How to say “sugar” around the world

284 languages · 284 in their own spelling

Sugar, sucre, Zucker and сахар all trace back to Sanskrit śarkarā, which reached Europe through Persian and Arabic sukkar.

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sugar · azúcar · चीनीgula · cukier · کنڊ糖 · 糖 · đườngപഞ്ചസ്സാര · фошыгъу · hʋpi champuliOther 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	糖	táng	Sino-Tibetan
English	sugar		Indo-European
Spanish	azúcar		Indo-European
Hindi	चीनी	cīnī	Indo-European
Arabic	سُكَّر	sukkar	Afro-Asiatic
Bengali	চিনি	cini	Indo-European
Indonesian	gula		Austronesian
Portuguese	açúcar		Indo-European
French	sucre		Indo-European
Russian	са́хар	sáxar	Indo-European
Japanese	砂糖	satō	Japonic
Marathi	साखर	sākhar	Indo-European
Swahili	sukari		Atlantic-Congo
Turkish	şeker		Turkic
Telugu	చెక్కర	cekkara	Dravidian
Wu Chinese	糖	⁶daon	Sino-Tibetan
Korean	설탕	seoltang	Koreanic
German	Zucker		Indo-European
Vietnamese	đường		Austroasiatic
Tamil	சக்கரை	cakkarai	Dravidian
Cantonese	糖	tong⁴	Sino-Tibetan
Urdu	چِینی	cīnī	Indo-European
Italian	zucchero		Indo-European
Egyptian Arabic	سكر	súkkar	Afro-Asiatic
Gujarati	સાકર	sākar	Indo-European
Western Farsi	شَکَر	šakar	Indo-European
Min Nan Chinese	糖	thn̂g	Sino-Tibetan
Hakka Chinese	糖	thông	Sino-Tibetan
Jinyu Chinese	糖	ton¹	Sino-Tibetan
Hausa	sukari		Afro-Asiatic
Kannada	ಸಕ್ಕರೆ	sakkare	Dravidian
Polish	cukier		Indo-European
Xiang Chinese	糖	dan²	Sino-Tibetan
Malayalam	പഞ്ചസ്സാര	pañcassāra	Dravidian
Odia	ଚିନି	cini	Indo-European
Burmese	သကြား	sa.kra:	Sino-Tibetan
Ukrainian	цу́кор	cúkor	Indo-European
Uzbek	shakar		Turkic
Sindhi	کنڊ	khanḏu	Indo-European
Romanian	zahăr		Indo-European
Dutch	suiker		Indo-European
Gan Chinese	糖	tong²	Sino-Tibetan
Amharic	ሱካር	sukar	Afro-Asiatic
Thai	น้ำตาล	nám-dtaan	Tai-Kadai
Lingala	sukáli		Atlantic-Congo
Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian	шѐћер		Indo-European
Khmer	ស្ករ	skâr	Austroasiatic
Somali	sonkor		Afro-Asiatic
Turkmen	şeker		Turkic
Cebuano	asukar		Austronesian
Nepali	सखर	sakhar	Indo-European
Assamese	চুৰা	sura	Indo-European
Sinhala	සීනි	sīni	Indo-European
Greek	ζάχαρη	záchari	Indo-European
Kurdish	şekir		Indo-European
Hijazi Arabic	سُكَّر	sukkar	Afro-Asiatic
Tajik	шакар	šakar	Indo-European
Tsonga	chukela		Atlantic-Congo
Kazakh	қант	qant	Turkic
Hungarian	cukor		Uralic
Kinyarwanda	isukari		Atlantic-Congo
Zulu	ushukela		Atlantic-Congo
Nyanja	shuga		Atlantic-Congo
Southern Pashto	شکره	šakᶕra	Indo-European
Czech	cukr		Indo-European
Uighur	شېكەر	shëker	Turkic
Afrikaans	suiker		Indo-European
Min Dong Chinese	糖	tòng	Sino-Tibetan
Haitian	sik		Indo-European
Dari	شَکَر	šakar	Indo-European
Swedish	socker		Indo-European
Azerbaijani	şəkər		Turkic
Iloko	asukar		Austronesian
Bulgarian	за́хар	záhar	Indo-European
Shona	shuga		Atlantic-Congo
Xhosa	iswekile		Atlantic-Congo
Belarusian	цу́кар	cúkar	Indo-European
Tigrinya	ሽኰር	šəkʷär	Afro-Asiatic
Central Kurdish	شهکر	şekir	Indo-European
Santali	ᱪᱤᱱᱤ	cini	Austroasiatic
Tumbuka	shuga		Atlantic-Congo
Danish	sukker		Indo-European
Slovak	cukor		Indo-European
Southern Sotho	tswekere		Atlantic-Congo
Minangkabau	gulo		Austronesian
Finnish	sokeri		Uralic
Lao	ນ້ຳຕານ	nam tān	Tai-Kadai
Norwegian	sukker		Indo-European
