How to say “snow” around the world

295 languages · 295 in their own spelling

雪 · snow · saljunieve · neve · neigeबर्फ़ · বরফ · बर्फkar · ƙànƙar̃ā · ಅಯ್ಕಿಲ್ìrì dídì · lehlwa · lumiమంచు · മഞ്ഞ് · หิมะثَلْج · theluji · tuyếtOther 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	雪	xuě	Sino-Tibetan
English	snow		Indo-European
Spanish	nieve		Indo-European
Hindi	बर्फ़	barf	Indo-European
Arabic	ثَلْج	ṯalj	Afro-Asiatic
Bengali	বরফ	boroph	Indo-European
Indonesian	salju		Austronesian
Portuguese	neve		Indo-European
French	neige		Indo-European
Russian	снег	sneg	Indo-European
Japanese	雪	yuki	Japonic
Marathi	बर्फ	barpha	Indo-European
Swahili	theluji		Atlantic-Congo
Turkish	kar		Turkic
Telugu	మంచు	mañcu	Dravidian
Wu Chinese	雪	⁷shiq	Sino-Tibetan
Korean	눈	nun	Koreanic
German	Schnee		Indo-European
Vietnamese	tuyết		Austroasiatic
Tamil	பனி	paṉi	Dravidian
Cantonese	雪	syut³	Sino-Tibetan
Urdu	بَرْف	barf	Indo-European
Italian	neve		Indo-European
Egyptian Arabic	تلج	talg	Afro-Asiatic
Gujarati	બરફ	baraph	Indo-European
Western Farsi	بَرْف	barf	Indo-European
Min Nan Chinese	雪	seh	Sino-Tibetan
Hakka Chinese	雪	siet	Sino-Tibetan
Hausa	ƙànƙar̃ā		Afro-Asiatic
Kannada	ಅಯ್ಕಿಲ್	aykil	Dravidian
Polish	śnieg		Indo-European
Yoruba	ìrì dídì		Atlantic-Congo
Malayalam	മഞ്ഞ്	maññŭ	Dravidian
Odia	ତୁଷାର	tuṣāra	Indo-European
Burmese	နှင်း	hnang:	Sino-Tibetan
Moroccan Arabic	تلج	talj	Afro-Asiatic
Igbo	sinoo		Atlantic-Congo
Ukrainian	сніг	snih	Indo-European
Uzbek	qor		Turkic
Sindhi	برف	barfa	Indo-European
Romanian	zăpadă		Indo-European
Dutch	sneeuw		Indo-European
Amharic	የበረዶ ብናኝ	yäbärädo bənañ	Afro-Asiatic
Thai	หิมะ	hì-má	Tai-Kadai
Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian	сне̑г		Indo-European
Khmer	ព្រិល	prɨl	Austroasiatic
Somali	baraf		Afro-Asiatic
Turkmen	gar		Turkic
Cebuano	nyebe		Austronesian
Nepali	हिउँ	hiũ	Indo-European
Assamese	বৰফ	boroph	Indo-European
Sinhala	හිම	hima	Indo-European
Greek	χιόνι	chióni	Indo-European
Kurdish	berf		Indo-European
Hijazi Arabic	ثلج	talj	Afro-Asiatic
Tajik	барф	barf	Indo-European
Kazakh	қар	qar	Turkic
Hungarian	hó		Uralic
Zulu	iqhwa		Atlantic-Congo
Nyanja	chipale		Atlantic-Congo
Southern Pashto	واوره	wāwra	Indo-European
Czech	sníh		Indo-European
Uighur	قار	qar	Turkic
Afrikaans	sneeu		Indo-European
Min Dong Chinese	雪	siók	Sino-Tibetan
Haitian	nèj		Indo-European
Swedish	snö		Indo-European
Azerbaijani	qar		Turkic
Bulgarian	сняг	snjag	Indo-European
Shona	chando		Atlantic-Congo
Hiligaynon	niyebe		Austronesian
Xhosa	ikhephu		Atlantic-Congo
Belarusian	снег	snjeh	Indo-European
Mossi	sa-ko-gĩsdim		Atlantic-Congo
Tigrinya	ውርጪ	wərč̣i	Afro-Asiatic
Neapolitan	neve		Indo-European
Central Kurdish	بەفر	befr	Indo-European
Santali	ᱦᱤᱢ	him	Austroasiatic
Kashmiri	شیٖن	śīn	Indo-European
Northern Thai	ᩉ᩠ᨾᩮᩥ᩠ᨿᨹᩫ᩠ᨦ	mɤɤy¹.phoŋ¹	Tai-Kadai
Danish	sne		Indo-European
Slovak	sneh		Indo-European
Southern Sotho	lehlwa		Atlantic-Congo
Kabyle	adfel		Afro-Asiatic
Finnish	lumi		Uralic
Lao	ຫິມະ	hi ma	Tai-Kadai
Norwegian	snø		Indo-European
Tatar	кар	qar	Turkic
Catalan	neu		Indo-European
Guarani	yrypy'a		Tupian
Sicilian	nivi		Indo-European
Kirghiz	кар	kar	Turkic
Riffian	adfer		Afro-Asiatic
