Narrative in Different Languages
Discover 'Narrative' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Narrative
Afrikaans vertelling | ||
Albanian rrëfim | ||
Amharic ትረካ | ||
Arabic سرد | ||
Armenian պատմողական | ||
Assamese বৰ্ণনা | ||
Aymara qhananchata | ||
Azerbaijani povest | ||
Bambara lankaleli | ||
Basque narrazioa | ||
Belarusian апавяданне | ||
Bengali বর্ণনামূলক | ||
Bhojpuri कहानी | ||
Bosnian narativni | ||
Bulgarian разказ | ||
Catalan narrativa | ||
Cebuano asoy | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 叙述 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 敘述 | ||
Corsican narrativa | ||
Croatian pripovijedanje | ||
Czech příběh | ||
Danish fortælling | ||
Dhivehi ރިވާއެއް | ||
Dogri क्हानी | ||
Dutch verhaal | ||
English narrative | ||
Esperanto rakontado | ||
Estonian jutustus | ||
Ewe nyatoto | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) salaysay | ||
Finnish kertomus | ||
French récit | ||
Frisian fertelling | ||
Galician narrativa | ||
Georgian თხრობითი | ||
German erzählung | ||
Greek αφήγημα | ||
Guarani mombe'u rehegua | ||
Gujarati કથા | ||
Haitian Creole naratif | ||
Hausa labari | ||
Hawaiian haʻi moʻolelo | ||
Hebrew נרטיב | ||
Hindi कथा | ||
Hmong zaj lus piav | ||
Hungarian elbeszélés | ||
Icelandic frásögn | ||
Igbo akụkọ | ||
Ilocano naratibo | ||
Indonesian cerita | ||
Irish scéal | ||
Italian narrativa | ||
Japanese 物語 | ||
Javanese narasi | ||
Kannada ನಿರೂಪಣೆ | ||
Kazakh баяндау | ||
Khmer និទានកថា | ||
Kinyarwanda inkuru | ||
Konkani भाशांतर करपायोग्य | ||
Korean 이야기 | ||
Krio stori | ||
Kurdish vegotin | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) گێڕانەوە | ||
Kyrgyz баяндоо | ||
Lao ການເລົ່າເລື່ອງ | ||
Latin narrationis | ||
Latvian stāstījums | ||
Lingala kobeta lisolo | ||
Lithuanian pasakojimas | ||
Luganda engombo | ||
Luxembourgish narrativ | ||
Macedonian раскажувачко | ||
Maithili वर्णन | ||
Malagasy tantara | ||
Malay naratif | ||
Malayalam വിവരണം | ||
Maltese narrattiva | ||
Maori korero | ||
Marathi कथा | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯁꯝꯂꯞꯄ ꯋꯥꯔꯣꯜ | ||
Mizo sawi | ||
Mongolian хүүрнэл | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဇာတ်ကြောင်း | ||
Nepali कथा | ||
Norwegian fortelling | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) nkhani | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବର୍ଣ୍ଣନା | ||
Oromo barreeffama taatee tokkoo | ||
Pashto داستان | ||
Persian روایت | ||
Polish narracja | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) narrativa | ||
Punjabi ਕਥਾ | ||
Quechua willay | ||
Romanian narativ | ||
Russian повествование | ||
Samoan tala | ||
Sanskrit प्राक्कथन | ||
Scots Gaelic aithris | ||
Sepedi kanegelo | ||
Serbian наративни | ||
Sesotho phetelo | ||
Shona nhoroondo | ||
Sindhi بيان | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ආඛ්යානය | ||
Slovak naratív | ||
Slovenian pripoved | ||
Somali sheeko | ||
Spanish narrativa | ||
Sundanese naratif | ||
Swahili simulizi | ||
Swedish berättande | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) salaysay | ||
Tajik ҳикоят | ||
Tamil கதை | ||
Tatar хикәяләү | ||
Telugu కథనం | ||
Thai เรื่องเล่า | ||
Tigrinya ተራኺ | ||
Tsonga hlavutela | ||
Turkish anlatı | ||
Turkmen kyssa | ||
Twi (Akan) asɛnka | ||
Ukrainian розповідь | ||
Urdu وضاحتی | ||
Uyghur بايان | ||
Uzbek hikoya | ||
Vietnamese tường thuật | ||
Welsh naratif | ||
Xhosa ebalisayo | ||
Yiddish דערציילונג | ||
Yoruba alaye | ||
Zulu ukulandisa |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans "vertelling" originates from the Dutch "vertellen" (to tell) and relates to the Dutch "verhaal" (story). |
| Albanian | The word "rrëfim" in Albanian is derived from the Proto-Albanian word "*rrëfe-n", which means "to say" or "to tell". |
| Amharic | ትረካ, meaning narrative, originated from two words; |
| Arabic | In Persian, "سرد" means "a story". |
| Azerbaijani | "povest" in Azerbaijani is derived from Persian "qəssə" meaning "story". |
| Basque | The word 'narrazioa' shares the same root word with 'erran', which means 'speak' |
| Belarusian | The word "апавяданне" is derived from the Old Slavic word "povėdanie", meaning "story" or "tale." |
| Bengali | বর্ণনামূলক আক্ষরিক অর্থে বর্ণনামূলক অর্থে ব্যবহৃত হলেও এটি একটি বিষয় বা ঘটনা বর্ণনার মধ্যে অনুসৃত প্রক্রিয়া হিসেবেও ব্যবহৃত হয়। |
| Bosnian | The Bosnian word 'narativni' also means 'storytelling' or 'fictional'. |
| Bulgarian | The word "разказ" derives from the verb "разказвам" which means "to tell" or "to recount" and ultimately originates from the Proto-Slavic verb "*or-kazati", meaning "to show", "to present". |
| Catalan | The original meaning of "narrativa" in Catalan was "ship-building" from the Latin "navalis." |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word "asoy" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *asay, which means "to speak" or "to tell a story." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | In ancient Chinese, “叙述” (xùshù) referred to the account of a court case or historical event. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 「敘」字拆解為「語言」與「流水」，意指言語順暢如流水般，而「述」字則有「陳述」、「說明」之意。 |
