Somebody in Different Languages
Discover 'Somebody' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'somebody' is a common English term used to refer to a person, often unknown or unspecified. Its significance lies in its ability to convey a sense of importance or relevance to the person being referred to. This simple word carries cultural importance as it highlights the value placed on individual identity and personhood in English-speaking cultures.
Moreover, the concept of 'somebody' is not exclusive to English-speaking communities. In fact, many languages have their own unique ways of expressing this idea. For instance, in Spanish, 'somebody' translates to 'alguien', while in French, it becomes 'quelqu'un'. These translations not only provide insight into the linguistic nuances of different languages but also offer a glimpse into the cultural values and beliefs of the communities that speak them.
Understanding the translation of 'somebody' in various languages can be fascinating and enlightening, especially for those interested in language, culture, and global understanding. So, let's explore some of these translations!
Somebody
Somebody in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | iemand | ||
| The Afrikaans word "iemand" is derived from the Dutch word "iemand", meaning "somebody", and is also used in Yiddish and Frisian. | |||
| Amharic | አንድ ሰው | ||
| The word "አንድ ሰው" is derived from "አንድ" (one) and "ሰው" (person), and can also refer to "anyone" or "a certain person." | |||
| Hausa | wani | ||
| Hausa 'wani' (somebody), derives from the Hausa word 'wani' (a certain one). | |||
| Igbo | a | ||
| "A" in Igbo can also mean "thing" or "it" | |||
| Malagasy | olona | ||
| "Olona" (somebody) may also mean 'human being', 'person' or 'individual'. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | winawake | ||
| The word "winawake" can also refer to a specific person or thing, similar to the English phrase "a certain someone or something." | |||
| Shona | mumwe munhu | ||
| The word "mumwe munhu" in Shona can also refer to "a certain person" or "a person of note". | |||
| Somali | qof | ||
| "qof" also refers to a type of Somali traditional attire consisting of a long, loose wrap-around robe often worn with a matching turban. | |||
| Sesotho | motho e mong | ||
| "Motho e mong" in Sesotho can also mean any person or human being. | |||
| Swahili | mtu | ||
| The Swahili word "mtu" can also refer to a person, an individual, a human being, or an agent. | |||
| Xhosa | umntu othile | ||
| "Umntu othile" can mean "a certain person" or "a human being or individual" | |||
| Yoruba | ẹnikan | ||
| "Ẹnikàn" can also mean "a person" or "an individual" in Yoruba. | |||
| Zulu | umuntu othile | ||
| "umuntu othile" is a Zulu phrase meaning "somebody". It is used as a filler and a placeholder when the speaker cannot remember or does not know the specific name of the person they are referring to. It can also be used to refer to an unknown or unnamed person. | |||
| Bambara | mɔgɔ | ||
| Ewe | ame aɖe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | umuntu | ||
| Lingala | moto moko | ||
| Luganda | omuntu | ||
| Sepedi | motho yo mongwe | ||
| Twi (Akan) | obi | ||
Somebody in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | شخص ما | ||
| The word "شخص ما" has two possible etymologies: one suggesting a derivation from the root "ش ص م" meaning "to gather" and another suggesting a derivation from the root "ش خ ص" meaning "to shape" or "to form". | |||
| Hebrew | מִישֶׁהוּ | ||
| The Hebrew word "מִישֶׁהוּ" can also mean "someone who is not present" or "an unknown person." | |||
| Pashto | یو څوک | ||
| The Pashto word "یو څوک" ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *k̂wó "who", which is also the origin of English "who". In addition to meaning "somebody", it can also mean "someone" and "anyone". | |||
| Arabic | شخص ما | ||
| The word "شخص ما" has two possible etymologies: one suggesting a derivation from the root "ش ص م" meaning "to gather" and another suggesting a derivation from the root "ش خ ص" meaning "to shape" or "to form". | |||
Somebody in Western European Languages
| Albanian | dikush | ||
| The word "dikush" is often combined with other words like "-ri" or "-do" to form other meaningful terms. | |||
| Basque | norbait | ||
