You good!
April 16, 2008 10:54 PM Subscribe
Are there any languages other than Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, etc.) that have a greeting that means "you (are) good"?
or, "how are you?".
I'm not sure how your example is special in any way..
posted by suedehead at 11:00 PM on April 16, 2008
I'm not sure how your example is special in any way..
posted by suedehead at 11:00 PM on April 16, 2008
In Latin, salve (hello) literally is a command to "be well".
posted by comwiz at 11:01 PM on April 16, 2008
posted by comwiz at 11:01 PM on April 16, 2008
Japanese : 元気? genki?
posted by SageLeVoid at 11:09 PM on April 16, 2008
posted by SageLeVoid at 11:09 PM on April 16, 2008
Whoops, like what comwiz says, my Latin example should be "salve" or "salvete" (plural).
posted by suedehead at 11:19 PM on April 16, 2008
posted by suedehead at 11:19 PM on April 16, 2008
A person greeting you with "你好!" (ni hao) isn't complimenting you, even though 你=you and 好= good. It's a contraction of "你好吗?" (ni hao ma), which means "how are you?" or, more literally, "are you well?". At best, you can interpret 你好 as a salutation along the lines of "I wish you well".
posted by hellopanda at 11:35 PM on April 16, 2008
posted by hellopanda at 11:35 PM on April 16, 2008
My Chinese teacher claims ``Ni hao'' is either of Western origin or Western popularity; prior to contact, it wasn't really a common greeting. Anecdotally, I hear it much more with younger folk than, say, grandparent-aged people, who seem to like asking, ``Have you eaten?'' (As with the English equivalent, the answer is always affirmative.)
posted by d. z. wang at 11:45 PM on April 16, 2008
posted by d. z. wang at 11:45 PM on April 16, 2008
Yes, English. Ni Hao Ma, is the same as "How you doing?" or "You good?", "You fine?", "Everything OK?"
It's a question, it's not a statement. Also, most of the niger delta languages have similar greetings like : Afon? meaning - You good?
posted by markovich at 11:47 PM on April 16, 2008
It's a question, it's not a statement. Also, most of the niger delta languages have similar greetings like : Afon? meaning - You good?
posted by markovich at 11:47 PM on April 16, 2008
Response by poster: I'm not trying to dissect "ni hao" semantically, or look into its origin (even though that might be interesting), I'm looking for greetings in other languages that are semantically equivalent. One example is Manchu "si sain": "si" = "ni" = "you", and "sain" = "hao" = "good".
I put the "(are)" in there because in Mandarin when you put an adjective after a subject, it predicates the subject, where in other languages you would need a copular verb, like "are".
Also, "ni hao" is not a question. It may have evolved from one, but it certainly isn't a contraction of "ni hao ma?". "Ni hao ma?" is not used as a greeting in Mandarin, but rather a genuine question.
posted by strangeguitars at 11:59 PM on April 16, 2008
I put the "(are)" in there because in Mandarin when you put an adjective after a subject, it predicates the subject, where in other languages you would need a copular verb, like "are".
Also, "ni hao" is not a question. It may have evolved from one, but it certainly isn't a contraction of "ni hao ma?". "Ni hao ma?" is not used as a greeting in Mandarin, but rather a genuine question.
posted by strangeguitars at 11:59 PM on April 16, 2008
I am reminded of `Good Day' or G'day, not a question, and equal in meaning to `greetings' or `hello'.
`Good Day' to a non native speaker might not be a very obvious statement of greeting.
posted by tomble at 12:39 AM on April 17, 2008
`Good Day' to a non native speaker might not be a very obvious statement of greeting.
posted by tomble at 12:39 AM on April 17, 2008
In Brazil, you say "tudo bem?" which is "all good?" and the answer is "tudo bom", "all is well". The "you" is implicit.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:58 AM on April 17, 2008
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:58 AM on April 17, 2008
The colloquial greeting in South Africa is "Howzit" which is a shortened "How is it?".
posted by PenDevil at 2:32 AM on April 17, 2008
posted by PenDevil at 2:32 AM on April 17, 2008
Mongolian - Sain baina uu?
It's got a question particle, though, so maybe that's not what you want.
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:29 AM on April 17, 2008
It's got a question particle, though, so maybe that's not what you want.
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:29 AM on April 17, 2008
Javaé, an indigenous language of central Brazil, has one. Awire (ah-WEE-ree) means hello, how are you, and good. There's a lot of overlap between Javaé and surrounding languages (e.g. Karajá), so I would expect similar words to pop up in other languages spoken there.
(Also, the other possible answer for tudo bem, which i_am_joe's_spleen mentioned above, is beleza - beautiful.)
posted by whatzit at 5:46 AM on April 17, 2008
(Also, the other possible answer for tudo bem, which i_am_joe's_spleen mentioned above, is beleza - beautiful.)
posted by whatzit at 5:46 AM on April 17, 2008
As I read the question, strangequitars isn't looking for greetings that inquire about the health of the person. Rather, he/she is asking for greetings that compliment the person.
