Definition and meaning of greetings

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  Translations of the word welcome shown in many places frequented by foreigners or tourists to welcome people of all different nationalities.

Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings (as well as other members of the animal kingdom) intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship or social status between individuals or groups of people coming in contact with each other. While greeting customs are highly culture- and situation-specific and may change within a culture depending on social status and relationship, they exist in all known human cultures. Greetings can be expressed both audibly and physically, and often involve a combination of the two. This topic excludes military and ceremonial salutes but includes rituals other than gestures.

Greetings are often, but not always, used just prior to a conversation.

Some epochs and cultures have had very elaborate greeting rituals, e.g., greeting of a king.

Secret societies have clandestine greeting rituals that allow members to recognize common membership.

  Greeting gestures

  Denis Thatcher, husband of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, greets former American First Lady Nancy Reagan by kissing her hand, 1988

A greeting can consist of an exchange of formal expression, a simple kiss, a hand shake or a hug. The form of greeting is determined by social etiquette, as well as by the relationship of the people.

Beyond the formal greeting, which may involve a verbal acknowledgment and sometimes a hand shake, facial expression, gestures, body language and eye contact can all signal what type of greeting is expected. Gestures are the most obvious signal, for instance greeting someone with open arms is generally a sign that a hug is expected.^[1] However, crossing arms can be interpreted as a sign of hostility. Facial expression, body language and eye contact reflect emotions and interest level. A frown, slouching and lowered eye contact suggests disinterest, while smiling and an exuberant attitude is a sign of welcome.

Throughout all cultures people greet one another as a sign of recognition, affection, friendship and reverence. While hand shakes, hugs, bows, nods and nose rubbing are all acceptable greetings, the most common greeting is a kiss, or kisses, on the cheek. Cheek kissing is most common in Europe and Latin America and has become a standard greeting in Southern Europe.^[2]

While cheek kissing is a common greeting in many cultures, each country has a unique way of kissing. In Russia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands and Egypt it is customary to “kiss three times, on alternate cheeks.”^[3] Italians & Hungarians usually kiss twice in a greeting and in Mexico and Belgium only one kiss is necessary. In the Galapagos women kiss on the right cheek only^[4] and in Oman it is not unusual for men to kiss one another on the nose after a handshake.^[5] French culture accepts a number of ways to greet depending on the region. Two kisses are most common throughout all of France but in Provence three kisses are given and in Nantes four are exchanged.^[6] However, in Finistère at the western tip of Brittany and Deux-Sèvres in the Poitou-Charentes region, one kiss is preferred. ^[7]

  Other greeting gestures

  Waving

• Añjali Mudrā
• Bowing
• Cheek kissing
• Eskimo kissing
• Fist pound, in which two individuals touch fists
• High-five
• Pressing noses
• Handshake
• Hand-kissing
• Hat raising or tipping
• Hug
• Kowtow
• Mano (gesture)
• Namaste
• Pranāma
• Roman salute - which has become associated with fascist and other right-wing movements
• Tehniyat
• Waving, the gesture of moving one's hand back and forth
• Wai

  In Other Languages

  United Nations Languages

• Arabic: مرحبًا / سلام (marḥaban/salām)
• Chinese: 你好 (Mandarin: nǐ hǎo, Cantonese: nei⁵ hou²)
• English: Hello, Good Day/Evening
• French: Salut, Bonjour
• Russian: Привет (Privet), Здравствуйте (Zdrawstwuite)
• Spanish: Hola, Buenos días