| The word norbait derives from the Basque words nor (“who”) and bait (“thing”), therefore can also mean “what”. | |||
| Catalan | algú | ||
| In the Middle Ages, "algú" in Catalan could be used in the sense of "someone" or "anybody". | |||
| Croatian | netko | ||
| The word "netko" in Croatian is a derivative of the Proto-Slavic word "нѣкто" (někto), meaning "someone" or "a person". | |||
| Danish | en eller anden | ||
| "En eller anden" literally means "one or another" and can also mean "anybody" or "anyone." | |||
| Dutch | iemand | ||
| "Iemand" comes from the Old Dutch words "*ēn*" (one) and "*man*" (man). | |||
| English | somebody | ||
| The word "somebody" originated from the Old English "sum bodi," meaning "some body" or "a certain individual." | |||
| French | quelqu'un | ||
| The French word « quelqu’un » can also mean « a person of importance » or « person of quality ». | |||
| Frisian | immen | ||
| The word "immen" can also mean "human" or "person" in Frisian. | |||
| Galician | alguén | ||
| "Alguén", meaning "somebody" in Galician, originates from "algún"+"un". "Algún", in Medieval Spanish, meant "any" and "un" meant the indefinite masculine article, equivalent to English "a". | |||
| German | jemanden | ||
| "Jemanden" (somebody) derives from Middle High German "ieman" (nobody), and its meaning reversed over time from the 15th century onwards due to linguistic change. | |||
| Icelandic | einhver | ||
| The term einhver, meaning "an individual," refers to a single individual who has no special significance, an unidentified entity within the context of something larger. | |||
| Irish | duine éigin | ||
| Italian | qualcuno | ||
| Qualcuno derives from the phrase 'quale che uno', which means 'whichever one'. | |||
| Luxembourgish | iergendeen | ||
| The etymological root of "iergendeen" is "eenich", which means "any". It can also be used as a pronoun meaning "one" or "someone". | |||
| Maltese | xi ħadd | ||
| Xi in xi ħadd is derived from Arabic shay which means "something", or "a certain". | |||
| Norwegian | noen | ||
| In Norse, “nǫkkvi”, from which “noen” derives, meant both “some” and “somebody” in a collective sense | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | alguém | ||
| "Alguém" can mean either "somebody" or "anyone" in Portuguese. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | cuideigin | ||
| The word "cuideigin" can also be used to mean "keeper" or "overseer". | |||
| Spanish | alguien | ||
| The Spanish word "alguien" comes from the Arabic word "al-ghayb", meaning "the unknown" or "the unseen". | |||
| Swedish | någon | ||
| In the past, 'någon' was used to refer to female or genderless entities, while 'någor' referred exclusively to male entities. | |||
| Welsh | rhywun | ||
| The word 'rhywun' is formed from the words 'rhyw' (some) and 'un' (a) and can also mean 'a person of a particular kind' or 'somebody of any sort'. | |||
Somebody in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | хто-небудзь | ||
| "Хто-небудзь" is a compound word that means "someone" or "anybody" in Belarusian. It is composed of the words "хто" ("who") and "небудзь". The word "небудзь" is a negative particle and it means "not" or "no". Therefore, the compound word "хто-небудзь" means "not someone" or "not anybody", which is equivalent to "someone" or "anybody". | |||
| Bosnian | neko | ||
| Neko originates from the word 'nekad' with a prefix -o-. Nekad originally has 'at some period' as well as 'one day' as possible translations. | |||
| Bulgarian | някой | ||
| "Някой" originally comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "нѣкто" and can also refer to "a certain" or "some". In some dialects it can also mean "not somebody." | |||
| Czech | někdo | ||
| The word "někdo" can also mean "someone", "some people", or "a person". | |||
| Estonian | keegi | ||
| The word "keegi" in Estonian originates from the Proto-Finnic word "*kegi" meaning "who", and can also be used in the sense of "one" or "someone". | |||
| Finnish | joku | ||
| The word "joku" likely comes from the Proto-Finnic *joku, meaning "some" or "a certain". | |||
| Hungarian | valaki | ||
| The word "valaki" likely derives from the Proto-Finnic verb *wole- (“to exist”) and the possessive suffix -ki (“one’s own”). | |||
| Latvian | kāds | ||