| Corsican | In Corsican, "narrativa" can also refer to a story or a tale. |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "pripovijedanje" can also mean "preaching" or "sermon". |
| Czech | In the Czech language, the word 'příběh' can also refer to an event or an occurrence. |
| Danish | In German, ‘Fortælling’ can also mean ‘to tell’ |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "verhaal" is derived from the Old Dutch word "vertellen","to tell", and is cognate with the English word "tell". |
| Esperanto | The word 'rakontado' is derived from the Latin word 'racontari', meaning 'to narrate'. |
| Estonian | "Jutustus" is also a colloquial term for a story told as a lie. |
| Finnish | The word 'kertomus' in Finnish derives from the verb 'kertoa', meaning 'to tell', and shares a root with 'sana', meaning 'word'. |
| French | The word "récit" originally meant "account" or "report", and it is related to the verb "réciter" ("to recite"). |
| Frisian | The word 'fertelling' is derived from the Old Frisian word 'fertella', which means 'to tell a story' or 'to narrate'. |
| Georgian | თხრობითი literally means 'a cut, a notch', and can also refer to a 'scratch' or 'a notch in a tree'. |
| German | The word "Erzählung" derives from the Middle High German "erzellen", meaning "to tell" or "to relate" and is related to the Old French "escondire". |
| Greek | The term "αφήγημα" (narrative) can also refer to a collection of myths, legends, or stories that are interconnected and share a common theme. |
| Gujarati | The word 'катха' also refers to an oral tradition where storytellers recite mythological tales, often accompanied by music. |
| Haitian Creole | In Haitian Creole, "naratif" can also refer to a sermon or a story. |
| Hausa | The word "labari" can also mean "news" or "story". |
| Hawaiian | The word "haʻi moʻolelo" can also mean "to recite genealogy" or "to tell a story through dance or chant." |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "נרטיב" comes from the Latin "narrare," meaning "to tell," and is related to the Greek "γράφειν," meaning "to write." |
| Hindi | The word 'कथा' is derived from the Sanskrit root 'कथ्' meaning 'to tell' and can also refer to a religious discourse or story. |
| Hmong | In Hmong, "zaj lus piav" translates to "narrative," or literally, "a story that is woven together." |
| Hungarian | The word "elbeszélés" can also mean "telling out of turn" or "digression" in Hungarian. |
| Icelandic | The word "frásögn" is literally translated as "from saying," with "frá" meaning "from" and "sögn" meaning "saying" or "tale." |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "akụkọ" also means "news," "event," or "happening." |
| Indonesian | "Cerita" also has the following meanings: a story, an account or a conversation. |
| Irish | The Irish word 'scéal' derives from the Proto-Indo-European word 'skē-l', meaning 'cut, divide', suggesting the division of time and events within a narrative. |
| Italian | The word "narrativa" in Italian also means "story genre" (including both fiction and nonfiction) and "prose fiction". |
| Japanese | 物語 (monogatari) may have originated from the word 語り物 (katarimono, "something that is told.") and may once have meant "a thing told." |
| Javanese | In Javanese, the word 'narasi' also refers to a type of traditional storytelling performance. |
| Kannada | In Kannada, "ನಿರೂಪಣೆ" has alternate meanings such as "exposition" and "explanation". |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "баяндау" also means "to recite a poem" and is related to the word "баяна", which means "to tell a story". |
| Khmer | The word "និទានកថា" in Khmer can also refer to a type of traditional Khmer folktale or a prologue to a text. |
| Korean | The word "이야기" has a related meaning of "to speak" or "to talk" in Korean. |
| Kurdish | Vegotin originates from the Indo-European root *weg-, meaning to carry or lead. |
| Latin | The Latin term "narrationis" is also used to refer to the legal concept of a "plea" in a court of law. |
| Latvian | The word "stāstījums" also means "statement" or "storytelling" in Latvian. |
| Lithuanian | "Pasakojimas" originates from "pasakoti', which means "to tell," and may also refer to "a tale" or "story" |
| Luxembourgish | Den alternative Form "narrativ" kommt im Luxemburgischen nur selten und meist in hochsprachlichen Texten vor. |
| Macedonian | The Macedonian word "раскажувачко" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *povьd-, meaning "to tell a story" or "to narrate." |
| Malagasy | "Tantaram-pitantanana" is a Malagasy phrase meaning "telling stories" or "having a discussion". |
| Malay | In Malay, the word "naratif" comes from the Arabic word "narr" meaning "to tell". In addition to its primary meaning, it has the alternate meaning of "news" |
