from the word "kirja", meaning "book" or "letter". |
| French | "Littérature" also means a body of written works or a set of publications. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word 'literatuer' comes from the Latin word 'littera', meaning 'letter' or 'writing'. |
| Galician | "Literatura" in Galician also refers to the set of specific characteristics of a particular language or dialect. |
| Georgian | "ლიტერატურა" is derived from the Latin word "littera" (letter) and was originally used in Georgian to refer to any written work. |
| German | The word 'Literatur' originates from the Latin 'litteratura' that refers to both 'letters' and the 'occupation of scribes'. |
| Greek | The Greek word "βιβλιογραφία" can also mean "bibliography" or "list of books." |
| Gujarati | The Sanskrit word ‘Sahit’ meaning ‘collection’ forms the basis of the Gujarati word ‘Sahitya’, which translates to ‘collection of knowledge’.”} |
| Hausa | The word 'adabi' originates from the Arabic term 'adab' meaning conduct or behaviour, implying that literature serves as a guide for proper conduct.} |
| Hawaiian | The word 'palapala' also means 'leaves' in Hawaiian, highlighting the cultural connection between literature and the written word. |
| Hebrew | סִפְרוּת derives from the Hebrew verb “סָפַר”, to scribe, count, tell, and to relate or narrate. |
| Hindi | "साहित्य" शब्द संस्कृत के "सहि" धातु से बना है जिसका अर्थ है "मित्रता करना" या "एक साथ मिलना"। |
| Hmong | The Hmong word 'ntaub ntawv' is derived from 'tau', meaning 'book' and 'ntawv', meaning 'letter', which literally translates to 'book letters' or 'book writings'. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word for literature, "irodalom", is etymologically related to "irni" ("to write") and is also used as a collective term for writers. |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word 'bókmenntir' ('literature') literally means 'book memories', indicating that literature was traditionally preserved and transmitted orally in Icelandic society. |
| Igbo | "Akwụkwọ" means "leaf" in Igbo, suggesting the ancient practice of writing on palm leaves |
| Indonesian | In Indonesian, "literatur" can also refer to any written or printed document. |
| Irish | The Irish word "litríocht" derives from "leitir," meaning "a hillside" or "slope," and originally referred to sacred or scholarly writing engraved on stone or wood. |
| Italian | "Letteratura" in Italian also signifies "erudition" or "learning," reflecting the historical association between literature and scholarship. |
| Japanese | The term "文献" (monographs, documents) was originally used in Buddhism to refer to Buddhist scriptures, and gradually came to refer to academic texts in general. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "sastra" has additional meanings, such as "knowledge" or "rules. |
| Kannada | The term 'ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ' (literature) in Kannada traces its roots to the Sanskrit word 'sahitya', meaning 'collection of writings'. |
| Kazakh | The word "әдебиет" in Kazakh comes from the Arabic word "أدب" (adab), which can also mean "good manners" or "culture". |
| Korean | "문학" derives from Middle Chinese "文" (read as "mon") and "學" (read as "hwok"). |
| Kurdish | "Hêdane" in Kurdish derives from the Avesta word "dâd-vân-âd" meaning "laws, knowledge, wisdom," and was initially used to refer to sacred texts. |
| Kyrgyz | "Адабият" (адап + ит) – "приспособившийся", "привыкший". "Адабият" – письменность, художественная литература, которая в течение веков передавалась в устной форме. |
| Latin | Litterae, the Latin word for 'literature,' also refers to letters, writings, correspondence, and the alphabet. |
| Latvian | In Latvian, the word "literatūra" also means "writing", "scripture", or "document". |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "literatūra" originally meant "the ability to read and write". |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Literatur" also refers to the genre of written works that are considered to possess literary merit. |
| Macedonian | The word "литература" comes from the Proto-Slavic verb *lьtati, meaning "to cast". |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "boky sy gazety" (literature) literally means "books and newspapers". |
| Malay | The word "sastera" in Malay is derived from the Sanskrit word "śāstra", which means "science" or "treatise", and was originally used to refer to religious texts. |
| Malayalam | The word "സാഹിത്യം" in Malayalam is derived from the Sanskrit word "sahitya" meaning "association" or "combination." |
| Maltese | The word "letteratura" in Maltese refers to literature, but it can also be used in a more specific sense to refer to "sacred literature" or "the Bible." |
| Maori | Tuhinga originally referred to a carved or tattooed design in Maori. |
| Marathi | In Marathi, "साहित्य" also means "collection," as in a collection of literary works. |
| Mongolian | The word "уран зохиол" is derived from the Mongolian words "уран" (art) and "зохиол" (creation) and is used to refer to works of literature that are considered to be of high artistic value. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | စာပေ (sape) comes from the Pali word “sape” meaning "writing, drawing, composing, etc." |
| Nepali | The word 'साहित्य' is derived from the Sanskrit term 'सह-हित', meaning 'good together', suggesting its role in bringing people together through shared experiences. |
