Sing in Different Languages
Discover 'Sing' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Sing
Afrikaans sing | ||
Albanian këndoj | ||
Amharic ዘፈን | ||
Arabic يغني | ||
Armenian երգել | ||
Assamese গোৱা | ||
Aymara jaylliña | ||
Azerbaijani oxumaq | ||
Bambara ka dɔnkili da | ||
Basque abestu | ||
Belarusian спяваць | ||
Bengali গাই | ||
Bhojpuri गावऽ | ||
Bosnian sing | ||
Bulgarian пейте | ||
Catalan cantar | ||
Cebuano pag-awit | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 唱 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 唱 | ||
Corsican cantà | ||
Croatian pjevati | ||
Czech zpívat | ||
Danish synge | ||
Dhivehi ލަވަކިޔުން | ||
Dogri गाना | ||
Dutch zingen | ||
English sing | ||
Esperanto kanti | ||
Estonian laulda | ||
Ewe dzi ha | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kumanta | ||
Finnish laulaa | ||
French chanter | ||
Frisian sjonge | ||
Galician cantar | ||
Georgian იმღერე | ||
German singen | ||
Greek τραγουδώ | ||
Guarani purahéi | ||
Gujarati ગાઓ | ||
Haitian Creole chante | ||
Hausa raira waƙa | ||
Hawaiian mele | ||
Hebrew לָשִׁיר | ||
Hindi गाओ | ||
Hmong hu nkauj | ||
Hungarian énekel | ||
Icelandic syngja | ||
Igbo buo | ||
Ilocano agkanta | ||
Indonesian bernyanyi | ||
Irish canadh | ||
Italian cantare | ||
Japanese 歌う | ||
Javanese nyanyi | ||
Kannada ಹಾಡಿ | ||
Kazakh ән айту | ||
Khmer ច្រៀង | ||
Kinyarwanda kuririmba | ||
Konkani गाणे | ||
Korean 노래 | ||
Krio siŋ | ||
Kurdish stran | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) گورانی | ||
Kyrgyz ырдоо | ||
Lao ຮ້ອງ | ||
Latin sing | ||
Latvian dziedāt | ||
Lingala koyemba | ||
Lithuanian dainuoti | ||
Luganda okuyimba | ||
Luxembourgish sangen | ||
Macedonian пее | ||
Maithili गाना गानाइ | ||
Malagasy mihirà | ||
Malay menyanyi | ||
Malayalam പാടുക | ||
Maltese ikanta | ||
Maori waiata | ||
Marathi गाणे | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯏꯁꯩ ꯁꯛꯄ | ||
Mizo zai | ||
Mongolian дуулах | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) သီချင်းဆိုပါ | ||
Nepali गाउनु | ||
Norwegian synge | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) imba | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଗାଅ | ||
Oromo faarfachuu | ||
Pashto سندرې ووايه | ||
Persian آواز خواندن | ||
Polish śpiewać | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) cantar | ||
Punjabi ਗਾਓ | ||
Quechua takiy | ||
Romanian cânta | ||
Russian петь | ||
Samoan pepese | ||
Sanskrit गायति | ||
Scots Gaelic seinn | ||
Sepedi opela | ||
Serbian певати | ||
Sesotho bina | ||
Shona imba | ||
Sindhi ڳائڻ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ගායනා කරන්න | ||
Slovak spievať | ||
Slovenian pojejo | ||
Somali gabya | ||
Spanish canta | ||
Sundanese nyanyi | ||
Swahili imba | ||
Swedish sjunga | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kumanta | ||
Tajik суруд хондан | ||
Tamil பாட | ||
Tatar җырла | ||
Telugu పాడండి | ||
Thai ร้องเพลง | ||
Tigrinya ድረፍ | ||
Tsonga yimbelela | ||
Turkish şarkı söyle | ||
Turkmen aýdym aýdyň | ||
Twi (Akan) to dwom | ||
Ukrainian співати | ||
Urdu گانا | ||
Uyghur ناخشا ئېيت | ||
Uzbek qo'shiq ayt | ||
Vietnamese hát | ||
Welsh canu | ||
Xhosa cula | ||
Yiddish זינגען | ||
Yoruba kọrin | ||
Zulu cula |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Afrikaans word "sing" may relate to the English word "singe". |
| Albanian | The word "këndoj" in Albanian also has the alternate meanings of "recite" and "eulogize". |
| Amharic | The word 'ዘፈን' can also mean to 'play music'. |
| Arabic | The word "يغني" can also mean "to make rich" or "to be content" in Arabic. |
| Armenian | Երգել (''yergel'') means to ''sing'' but also, figuratively, to ''play''. |
| Azerbaijani | "Oxumaq" also means "to read" in Azerbaijani, as it shares the same root with the word "kitab" (book). |
| Basque | The word "abestu" comes from the Latin word "absolvere", meaning "to perform". It is also used in the sense of "to officiate" or "to celebrate (a ceremony)". |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "спяваць" also means "to speak" or "to tell". |
| Bengali | The word "গাই" in Bengali can also mean "cow" or "grazing". |
| Bosnian | In Bosnian, the word "sing" (pjevati) also means "to squeak" (as a mouse). |
| Bulgarian | The word “пейте” (sing) in Bulgarian also has the archaic meaning of “wait” or “let”, as in “пейте да се върна” (“wait for me to come back”). |
| Catalan | The verb "cantar" in Catalan derives from the Latin word "cantare," which also means "to talk" and "to tell." |
| Cebuano | The word "pag-awit" in Cebuano may have originated from the Sanskrit word "gayan", meaning "song" or "singing." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 唱 can also mean "to perform (a stage play or opera)", or "to recite (poetry)" in Chinese. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character 唱 can also mean "recite" or "chant." |
| Corsican | The word "cantà" can also mean "to play an instrument" in Corsican. |
| Croatian | The Croatian verb 'pjevati' is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *pěti, meaning 'to speak' or 'to recite'. |