Tatar	шикәр	şikär	Turkic
Buginese	golla		Austronesian
Catalan	sucre		Indo-European
Sicilian	zuccuru		Indo-European
Kirghiz	шекер	şeker	Turkic
Swiss German	Zucker		Indo-European
Tswana	sukiri		Atlantic-Congo
Armenian	շաքար	šakʻar	Indo-European
Lithuanian	cukrus		Indo-European
Tok Pisin	suga		Indo-European
Lombard	zuccher		Indo-European
Georgian	შაქარი	šakari	Kartvelian
Goan Konkani	साक्कर	sākkar	Indo-European
Albanian	sheqer		Indo-European
Shan	ႀၵျႃ	xǎ kjǎa	Tai-Kadai
Mongolian	чихэр	čixer	Mongolic-Khitan
Bikol	asukar		Austronesian
Galician	azucre		Indo-European
Slovenian	sladkor		Indo-European
Iban	gula		Austronesian
Esperanto	sukero		Artificial Language
Macedonian	шеќер	šeḱer	Indo-European
Piedmontese	sùcher		Indo-European
Venetian	sùcaro		Indo-European
Zhuang	dangz		Tai-Kadai
Rohingya	siní		Indo-European
Kabardian	фошыгъу	fošəğʷu	Abkhaz-Adyge
Limburgan	sókker		Indo-European
Makasar	golla		Austronesian
Ho	cini		Austroasiatic
Latvian	cukurs		Indo-European
Quechua	misk'i		Quechuan
Scots	succar		Indo-European
Chechen	шекар	šekar	Nakh-Daghestanian
Estonian	suhkur		Uralic
Bashkir	шәкәр	şäkär	Turkic
Tibetan	ཀར	kar	Sino-Tibetan
Romagnol	ẓócar		Indo-European
Tausug	sukal		Austronesian
Kachin	jum dwi		Sino-Tibetan
Mon	သဂြာ	həkrɛ̀a	Austroasiatic
Western Frisian	sûker		Indo-European
Swabian	Zuggå		Indo-European
South Sudanese Creole Arabic	sukar		Afro-Asiatic
Kalmyk	шикр	şikr	Mongolic-Khitan
Maranao	gola'		Austronesian
Avar	чакар	čakar	Nakh-Daghestanian
Basque	azukre		Isolates
Chuvash	сахӑр	sah̬ăr	Turkic
Welsh	siwgr		Indo-European
Lü	ᦒᦱᧂᧉ	thaang²	Tai-Kadai
Picard	chuque		Indo-European
Krio	shuga		Indo-European
Tai Nüa	ᥐᥫᥝᥣᥢᥴ	kóewaan	Tai-Kadai
Lezghian	шекер	šeker	Nakh-Daghestanian
Morisyen	disik		Indo-European
Réunion Creole French	sik		Indo-European
Walloon	souke		Indo-European
Kara-Kalpak	qant		Turkic
Adyghe	шъоущыгъу	šʷowuśəğʷu	Abkhaz-Adyge
Classical Syriac	ܫܟܪ	šekkar	Afro-Asiatic
Maltese	zokkor		Afro-Asiatic
Crimean Tatar	şeker		Turkic
Occitan	sucre		Indo-European
Ligurian	sûccao		Indo-European
Mari	сакыр	sakyr	Uralic
Tetum	masin-midar		Austronesian
Asturian	zucre		Indo-European
Yakut	саахар	saaxar	Turkic
Kumyk	шекер	şeker	Turkic
Samoan	suka		Austronesian
Mingrelian	შანქარი	šankari	Kartvelian
Fijian	suka		Austronesian
Dhivehi	ހަކުރު	hakuru	Indo-European
Chakma	𑄌𑄨𑄚𑄨	cini	Indo-European
Papiamento	suku		Indo-European
Icelandic	sykur		Indo-European
Karachay-Balkar	шекер	şeker	Turkic
Friulian	zucar		Indo-European
Tuvinian	чигир	çigir	Turkic
Khowar	شوکھور	šokhór	Indo-European
Udmurt	сахар	saxar	Uralic
Plautdietsch	Zocka		Indo-European
Buriat	саахар	saaxar	Mongolic-Khitan
Māori	huka		Austronesian
Dongxiang	tan		Mongolic-Khitan
Abkhaz	ашьақар	ašakar	Abkhaz-Adyge
Tonga (Tonga Islands)	suka		Austronesian
Navajo	áshįįh łikan		Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
Corsican	zuccheru		Indo-European
Gagauz	şeker		Turkic
Irish	siúcra		Indo-European
Ladino	asúkuar		Indo-European
Gilbertese	tioka		Austronesian
Aromanian	zahari		Indo-European
Belize Kriol English	shuga		Indo-European
Breton	sukr		Indo-European
Erzya	сахор	sahor	Uralic
Dagur	sateng		Mongolic-Khitan
Tabasaran	шекер	šeker	Nakh-Daghestanian
Faroese	sukur		Indo-European