(Strangeguitars, is that right?)
If so, the English greeting "I'm honored (to meet you)" implies that the person is so good that it is an honor to meet them. This seems to be a clear compliment. "It's a pleasure (to see/meet) you" seems to have similar connotations.)
posted by oddman at 5:50 AM on April 17, 2008
(Strangeguitars, is that right?)
If so, the English greeting "I'm honored (to meet you)" implies that the person is so good that it is an honor to meet them. This seems to be a clear compliment. "It's a pleasure (to see/meet) you" seems to have similar connotations.)
posted by oddman at 5:50 AM on April 17, 2008
Also, "ni hao" is not a question. It may have evolved from one, but it certainly isn't a contraction of "ni hao ma?". "Ni hao ma?" is not used as a greeting in Mandarin, but rather a genuine question.
"Ni hao" is a indeed a contraction of "Ni hao ma". As with any contraction is has a different feel from the original (can you imagine Amy Winehouse singing "I will not go"?) but it means the same. The difference is merely one of formality.
posted by mono blanco at 6:00 AM on April 17, 2008
"Ni hao" is a indeed a contraction of "Ni hao ma". As with any contraction is has a different feel from the original (can you imagine Amy Winehouse singing "I will not go"?) but it means the same. The difference is merely one of formality.
posted by mono blanco at 6:00 AM on April 17, 2008
I'm looking for greetings in other languages that are semantically equivalent.Since when did semantically not encompass implied meaning? I think you meant literally.
Your proposition that an utterance that references the health of the other person when used in greeting is a statement and not a (ritualised) question I find hard to credit. I think you are getting trapped in being overly literal and are ignoring the contextual information that others are providing you with in this thread.
posted by Sitegeist at 6:16 AM on April 17, 2008
i have to say im a bit confused as to the question at hand.
i know nothing of chinese, but i have studied a few languages and a very small bit of linguistics - only to say that at a guess, ni hao (ma) sounds to me like it certainly must be a question, even though non-native chinese speakers may not hear it that way.
anyway...
in persian (if this is even relevant to the real question), the common greeting in persian is "Khube?" (pronounced khoobee - sorry i dont know my way around the IPA). it means "are you well?"
[the statement "khube," minus the intonation could also very well be translated as "You are well/good."]
posted by gcat at 6:57 AM on April 17, 2008
i know nothing of chinese, but i have studied a few languages and a very small bit of linguistics - only to say that at a guess, ni hao (ma) sounds to me like it certainly must be a question, even though non-native chinese speakers may not hear it that way.
anyway...
in persian (if this is even relevant to the real question), the common greeting in persian is "Khube?" (pronounced khoobee - sorry i dont know my way around the IPA). it means "are you well?"
[the statement "khube," minus the intonation could also very well be translated as "You are well/good."]
posted by gcat at 6:57 AM on April 17, 2008
maybe i should say farsi instead of persian.
i dunno, ive spoken to many persians and i hear both.
posted by gcat at 6:59 AM on April 17, 2008
i dunno, ive spoken to many persians and i hear both.
posted by gcat at 6:59 AM on April 17, 2008
greek. To my undersatning they say "You are good?" as a greeting.
posted by Penelope at 7:07 AM on April 17, 2008
posted by Penelope at 7:07 AM on April 17, 2008
In Morocco, they say "Labas" (literally "no bad") or "beher" (same thing) - the "you" is implied.
posted by Liosliath at 9:30 AM on April 17, 2008
posted by Liosliath at 9:30 AM on April 17, 2008
What sitegeist & mono blanco said. It's ritualized into not being the kind of question that prompts an answer, but it is a contraction. In the same way that 'sup is a likely response to someone else saying 'sup, but isn't as likely a response to What is up with you lately?
posted by juv3nal at 1:14 PM on April 17, 2008
posted by juv3nal at 1:14 PM on April 17, 2008
well in spanish, bueno is a greeting, and that means good. i've especially heard it with people answering the phone, instead of saying "hello?" or "hola?" they say "bueno?"
posted by Soulbee at 12:13 PM on April 18, 2008
posted by Soulbee at 12:13 PM on April 18, 2008
Agree with those who say it is a question concerning your interlocutor's well-being, and I too have heard it is a later borrowing. When I lived way up country people asked "吃饭了没" (Have you eaten?) far more often or made some situational comment (上去? if they met you heading up the mointain, "Going back down?" if that's what you were up to, etc).
posted by Abiezer at 1:59 PM on April 18, 2008
posted by Abiezer at 1:59 PM on April 18, 2008
In Korean, hello is
안녕하십니까? (Anyunghashimnika?) [formal]
안녕하세요? (Anyunghaseyo?) [informal]
Are you in good health?
posted by phoebus at 5:27 PM on April 20, 2008
안녕하십니까? (Anyunghashimnika?) [formal]
안녕하세요? (Anyunghaseyo?) [informal]
Are you in good health?
posted by phoebus at 5:27 PM on April 20, 2008
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English: "Good morning!"
posted by suedehead at 11:00 PM on April 16, 2008