Armenian	ձյուն	jyun	Indo-European
S'gaw Karen	မူခိၣ်ဖီ	moo khoh̀ hpaw	Sino-Tibetan
Lithuanian	sniegas		Indo-European
Tok Pisin	sno		Indo-European
Lombard	nev		Indo-European
Georgian	თოვლი	tovli	Kartvelian
Mazanderani	ورف	varf	Indo-European
Albanian	borë		Indo-European
Southern Kurdish	وەفر	wefr	Indo-European
Shan	မူၺ်	mǒi	Tai-Kadai
Mongolian	цас	cas	Mongolic-Khitan
Bikol	nyebe		Austronesian
Galician	neve		Indo-European
Pampanga	niebi		Austronesian
Slovenian	snég		Indo-European
Esperanto	neĝo		Artificial Language
Macedonian	снег	sneg	Indo-European
Sichuan Yi	ꃰ	vo	Sino-Tibetan
Piedmontese	fiòca		Indo-European
Venetian	nève		Indo-European
Zhuang	nae		Tai-Kadai
Rohingya	boróf		Indo-European
Laki	ڤەر	ver	Indo-European
Latvian	sniegs		Indo-European
Quechua	rit'i		Quechuan
Scots	snaw		Indo-European
Chechen	ло	lo	Nakh-Daghestanian
Estonian	lumi		Uralic
Bashkir	ҡар	qar	Turkic
Tibetan	གངས	gangs	Sino-Tibetan
Romagnol	nēva		Indo-European
Bakhtiari	برف	barf	Indo-European
Central Okinawan	雪	yuchi	Japonic
Kabuverdianu	nevi		Indo-European
Western Frisian	snie		Indo-European
Kalmyk	цасн	tsasn	Mongolic-Khitan
Maranao	ilo		Austronesian
Avar	гӏазу	ʻazu	Nakh-Daghestanian
Basque	elur		Isolates
Chuvash	юр	jur	Turkic
Welsh	eira		Indo-European
Lü	ᦵᦖᧀᦉᦏᦱᧇ	ṁoeyṡṫhaab	Tai-Kadai
Tai Nüa	ᥞᥣᥴ	háa	Tai-Kadai
Lezghian	жиз	žiz	Nakh-Daghestanian
Rusyn	снїг	snjih	Indo-European
Walloon	nive		Indo-European
Maltese	borra		Afro-Asiatic
Crimean Tatar	qar		Turkic
Occitan	nèu		Indo-European
Vlax Romani	iv		Indo-European
Mari	лум	lum	Uralic
Silesian	śniyg		Indo-European
Asturian	ñeve		Indo-European
Yakut	хаар	xaar	Turkic
Samoan	kiona		Austronesian
Sranan Tongo	karki		Indo-European
Mingrelian	თირი	tiri	Kartvelian
Dhivehi	ސްނޯ	snō	Indo-European
Ingush	лоа	loa	Nakh-Daghestanian
Icelandic	snjór		Indo-European
Karachay-Balkar	къар	qar	Turkic
Friulian	nêf		Indo-European
Tuvinian	хар	xar	Turkic
Udmurt	лымы	lymy	Uralic
Ao Naga	rürjeb		Sino-Tibetan
Plautdietsch	Schnee		Indo-European
Laz	mturi		Kartvelian
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	ܬܲܠܓܵܐ	tālga	Afro-Asiatic
Zeelandic	sneêuw		Indo-European
Buriat	саһан	sahan	Mongolic-Khitan
Māori	huka		Austronesian
Extremaduran	ñevi		Indo-European
Dongxiang	chasun		Mongolic-Khitan
Abkhaz	асы	asə	Abkhaz-Adyge
Tonga (Tonga Islands)	sinou		Austronesian
Navajo	zas		Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
Komi	лым	lym	Uralic
Corsican	neve		Indo-European
Solu-Khumbu Sherpa	གའ	ga'	Sino-Tibetan
Irish	sneachta		Indo-European
Ladino	inyeve		Indo-European
Aromanian	neao		Indo-European
Kashubian	snieg		Indo-European
Breton	erc'h		Indo-European
Paiwan	sulja		Austronesian
Võro	lumi		Uralic
Faroese	kavi		Indo-European
Komi-Permyak	лым	lym	Uralic
Scottish Gaelic	sneachda		Indo-European
Southern Altai	кар	kar	Turkic
Sanskrit	हिम	hima	Indo-European
Abaza	сы	sə	Abkhaz-Adyge
Dungan	щүә	xüə	Sino-Tibetan
Romansh	naiv		Indo-European
Karelian	lumi		Uralic
Ladin	nëif		Indo-European
Hawaiian	hau		Austronesian
North Saami	muohta		Uralic
Andi	анзи	anzi	Nakh-Daghestanian
Central Yupik	qanik		Eskimo-Aleut
Evenki	иманна	imanna	Tungusic
Mirandese	niebe		Indo-European
Svan	მუს	mus	Kartvelian