| Czech | "Zpívat" literally means "to speak" and is related to "speak" in English, reflecting the origin of singing from spoken language. |
| Danish | In Danish, the word "synge" can also refer to a type of fish trap used in the Baltic Sea. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "zingen" (to sing) derives from the Middle Dutch "singhen" and Old High German "singan" and is cognate with the English "sing." |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "kanti" comes from the Latin "cantare" and the Sanskrit "gan", both meaning "to sing". |
| Estonian | The word "laulda" is derived from the Proto-Finnic verb *laula- which also meant "to cry" or "to call". |
| Finnish | The word "laulaa" is cognate with the Hungarian word "lál" and the Estonian word "laul". |
| French | The French word 'chanter' also means 'to play a pipe or bagpipe', deriving from the Latin 'canere', meaning 'to sound' or 'to play'. |
| Frisian | Sjonge is derived from the Old Dutch word 'singan' meaning 'to sing', it is also related to the German 'singen'. |
| Galician | In Galician, "cantar" carries both the primary meaning of "to sing" and an alternate sense of "to speak". |
| Georgian | იმღერე is a verb that also means "to play a musical instrument" or "to compose music" in Georgian. |
| German | The German word "singen" is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "keng" (sing) and is also related to the English word "song." |
| Greek | The word "τραγουδώ" ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰregh- "to sound, to roar, to shout" |
| Gujarati | The word "ગાઓ" is also used in Gujarati to refer to a type of folk song, often accompanied by dance. |
| Haitian Creole | Chante also means 'talk' or 'speak' due to the influence of French on Haitian Creole. |
| Hausa | In some contexts, the Hausa word "raira waƙa" can also mean "to recite poetry" or "to narrate a story". |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word "mele" can also refer to a song, chant, or poem. |
| Hebrew | The word "לָשִׁיר" (lashir) in Hebrew is derived from the root "שר" (shar), meaning "to sing, to praise". |
| Hindi | The Hindi word 'गाओ' (sing) shares its root with the Sanskrit word 'गाय' (cow), and both words imply 'producing sound'. |
| Hmong | The word "hu nkauj" also means "to tell a story" or "to narrate" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | In Hungarian, “ének” (song) originally meant magic or prophecy, and its verb form "énekel" can also have a ritualistic or incantatory connotation |
| Icelandic | The word "syngja" also means "to play an instrument" or "to make a sound" in Icelandic. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "buo" can also mean "to create" or "to bring into existence." |
| Indonesian | The root kata "bernyanyi" in Old Javanese means "to speak" or "to talk". |
| Irish | "Canadh" also means a "chant" or "incantation"} |
| Italian | The Italian word "cantare" is derived from the Latin word "canere," which also means "to play music" and "to prophesy." |
| Japanese | The Japanese word for 'singing', '歌う' (utau), also refers to a type of Japanese poetry, '歌' ('uta'), and is related to the Korean word for singing, '노래' (norae). |
| Javanese | Nyanyi is also used with the meaning of 'making sounds like birds' or 'to make sounds to call people'. |
| Kannada | The word "ಹಾಡಿ" also means a "song" or a "poem" in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | "ән айту" can also refer to "praising somebody" in Kazakh. |
| Khmer | The word "ច្រៀង" can also refer to a type of traditional Khmer music performed by a group of singers. |
| Korean | In Korean, the word "노래" (sing) is also used to refer to a song itself, as well as the act of singing. |
| Kurdish | In music, 'stran' can refer to a sung melody, a musical composition, or a vocal performance. |
| Kyrgyz | The verb "ырдоо" in Kyrgyz can also refer to the action of "calling out" or "chanting". |
| Lao | The term "ຮ້ອງ" can also be used to refer to the sound made by birds or animals or to indicate an appeal or complaint. |
| Latin | The English word "sing" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*kenǵ-", meaning "to sound" or "to speak". |
| Latvian | "Dziedāt" in Latvian can be derived from the root word "dzied" which is an onomatopoeia for the sound of birdsong. |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "dainuoti" could come from the Proto-Indo-European root "*dʰey-," meaning "suck," or the Slavic root "*dojiniti," meaning "to praise, chant." |
| Luxembourgish | "Sangen" (sing) originates from the Old High German word "singan", but can also refer to playing a musical instrument in Luxembourgish. |
| Macedonian | The word "пее" can also refer to the sound made by a nightingale. |
| Malagasy | "Hira" (meaning wind) in Malagasy, refers also to "song," suggesting singing as "producing" wind. |
| Malay | "Menyanyi" can refer to the art of singing or a specific song. |
| Malayalam | The word 'പാടുക' (sing) in Malayalam also means 'to sow', derived from the Proto-Dravidian root 'pāt-' meaning 'to spread' or 'to scatter'. |