| Norwegian | In Norwegian, "litteratur" additionally translates to "waste". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Mabuku" in Nyanja is derived from the Swahili word "kitabu" (book) and the prefix "ma-" (plural). In the alternate meaning, "mabuku" refers to traditional African herbal remedies. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "ادبیات" (adabiyat) also means "politeness", "manners", or "good breeding". |
| Persian | ادبیات also refers to good manners, etiquette, ethics, and other learned knowledge. |
| Polish | In Polish, the word "literatura" comes from Latin and originally referred to "letters" and "writing". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Literatura" in Portuguese has an alternate meaning related to the weight of the gold used to mint coins. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਸਾਹਿਤ" derives from the Sanskrit word "sahitya", which means "a collection of writings" or "a literary work". The term is used to refer to both written and oral forms of literature. |
| Romanian | 'Literatură' derives from the Latin word 'littera', meaning 'writing' or 'letter'. |
| Russian | The word "литература" derives from the Latin "littera" meaning "letter". |
| Samoan | The term tusitusiga originally referred to storytelling, poetry and mythology in the pre-colonial Samoan culture |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word 'litreachas' can also refer to 'correspondence', reflecting the historical importance of written communication in Gaelic culture. |
| Serbian | The word "књижевност" is derived from the Slavic root "kъnigъ," meaning "book" or "writing." |
| Sesotho | This word has alternate meanings like 'conversation' and 'knowledge' |
| Shona | The word 'zvinyorwa' is also used to refer to written records, documents, or texts. |
| Sindhi | Sindhi word "ادب" also refers to "politeness" and "good manners" in addition to "literature". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word සාහිත්යය also refers to "good conduct" in Sinhala, highlighting the close connection between morality and literature in the culture. |
| Slovak | In the 16th century, "literatúry" was also used to refer to education and scholarship. |
| Slovenian | The Slovenian word "literatura" also means "literacy" |
| Somali | "Suugaanta", Somali for literature, has alternate meanings like tales with rhythmic speech and the knowledge or science of something. |
| Spanish | "Literatura" derives from the Latin "litera" (letter), as in "literacy" or "the study of letters". In Spanish, it can also mean "letters" or "epistles". |
| Sundanese | "Pustaka" derives from the Sanskrit term "pustaka" meaning "book" or "codex", but in Sundanese it also refers to a range of written materials including letters, manuscripts, and documents. |
| Swahili | Fasihi originates from the Arabic word 'fasih' meaning 'eloquent' or 'well-spoken' and is used to refer to written or spoken words with artistic or literary value. |
| Swedish | "Litteratur" comes from the Latin word "littera," meaning "letter," and is related to "litter" in the sense of discarded materials, due to the paper that was traditionally used for writing. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Panitikan" is also a collective term used to describe a group of writers and critics engaged in literary activities. |
| Tajik | The term 'адабиёт' (literature) derives from the Arabic word 'ādāb' meaning 'knowledge' or 'manners,' reflecting its multifaceted nature. |
| Tamil | The word "இலக்கியம்" is also used to describe other forms of creative expression, such as painting and sculpture. |
| Telugu | The term 'సాహిత్యం' comes from the Sanskrit word 'साहित्य', which originally meant 'companion or friend'. |
| Thai | วรรณกรรม is derived from the Sanskrit word 'varna' meaning color and 'karma' meaning action or work, suggesting that literature brings vivid colors and experiences to life. |
| Turkish | "Edebiyat" is derived from Arabic and means both "literature" and "politeness, good manners". |
| Ukrainian | The word "література" can also refer to a "school subject" or "an author's works." |
| Urdu | The term 'adab' in Urdu carries additional connotations beyond 'literature,' including knowledge, manners, and refinement. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, adabiyot not only means literature but also refers to written texts, books, and the field of scholarship related to them. |
| Vietnamese | The word "văn chương" in Vietnamese can also refer to "writing" or "composition". |
| Welsh | The Welsh word 'llenyddiaeth' is derived from 'llenydd' ('letter') and '-iaeth' ('state, condition'), and originally referred to knowledge rather than specifically literary works. |
| Xhosa | The noun 'incwadi' is derived from the verb 'ukubhala,' meaning 'to write' |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word 'literatur' derives from the French 'littérature' via the German 'Literatur', and originally meant 'letters' or 'writing' in a broad sense. |
| Yoruba | The word "litireso" in Yoruba also means "knowledge" or "learning." |
| Zulu | "Izincwadi" also means "books" or "writings" and is derived from the verb "ukubhala" which means "to write". |
| English | The word "literature" derives from the Latin word "littera" meaning "letter", and originally referred to any written work. |