| Latvian "kāds" means "somebody" but it can also mean "someone" with a negative connotation of a suspicious person, or someone unknown. | |||
| Lithuanian | kažkas | ||
| The word "kažkas" has an alternative meaning, "a certain one", and is used to indicate a person whose identity remains unspecified. | |||
| Macedonian | некој | ||
| The word "некој" comes from the same root as the noun "некаде" (somewhere), indicating a generalized or unspecified location. | |||
| Polish | ktoś | ||
| The word "ktoś" can also refer to an unknown or unspecified person, or to a group of people. | |||
| Romanian | cineva | ||
| The Romanian word "cineva" is derived from the Latin phrase "quid nam", meaning "who now?" | |||
| Russian | кто-то | ||
| "Кто-то" originally meant "the one who" and was often used in the context of fairy tales: "кто-то пришел" (somebody came), "жили-были старик со старухой, и был у них кто-то" (there was an old man and an old woman, and they had somebody). | |||
| Serbian | неко | ||
| The Serbo-Croatian word "neko" is derived from two Proto-Slavic particles "ne" and "kъ". | |||
| Slovak | niekto | ||
| The word "niekto" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic "někъto", meaning "a certain person" or "someone". | |||
| Slovenian | nekdo | ||
| Nekdo, pronounced ne-kdo, has an alternative meaning 'not somebody,' which is a negation of 'somebody'. | |||
| Ukrainian | хтось | ||
| "Хтось" is derived from the Proto-Slavic *kъtь, meaning "who" or "somebody". | |||
Somebody in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | কেউ | ||
| It also refers to a third person in indirect speech in Bengali i.e. 'somebody' | |||
| Gujarati | કોઈકને | ||
| The Gujarati word "કોઈકને" can also mean "someone" or "some people". | |||
| Hindi | कोई | ||
| The word "कोई" can also mean "any" or "some" in Hindi. | |||
| Kannada | ಯಾರೋ | ||
| The word "ಯಾರೋ" can also mean "someone" or "a person" in Kannada. | |||
| Malayalam | ഏതോഒരാള് | ||
| The word "ഏതോഒരാള്" (somebody) in Malayalam can also mean "anyone" or "someone". | |||
| Marathi | कुणीतरी | ||
| The Marathi word "कुणीतरी" (pronounced "koo-nee-tuh-ree") is a contraction of "कोणताही" ("any") and "तरी" ("however"), conveying a sense of indeterminacy or anonymity. | |||
| Nepali | कोही | ||
| कोही is derived from the Sanskrit word 'काचित्' ('sometime') and is also used in the sense of 'occasionally' or 'once in a while'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਕੋਈ | ||
| The word "ਕੋਈ" in Punjabi has its roots in the Prakrit "ko-i" and Sanskrit "ka-api" meaning "some" or "any". It is also used in the sense of "anyone" or "somebody" in Punjabi. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | කවුරුහරි | ||
| The word "කවුරුහරි" comes from the Sinhala word "කා" (who) and the Sanskrit word "उत्थार" (to raise), and literally means "one who raises (the question)" or "one who asks (the question)". | |||
| Tamil | யாரோ | ||
| The word "யாரோ" can also refer to "someone who is unknown or unspecified". | |||
| Telugu | ఎవరో | ||
| The word "ఎవరో" can also be used to refer to someone in a general or non-specific way. | |||
| Urdu | کوئی | ||
| The Urdu word "کوئی" can also mean "none" or "not any" and is often used in negative statements. | |||
Somebody in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 有人 | ||
| 有人 in Chinese can also appear as 有人焉 or 有人兮, with slightly different connotations depending on context. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 有人 | ||
| The character "有人" is composed of two radicals: "人" (person) and "有" (to have), and it can also mean "to exist" or "to be present." | |||
| Japanese | 誰か | ||
| "誰か" also means "no one" in Japanese when used with double negatives. | |||
| Korean | 어떤 사람 | ||
| 어떤 사람 is a conjunction that means "if someone" or "if someone is," and is not related to the English word "somebody." | |||
| Mongolian | хэн нэгэн | ||
| The word | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | တစ်စုံတစ်ယောက် | ||
Somebody in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | seseorang | ||
| The Indonesian word "seseorang" derives from the Javanese word "sasono" meaning "room", "council hall", or "audience chamber". | |||
| Javanese | piyantun | ||
| The word "piyantun" also refers to a respected or honored person, as it is derived from the word "piyantu", meaning "respected or honored person." | |||