Leh Ladakhi	ཁ	kha	Sino-Tibetan
Upper Sorbian	sněh		Indo-European
Cherokee	ᎤᎾᏥ	unatsi	Iroquoian
Yagnobi	варф	varf	Indo-European
Northern Frisian	snä		Indo-European
Aragonese	nieu		Indo-European
Hopi	nuva		Uto-Aztecan
Lower Sorbian	sněg		Indo-European
Even	емсамла̄н	jemsamlān	Tungusic
Chukchi	ыʼԓьыԓ	yʼḷʹyḷ	Chukotko-Kamchatkan
Jejueo	눈	nun	Koreanic
Dolgan	каар		Turkic
Bats	ლავ	lav	Nakh-Daghestanian
Tokelau	kiona		Austronesian
Mrassu Shor-Tutal	қар		Turkic
Cheyenne	hésta'se		Algic
Lakota	wá		Siouan
Mòcheno	schnea		Indo-European
Manx	sniaghtey		Indo-European
Khwarshi-Inkhoqwari	иᵸса	ĩsa	Nakh-Daghestanian
Dogrib	zhah		Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
Interlingua	nive		Artificial Language
Hunzib	әᵸз	ə̃z	Nakh-Daghestanian
Istro-Romanian	ne		Indo-European
Northern Mansi	тӯйт	tūjt	Uralic
Tlingit	dléit		Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
Cornish	ergh		Indo-European
Kwakʼwala	k̕wista̱'yala		Wakashan
Kildin Saami	вэ̄дз	vēdz	Uralic
Skolt Sami	muõtt		Uralic
Halkomelem	yíq		Salishan
Aleut	qaniigix		Eskimo-Aleut
Budukh	йиз	jiz	Nakh-Daghestanian
Ulch	sịmata		Tungusic
Ket	беʼт	beˀd	Yeniseian
Godoberi	анзи		Nakh-Daghestanian
Ingrian	lumi		Uralic
Straits Salish	ĆIḴ		Salishan
Udihe	имаха		Tungusic
Chickasaw	okti'		Muskogean
Kavalan	suRena		Austronesian
Wymysorys	śnej		Indo-European
Votic	lumi		Uralic
Oneida	ónyʌhteʼ		Iroquoian
Prussian	snaygis		Indo-European
Manchu	ᠨᡳᠮᠠᠩᡤᡳ	nimanggi	Tungusic
Ainu	ウパㇱ	upas	Ainu
Aramaic	תלגא	talgā’	Afro-Asiatic
Classical-Middle Armenian	ձիւն	jiwn	Indo-European
Aymara	khunu		Aymaran
Western Balochi	برپ	barp	Indo-European
Central Atlas Tamazight	ⴰⴷⴼⵍ	adfl	Afro-Asiatic
Dalmatian	nai		Indo-European
Gothic	𐍃𐌽𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃	snaiws	Indo-European
Ancient Greek	χιών	khiṓn	Indo-European
Kalaallisut	aput		Eskimo-Aleut
Hebrew	שֶׁלֶג	shéleg	Afro-Asiatic
Hunsrik	Schnee		Indo-European
Inuktitut	ᐊᐳᑦ	apot	Eskimo-Aleut
Old Irish	snechtae		Indo-European
Old Japanese	雪	yuki₁	Japonic
Javanese	salju		Austronesian
Jurchen	imanggi		Tungusic
Kaki Ae	sno		Isolates
Southern Dong	nuil		Tai-Kadai
Kazym-Berezover-Suryskarer Khanty	љоњᲊ	ljonjtj	Uralic
Latin	nix		Indo-European
Livonian	lum		Uralic
Low German	Snee		Indo-European
Moselle Franconian	Schnéi		Indo-European
Malagasy	oram-panala		Austronesian
Malay	salji		Austronesian
Brunei	salji		Austronesian
Middle English	snow		Indo-European
Lake Miwok	tána		Miwok-Costanoan
Classical Nahuatl	cepayahuitl		Uto-Aztecan
Ojibwa	goon		Algic
Church Slavic	снѣгъ	sněgŭ	Indo-European
Old English	snāw		Indo-European
Old Saxon	snēo		Indo-European
Omaha-Ponca	ma		Siouan
Oroch	имаса		Tungusic
Iron Ossetian	мит	mit	Indo-European
Pali	hima		Indo-European
Pahlavi	𐭥𐭯𐭫		Indo-European
Polabian	sneg		Indo-European
Southeastern Pomo	yú		Pomoan
Eastern Panjabi	ਬਰਫ਼	baraf	Indo-European
Western Panjabi	برف		Indo-European
Sardinian	ni		Indo-European
Sundanese	salju		Austronesian
Tagalog	niyebe		Austronesian
Rio Grande Tewa	phon		Kiowa-Tanoan
Thao	ulhza		Austronesian
Ugaritic	𐎂𐎍𐎘	glṯ	Afro-Asiatic
Wappo	pʰíl'		Yuki-Wappo
Yámana	panaxa		Isolates
Yiddish	שניי	shney	Indo-European
Dimli	vor		Indo-European