How to say “chocolate” around the world

150 languages · 150 in their own spelling

Chocolate came from Nahuatl by way of Spanish, which is why it sounds so alike everywhere — though its exact origin within Nahuatl is still debated.

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巧克力 · chocolate · chocolatecokelat · 巧克力 · czekoladatxokolate · tiakarete · dxuladiOther shapes

Dots of one colour begin with a similar sound. Colours group words by the class of their first consonant (a sound-class method used in linguistics): words that begin alike share a colour. This shows resemblance, not common origin — proving relationship needs case-by-case comparison. Readable forms come from Wiktionary translation tables; many smaller languages come from the ASJP word lists, in ASJP’s simplified transcription.

Language	Word	Romanization	Family
Chinese	巧克力	qiǎokèlì	Sino-Tibetan
English	chocolate		Indo-European
Spanish	chocolate		Indo-European
Hindi	चॉकलेट	cŏkleṭ	Indo-European
Arabic	شُوكُولَا	šūkūlā	Afro-Asiatic
Bengali	চকলেট	cokoleṭ	Indo-European
Indonesian	cokelat		Austronesian
Portuguese	chocolate		Indo-European
French	chocolat		Indo-European
Russian	шокола́д	šokolád	Indo-European
Japanese	チョコレート	chokorēto	Japonic
Marathi	चॉकलेट	cŏkleṭ	Indo-European
Swahili	chokoleti		Atlantic-Congo
Turkish	çikolata		Turkic
Telugu	చాకొలెట్	cākoleṭ	Dravidian
Wu Chinese	巧克力	⁵chiau-kheq-liq	Sino-Tibetan
Korean	초콜릿	chokollit	Koreanic
German	Schokolade		Indo-European
Vietnamese	sô-cô-la		Austroasiatic
Tamil	சாக்கலேட்	cākkalēṭ	Dravidian
Cantonese	朱古力		Sino-Tibetan
Urdu	چاکْلیٹ	cākleṭ	Indo-European
Italian	cioccolato		Indo-European
Gujarati	ચોકલિટ્	cokliṭ	Indo-European
Western Farsi	شُکُلات	šokolât	Indo-European
Min Nan Chinese	巧克力	khiáu-khek-le̍k	Sino-Tibetan
Hakka Chinese	巧克力	chhiàu-kher-lí	Sino-Tibetan
Levantine Arabic	شكلاة	šukulā	Afro-Asiatic
Kannada	ಚಾಕೋಲೆಟ್	cākōleṭ	Dravidian
Polish	czekolada		Indo-European
Malayalam	ചോക്കലേറ്റ്	cōkkalēṟṟŭ	Dravidian
Odia	ଚକୋଲେଟ୍	cakoleṭ	Indo-European
Burmese	ချောကလက်	hkyau:ka.lak	Sino-Tibetan
Moroccan Arabic	شكلاط	šuklāṭ	Afro-Asiatic
Ukrainian	шокола́д	šokolád	Indo-European
Uzbek	shokolad		Turkic
Sindhi	چاڪليٽ	cākleṭ	Indo-European
Romanian	ciocolată		Indo-European
Dutch	chocolade		Indo-European
Amharic	ቾኮላታ	čokolata	Afro-Asiatic
Thai	ช็อกโกแลต	chɔ́k-goo-lɛ́t	Tai-Kadai
Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian	чокола́да		Indo-European
Khmer	សូកូឡា	soukoulaa	Austroasiatic
Turkmen	şokolad		Turkic
Cebuano	sikwate		Austronesian
Nepali	चकलेट	cakleṭ	Indo-European
Assamese	চক্লেট	soklet	Indo-European
Sinhala	චොකලට්	cokalaṭ	Indo-European
Greek	σοκολάτα	sokoláta	Indo-European
Kurdish	çîkolate		Indo-European
Hijazi Arabic	شُكُلاطة	šukulāṭa	Afro-Asiatic
Tajik	шакалод	šakalod	Indo-European
Kazakh	шоколад	šokolad	Turkic
Hungarian	csokoládé		Uralic
Zulu	shokoledi		Atlantic-Congo
Southern Pashto	چاکلېټ	čākleṭ	Indo-European
Czech	čokoláda		Indo-European
Uighur	شاكىلات	shakilat	Turkic
Afrikaans	sjokolade		Indo-European
Haitian	chokola		Indo-European
Dari	چَاکْلیت	čāklēt	Indo-European
Swedish	choklad		Indo-European
Azerbaijani	şokolad		Turkic