| Khmer | នរណាម្នាក់ | ||
| Lao | ບາງຄົນ | ||
| ບາງຄົນ (บางคน) comes from the Thai word meaning 'some people', and can also refer to 'a few people' in Lao. | |||
| Malay | seseorang | ||
| The word "seseorang" is derived from "seorang" (one person) and "orang" (person). | |||
| Thai | ใครบางคน | ||
| The word “ใครบางคน” (“somebody”) can also mean a specific person, or an unknown person. | |||
| Vietnamese | có ai | ||
| The word "có ai" in Vietnamese is a compound word, consisting of the verb "có" (to have) and the interrogative pronoun "ai" (who). | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | isang tao | ||
Somebody in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | kimsə | ||
| The word "kimsə" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Persian word "kas" which means "someone" or "a person". It can also refer to an indefinite or unknown person. | |||
| Kazakh | біреу | ||
| The Kazakh word "біреу" can also refer to a particular person or an unspecified person, making it a versatile term in the Kazakh language. | |||
| Kyrgyz | бирөө | ||
| 'Бирөө' may also mean 'a certain', 'a person', 'someone', 'anybody', 'whoever', 'whomever', or 'no matter who'. | |||
| Tajik | касе | ||
| The word “касе” derives from the Persian word “kasi” (کسی), meaning “an individual”. | |||
| Turkmen | kimdir biri | ||
| Uzbek | kimdir | ||
| In Uzbek, "kimdir" is derived from the Persian word "key mord" meaning "what does it mean?" or "who is it?". | |||
| Uyghur | بىرەيلەن | ||
Somebody in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kekahi | ||
| The word "kekahi" also means "a few" or "some" in Hawaiian. | |||
| Maori | tangata | ||
| The Maori word 'tangata' can also refer to 'humanity' or 'people'. | |||
| Samoan | se tasi | ||
| Tasi also means 'sea' and is sometimes used as a girl's name. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | isang tao | ||
| "Isang tao" literally translates to "one person" in Tagalog, emphasizing the individuality of the person referred to. | |||
Somebody in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | khithi | ||
| Guarani | máva | ||
Somebody in International Languages
| Esperanto | iu | ||
| The word 'iu' can also refer to a person who is about to be mentioned by name or who is well-known. | |||
| Latin | quis | ||
| The Latin word "quis" can also mean "who" or "what" in interrogative sentences. | |||
Somebody in Others Languages
| Greek | κάποιος | ||
| The Greek word κάποιος ('somebody') is thought to derive from a compound of the preposition κατά and the noun οἶκος ('house'). This suggests an original meaning of 'one who belongs to a house' or 'one who is a household member'. | |||
| Hmong | ib leej twg | ||
| The "lb" part can also stand alone and refers to a "person", a human being. | |||
| Kurdish | kesek | ||
| "Kesek" has other meanings such as "a part of a bigger thing, a piece, a fraction, a portion," or "a unit of measure, a weight, a capacity." | |||
| Turkish | birisi | ||
| "Birisi" can also be used to refer to a group of people, similar in meaning and etymology to "birileri" | |||
| Xhosa | umntu othile | ||
| "Umntu othile" can mean "a certain person" or "a human being or individual" | |||
| Yiddish | עמעצער | ||
| The Yiddish word עמעצער "somebody" is often used to refer to an unnamed person or stranger, similar to the English "someone", "somebody", or "someone or other". | |||
| Zulu | umuntu othile | ||
| "umuntu othile" is a Zulu phrase meaning "somebody". It is used as a filler and a placeholder when the speaker cannot remember or does not know the specific name of the person they are referring to. It can also be used to refer to an unknown or unnamed person. | |||
| Assamese | কোনোবাই | ||
| Aymara | khithi | ||
| Bhojpuri | केहू | ||
| Dhivehi | ކޮންމެވެސް މީހެއް | ||
| Dogri | कोई | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | isang tao | ||
| Guarani | máva | ||
| Ilocano | maysa a tao | ||
| Krio | sɔmbɔdi | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | کەسێک | ||
| Maithili | कोए | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯀꯅꯥꯒꯨꯝꯕ ꯑꯃ | ||
| Mizo | tu emaw | ||
| Oromo | nama ta'e | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କେହି ଜଣେ | ||
| Quechua | pipas | ||
| Sanskrit | कश्चन | ||
| Tatar | кемдер | ||
| Tigrinya | ዝኾነ ሰብ | ||
| Tsonga | un'wana | ||