| Malayalam | The word "വിവരണം" also means "description," "account," or "statement". |
| Maltese | Although the Maltese word "narrattiva" derives from the Italian "narrativa," it can also refer to a story or tale. |
| Maori | The word "korero" in Maori can also mean "to speak", "to discuss", or "to tell a story". |
| Marathi | 'कथा' (Katha), in the Vedic sense, means 'conversation' or 'dialogue'. |
| Mongolian | It is derived from the verb "хүүрнэх" (to tell a story), which, in turn, is related to the noun "хүүр" (stringed instrument). |
| Nepali | The Nepali word "कथा" (narrative) originates from the Sanskrit word "कथ्" (to tell or narrate) |
| Norwegian | The word fortelling in Norwegian can also refer to a prophecy, or a prediction of future events. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "داستان" originates from the Persian word "داستان" and also means "speech" or "report". |
| Persian | روایت, derived from the Arabic word 'rawiya', may also refer to an account, story, or chronicle. |
| Polish | The word "narracja" (narrative) in Polish derives from the Latin "narratio", meaning "a telling" or "a story". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese "Narrativa" might also refers to a literary genre or the activity of telling stories. |
| Punjabi | ਕਥਾ (katha) can also refer to religious stories or discourses, particularly those related to Sikhism. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "narativ" (narrative) derives from Latin "narrare" (to narrate) and can also refer to storytelling or the act of narrating. |
| Russian | In Old Russian, the word 'повествование' could refer to 'something said' or 'rumor'. |
| Samoan | While 'tala' means 'narrative' in Samoan, it also means 'to tell' or 'speech' depending on the context |
| Scots Gaelic | In Gaelic mythology, 'aithris' also refers to the telling of epic tales by a bard. |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "наративни" also means "discursive" or "argumentative". |
| Shona | The Shona word "nhoroondo" is also used to refer to a "story" or "tale". |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "بيان" can also mean "reason" or "cause". |
| Slovak | "Narativ" also means "plot" in Slovak. |
| Slovenian | "Pripoved" also means "story" in Slovenian. |
| Somali | The word "sheeko" in Somali also means "conversation" or "gossip" |
| Spanish | In Spanish, "narrativa" also refers to fiction, stories, or storytelling. |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, 'naratif' can also refer to a 'conversation' or 'discourse' |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "simulizi" originates from the Arabic word "simla" (narrative) and can also mean "allegory" or "parable". |
| Swedish | "Berättande" also means "accounting" in Swedish, in the sense of accounting for one's actions or giving an account of events. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "salaysay" is derived from the Malay word "salay", which means "to pass by" or "to proceed in a certain direction". This suggests that the original meaning of "salaysay" was a story that is passed down from one person to another. |
| Tajik | The word "ҳикоят" can also mean "anecdote" or "story" in Tajik. |
| Tamil | "கதை" originally meant a piece of history but also is a noun with several other meanings including "reason", "motive", and "purpose". |
| Telugu | కథనం also means 'an object that relates' in Telugu. |
| Thai | The Thai word "เรื่องเล่า" derives from the Proto-Tai *krieng, meaning "to speak, talk, tell". |
| Turkish | Anlatı can also mean "story" or "recital" in Turkish. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "розповідь" comes from the verb "розповісти," meaning "to tell or recount," and is related to the Old Church Slavonic word "распростърѣти" ("to spread out"). |
| Urdu | The word "وضاحتی" is derived from the Arabic root word "وضح" meaning "to make clear" or "to explain". |
| Uzbek | "Hikoya" in Uzbek also signifies "fairy tale" or "story," reflecting its usage across various forms of storytelling. |
| Vietnamese | The word "tường thuật" in Vietnamese comes from the Chinese word "敘述" (xùshù), meaning "to describe" or "to tell a story." |
| Welsh | In Welsh, the word "naratif" also refers to a story, tale, or account. |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "ebalisayo" can also refer to a form of oral storytelling that involves the sharing of personal experiences and communal history. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "דערציילונג" (narrative) is derived from the German word "erzählen" (to tell), which itself is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁erǵ- (to speak, sing). |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba word "alaye" also signifies a message that is passed on from one person to another. |
| Zulu | In addition to "narrative", "ukulandisa" can also mean "instruction" or "teaching". |
| English | The term derives from the Latin noun "narrare," meaning to tell or relate. |