| Maltese | "Maltese "ikanta" (sing) also means "song" and "hymn" and may come from the Arabic "qanta" (sing)." |
| Maori | The Maori word 'waiata' also refers to the traditional songs and chants of the New Zealand Indigenous people. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "गाणे" can also refer to a song, melody, or musical composition. |
| Mongolian | The word "дуулах" can also refer to a bird's call or a musical instrument's sound. |
| Nepali | In some contexts, गाउनु can also refer to musical instruments being played or to poems being recited. |
| Norwegian | Synge comes from the Old Norse "söngva" and has the alternate meanings "recite" and "chant." |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Imba, meaning 'sing', also means 'dance' and 'play an instrument'. |
| Persian | "آواز خواندن" (sing) comes from the word "آواز" (voice), and originally meant "to make a sound with one's voice". |
| Polish | The verb "śpiewać" derives from the Proto-Slavic "*pěti", related to "*petъ", meaning "rooster", likely due to the characteristic sound of the birds. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "cantar" also means "to crow" (like a rooster). |
| Punjabi | The word 'ਗਾਓ' can also mean 'cow' in Punjabi, derived from the Sanskrit word 'gau' meaning 'ox'. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "cânta" also means "to chant," "to call out," or "to proclaim." |
| Russian | The word "петь" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "pěti", which also means "to say" or "to speak". |
| Samoan | The word "pepese" can also mean "to chant" or "to recite" in Samoan. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word "seinn" can also refer to the chanting of prayers, hymns or incantations |
| Serbian | The verb "певати" derives from the Proto-Slavic root "pěti," meaning "to speak" or "to recite a poem." |
| Sesotho | The word "bina" in Sesotho can also refer to the act of chanting or reciting.} |
| Shona | The verb "imba" also means "narrate" or "recite poetry" in Shona. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word ڳائڻ comes from the Sanskrit verb गान (gAna), which means 'to sing' or 'to recite'. |
| Slovak | The word "spievať" is derived from the Proto-Slavic verb *pěti and also means "to speak". |
| Slovenian | The word 'pojejo' can also refer to a type of Slovenian folk song, typically sung by a group of people. |
| Somali | Somali "gabya" also means "to compose a song or poem". |
| Spanish | The Spanish verb 'cantar' has various possible etymologies including Latin, Basque, and Celtic origins. |
| Sundanese | The word "nyanyi" in Sundanese is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *ŋaŋaŋ, meaning "to hum" or "to chant" |
| Swahili | The Swahili verb "imba" also means "to tell a story" and is related to the noun "imbo" (story). |
| Swedish | It comes from an Old Norse verb "söngva", which itself derives from the Indo-European base "songwh", meaning to utter a high-pitched, nasal sound. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The verb 'kumanta' comes from the Tagalog word 'kanta' meaning 'song', with the prefix 'ma-' indicating an action. |
| Tajik | The word "суруд хондан" in Tajik is derived from the Persian word "surud", meaning "song", and "khondan", meaning "to recite" or "to read." |
| Tamil | The word "பாட" in Tamil also means 'to learn', 'to study', and 'to compose (poetry)'. |
| Telugu | 'పాడండి' is also a slang term in Telugu referring to gossiping about someone. |
| Thai | Thai word "ร้องเพลง" is derived from Khmer word "រ้องចំរៀង" which means "sing". |
| Turkish | In Turkish, "şarkı söylemek" means "to sing" but also refers to the act of playing music with a string instrument. |
| Ukrainian | Besides its primary meaning 'to sing', Ukrainian 'співати' can also mean 'to play a musical instrument' or 'to recite poetry' |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "گانا" (sing) also refers to a style of devotional music popular in North India. |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word "qo'shiq ayt" translates to "sing" in English, but it also has an alternate meaning of "to recite poetry". |
| Vietnamese | Hát can also mean "to reveal" or "to show" in Vietnamese, like "hát múa" (to dance and sing). |
| Welsh | The verb 'canu' has also a meaning of 'to make a sound', 'to resound'. When referring to the human voice it is often translated by 'to chant'. |
| Xhosa | The word "cula" also means "to call out" or "to recite" in Xhosa. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "זינגען" (zingen) is derived from the German word "singen," which also means "to sing." |
| Yoruba | In Yoruba, "kọrin" not only means "to sing" but also refers to "a song" or "a type of music played on a stringed instrument." |
| Zulu | The word "cula" also means "to cry" or "to mourn" in Zulu, reflecting the emotional connection between music and human emotions. |
| English | The word "sing" can also refer to the act of making a buzzing or humming sound, as in "the kettle is singing". |