Bulgarian	шокола́д	šokolád	Indo-European
Belarusian	шакала́д	šakalád	Indo-European
Tigrinya	ችኮላታ	čəkolata	Afro-Asiatic
Central Kurdish	شوکولاتە	şukulate	Indo-European
Danish	chokolade		Indo-European
Slovak	čokoláda		Indo-European
Southern Sotho	tshokolete		Atlantic-Congo
Finnish	suklaa		Uralic
Lao	ໂຊໂກລາ	sō kl	Tai-Kadai
Norwegian	sjokolade		Indo-European
Tatar	шоколад	şoqolad	Turkic
Catalan	xocolata		Indo-European
Sicilian	cicculatti		Indo-European
Kirghiz	шоколад	şokolad	Turkic
Armenian	շոկոլադ	šokolad	Indo-European
Lithuanian	šokoladas		Indo-European
Georgian	შოკოლადი	šoḳoladi	Kartvelian
Jamaican Creole English	chahklit		Indo-European
Albanian	çokollatë		Indo-European
Mongolian	шоколад	šokolad	Mongolic-Khitan
Galician	chocolate		Indo-European
Pampanga	suklati		Austronesian
Slovenian	čokolada		Indo-European
Esperanto	ĉokolado		Artificial Language
Macedonian	чокола́да	čokoláda	Indo-European
Piedmontese	cicolata		Indo-European
Latvian	šokolāde		Indo-European
Estonian	šokolaad		Uralic
Bashkir	шоколад	şokolad	Turkic
Tausug	sakulati		Austronesian
Western Frisian	sûkelade		Indo-European
Basque	txokolate		Isolates
Welsh	siocled		Indo-European
Yucatec Maya	chukwa		Mayan
Lezghian	шкалат	škalat	Nakh-Daghestanian
Morisyen	sokola		Indo-European
Walloon	tchocolat		Indo-European
Maltese	ċikkulata		Afro-Asiatic
Occitan	chocolat		Indo-European
Vlax Romani	ćokolàda		Indo-European
Kaqchikel	kakaw		Mayan
Tetum	xoklate		Austronesian
Asturian	chicolate		Indo-European
Yakut	сакалаат	sakalaat	Turkic
Kumyk	шикалат	şikalat	Turkic
Samoan	sokalate		Austronesian
Dhivehi	ޗޮކްލެޓް	cok̊leṭ	Indo-European
Papiamento	chukulati		Indo-European
Icelandic	súkkulaði		Indo-European
Friulian	cjocolate		Indo-European
Plautdietsch	Schaklitz		Indo-European
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	ܟ̰ܝܼܟܵܠܹܬܹܐ	čīkalete	Afro-Asiatic
Māori	tiakarete		Austronesian
Irish	seacláid		Indo-European
Breton	chokolad		Indo-European
Zapotec	dxuladi		Otomanguean
Faroese	sjokuláta		Indo-European
Scottish Gaelic	teòclaid		Indo-European
Hawaiian	kokoleka		Austronesian
Upper Sorbian	šokolado		Indo-European
Cherokee	ᎧᏰᏲ ᏚᏯ	kayeyo duya	Iroquoian
Chipewyan	ejedelé		Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
Aragonese	chicolate		Indo-European
Lower Sorbian	šokolada		Indo-European
Manx	shocklaid		Indo-European
Pipil	chukulat		Uto-Aztecan
Taos Northern Tiwa	cikulòtiʼína		Kiowa-Tanoan
Cornish	choklet		Indo-European
Skolt Sami	čokklad		Uralic
Gulf Arabic	كَكَّاو	kakkāw	Afro-Asiatic
Coptic	ϭⲟⲕⲟⲗⲁⲧⲁ	čokolata	Afro-Asiatic
Dalmatian	cicoluota		Indo-European
Kalaallisut	sukkulaat		Eskimo-Aleut
Hebrew	שׁוֹקוֹלָד	shokolád	Afro-Asiatic
Hunsrik	Schokolaat		Indo-European
Javanese	soklat		Austronesian
Latin	cacaotica		Indo-European
Moselle Franconian	Schockela		Indo-European
Malagasy	sokola		Austronesian
Malay	coklat		Austronesian
Classical Nahuatl	chocolātl		Uto-Aztecan
Eastern Panjabi	ਚੌਕਲੇਟ	caukleṭ	Indo-European
Western Panjabi	چاکلیٹ	cākleṭ	Indo-European
Tagalog	tsokolate		Austronesian
Ulithian	chooekl’et		Austronesian
Unami	chìkëlët		Algic
Yiddish	שאָקאָלאַד	shokolad	Indo-European