Tuesday, September 29, 2009

"Mermaid" Around the World

With the help of many a Google search and a bunch of wonderful people, I present to you the "Mermaid" Around the World List:

Afrikaans:  meermin

Albanian:  sirenë

Arabic: 
حورية البحر (bint al-bahr) - which literally translates to "daughter of the sea," also: "arouset el-bar," and "houria al-bahr"
 

Armenian:  ջրահարս  (ǰrahars)

Bulgarian:  морска сирена  (Pronunciation, please)

Chinese: 美人鱼 (mei ren yu)

Czech:  mořská panna

Danish & Norweigian:  havfrue
 

Dutch:  zeemeermin
 

English:  mermaid

Estonian:  merineitsi

Farsi:   زن ماهی  (Pronunciation, please) 

Finnish:  merenneito


Filipino:  sirena (mermaid) and siyokoy (merman)
 

French:  sirène
 

German:  meerjungfrau

Greek: 
γοργόνα (Pronunciation, please)

Hawaiian:  maheli~heli

Hebrew:  סירונית  (Pronunciation, please) 

Hindi:  जलपरी (jal pari...I think?)

Hungarian:  hableány, sellő

Icelandic:  hafmey
 

Igbo:  mami wata (Though, this is more the mythological figure) 

Indonesian & Malayan:  duyung 

Irish:  maighdean mhara

Japanese: 人魚 or にんぎょ (ningyo) or マーメイド(ma-meido)

Korean:   인어 (eeh-nuh)

Latvian:  nāra

Lithuanian:  undinė (like the story, perhaps?)

Pig Latin:  ermaid-may
 

Polish:  syrena

Portuguese:  sireia
 

Romanian:   sirenã

Russian, Belarusian, & Ukranian:  русалка (rusálka)
 

Scottish-Gaelic:  maighdeann-mhara

Serbo-Croation, Spanish, & Italian: sirena
 

Swedish: sjöjungfru

Telugu: మత్స్యకన్య (matsyakanya) 

Thai:  เงือก,  นางเงือก  (Pronunciation, please)

Turkish: deniz kizi (sea daughter)

Vietnamese:  giống người đuôi cá,  mỹ nhân ngư  (Pronunciation, please)

Welsh:  môr-forwyn

Yiddish:   מערמייד (yam-meydl)

Yoruba:  yemôja


*All translations are through Google Translate, Google Books, and fabulous humans*
**Thanks to all the people who contributed to this list!!! You all make this mermaid feel truly special!**

p.s. If you have any suggestions, or if one of the words above is wrong, please let me know!

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