Tahitian	tihota		Austronesian
Komi-Permyak	сакар	sakar	Uralic
Marshallese	jukwa		Austronesian
Scottish Gaelic	siùcar		Indo-European
Mansaka	asokar		Austronesian
Southern Altai	чикир	čikir	Turkic
Sanskrit	शर्करा	śarkarā	Indo-European
Khakas	сахар	saxar	Turkic
Dungan	тон	ton	Sino-Tibetan
Romansh	zutger		Indo-European
Karelian	zouheri		Uralic
Plains Cree	ᓲᑳᐤ	sookaaw	Algic
Hawaiian	kōpaʻa		Austronesian
Kajtak	чака́р	čakár	Nakh-Daghestanian
Central Yupik	caarralaq		Eskimo-Aleut
Evenki	сахар	sahar	Tungusic
Svan	შაქარ	šakar	Kartvelian
Upper Sorbian	cokor		Indo-European
Cherokee	ᎧᎵᏎᏥ	kalisetsi	Iroquoian
Nauru	ituga		Austronesian
Choctaw	hʋpi champuli		Muskogean
Aragonese	zucre		Indo-European
Chitral Kalasha	šakhór		Indo-European
Lower Sorbian	cukor		Indo-European
Siksiká	náápiniwan-		Algic
East Yugur	shkir		Mongolic-Khitan
Dakota	chąhą́pi		Siouan
Mrassu Shor-Tutal	сакер	saker	Turkic
Cheyenne	vé'keemahpe		Algic
Moksha	захар	zahar	Uralic
Lakota	čhaŋháŋpi		Siouan
Manx	shugyr		Indo-European
Interlingua	sucro		Artificial Language
Istriot	soûcaro		Indo-European
Archi	чахар	čaxar	Nakh-Daghestanian
Tlingit	shóogaa		Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
Taos Northern Tiwa	kophàʼąsíne		Kiowa-Tanoan
Cornish	sugra		Indo-European
Skolt Sami	sukkâr		Uralic
Inari Sami	sukkâr		Uralic
Ingrian	saahkara		Uralic
Manchu	ᡧᠠᡨᠠᠨ	šatan	Tungusic
Arikara	kaʾít		Caddoan
Pawnee	rakiícuʾ		Caddoan
Chinook Jargon	lesook		Chinookan
Ambonese Malay	gula		Austronesian
Gulf Arabic	شكر	shákar	Afro-Asiatic
Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic	شكر	shákar	Afro-Asiatic
Assiniboine	cąšmúyabi		Siouan
Atong (India)	chini		Sino-Tibetan
Kriol	juga		Indo-European
Western Balochi	شکل	šakkal	Indo-European
Biatah Bidayuh	guraa		Austronesian
Bole	sukur		Afro-Asiatic
Caddo	habeh'tsu wid'dish		Caddoan
Min Bei Chinese	糖	tô̤ng	Sino-Tibetan
Coptic	ⲍⲁⲭⲣⲓ	zakhri	Afro-Asiatic
Old French	çucre		Indo-European
Saterland Frisian	Sukker		Indo-European
Yuwaalaraay-Gamilaraay	dhuga		Pama-Nyungan
Middle High German	zucker		Indo-European
Ancient Greek	σάκχαρ	sákkhar	Indo-European
Hebrew	סוכר		Afro-Asiatic
Hmong Daw	qab zib		Hmong-Mien
Hunsrik	Zucker		Indo-European
Inuktitut	ᓱᑲᒃ	sokak	Eskimo-Aleut
North Alaskan Inupiatun	avu		Eskimo-Aleut
Javanese	gula		Austronesian
Kaingang	asuka		Nuclear-Macro-Je
South-Central Koongo	sukadi		Atlantic-Congo
Latin	saccharum		Indo-European
Low German	Sucker		Indo-European
Middle Low German	sucker		Indo-European
Moselle Franconian	Zocker		Indo-European
Malagasy	siramamy		Austronesian
Malay	gula		Austronesian
Brunei	gula		Austronesian
Mongghul	ber		Mongolic-Khitan
Matukar	to		Austronesian
Central Melanau	gula		Austronesian
Classical Nahuatl	chiyancaca		Uto-Aztecan
Old Russian	сахаръ	saxarŭ	Indo-European
Oromo	shukkaaraa		Afro-Asiatic
Iron Ossetian	сӕкӕр	sækær	Indo-European
Pali	sakkharā		Indo-European
Eastern Panjabi	ਖੰਡ	khaṇḍ	Indo-European
Western Panjabi	شکر	śkr	Indo-European
Sardinian	tzùcaru		Indo-European
Sundanese	gula		Austronesian
Tagalog	asukal		Austronesian
Tillamook	ch’ee-svn-tu		Salishan
Tokharian B	śakkār		Indo-European
Unami	shukël		Algic
Woiwurrung-Thagungwurrung	gaem-gaem		Pama-Nyungan
Yiddish	צוקער	tsuker	Indo-European