  Other National Languages

• Afrikaans: Hallo, goeie more/aand
• Albanian: Përshëndetje
• Berber language: Azul!/Ahul!
• Armenian: Բարեւ Ձեզ (Barev Dzez)
• Azerbaijani: Salam
• Belarusian: Прывітанне (Pryvitannie)
• Bengali: Namaskar/Salam/Adab
• Bulgarian: Здравейте (Zdraveĭte)
• Burmese: Mingalarba
• Croatian: Bok (informal), Dobar dan (formal)
• Czech: Ahoj (informal), Dobrý den (formal)
• Danish: Hej
• Dutch: Hallo
• Estonian: Tere
• Fijian: Bula Vinaka
• Filipino: Hello/Kumusta
• Finnish: Hei, Terve, Hyvää huomenta/päivää/iltaa (formal)
• Georgian: გამარჯობა gamarǰoba, გამარჯობათ gamarǰobat (plural or formal), გაუმარჯოს gaumarǰos
• German: Hallo (informal), Guten Tag (formal)
• Greek: Γεια σας (Yeia Sas) for formality, Γεια σου (Yeia Sou) for informality, Γειά simple
• Hebrew: שלום (Shalom)
• Hindi: नमस्ते (Namaste)
• Hungarian: Szia(sztok)/helló(sztok) (informal); Jó napot kívánok (formal)
• Icelandic: Hæ
• Indonesian: Halo
• Persian: سلام / درود
• Irish: Dia Dhuit
• Italian: Ciao (informal), Salve (semi-formal), Buongiorno/Buonasera (formal)
• Japanese: こんにちは (Konnichiwa)
• Korean: 안녕하세요 (An-nyeong-ha-se-yo)
• Latin: Salve (singular), Salvete (plural)
• Latvian: Sveiki, Sveicināti (semi-formal), Labrīt/Labdien/Labvakar (formal)
• Lithuanian: Sveiki
• Macedonian: Здраво (Zdravo)
• Malay: Apa khabar
• Maltese: Merhba!
• Mongolian: Сайн байна уу
• Nepali: नमस्ते (Namaste)
• Norwegian: Hallo
• Persian: سلام (Salam)
• Polish: Cześć (informal), Dzień dobry (formal)
• Portuguese: Ei! (very informal), Oi, Olá (mildly informal), Bom dia/boa tarde/boa noite (formal)
• Punjabi: Sat Sri Akal
• Romanian: Salut (informal), Bună ziua (formal)
• Serbian: Здраво/Zdravo (informal), Добар дан/Dobar dan (formal)
• Sinhalese: ආයුබෝවන් (Ayubovan)
• Slovak: Ahoj (informal), Dobrý deň (formal)
• Slovenian: Živijo (informal), Zdravo (informal) Dober dan (formal)
• Somali: Haye
• Spanish: Hola (informal), Buenos días (formal)
• Swahili: Jambo
• Swedish: Hej (informal), god dag/god afton (formal)
• Tagalog: Helo (informal), Kamusta ka (formal)
• Tamil: Vanakkam
• Thai: สวัสดี (Sawatdi)
• Turkish: Merhaba
• Ukrainian: Доброго здоров'я (Dobrogo zdorovya), Добридень(Dobryden')
• Urdu: سلام (salām)
• Vietnamese: Chào
• Welsh: Helo
• Yiddish: שלום עליכם (sholem aleikhem)

  Regional languages

• Basque: Kaixo
• Bavarian: Grüß Gott
• Brazilian Portuguese: (general) Ei, como vai? Oi, como andas? Olá, como está?
  (originally youth, now generalized) (carioca slang) E aí? Qual é? Oi, seu *mildly offensive term*! (miguxês slang) Oiê! Oix! (tiopês slang) Alô, você!
• Canadian French: Allô
• Catalan: Bon dia. Hola. Com va?
• Cebuano: Komusta.
• Chamorro: Hafa Adai
• Chewa: Moni Bambo
• Cree: Tansi
• Frisian: Hoi
• Hausa: Ina Uni
• Hiligaynon: Komusta.
• Hopi: Mike
• Igbo: Nde-Ewo
• Maori: Kia Ora
• Marathi: Namaskar
• Navajo: Yáʼátʼééh
• Occitan: Bonjorn. Adiu. Consí anatz?
• Pakistani Punjabi: Ki Hall Ay
• Sulka: Marot
• Telugu: నమస్కారం (Namaskaram)
• Urhobo: Mavo
• Waray: Komusta.
• Zulu: Sawubona

  Voicemail greetings

Voicemail greetings are pre-recorded messages that are automatically played to callers, when the voicemail system answers the call. Some voicemail systems allow for different greetings to be played to different callers.

  Telephone greetings

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Most languages have alternate greetings to be used over the telephone. In this case, the greeting is meant to confirm whether the person on the other line is present. The term "greeting" may also refer to a pre-recorded message replayed when the call cannot be answered.

In some cultures as the Brazilian one, giving personal names to strangers in the telephone is a commonly avoided practice (due to the regularity of faux kidnapping scams, as well various forms of civilian violence), so one is expected to neither give it nor ask for it, especially if the called is from a background of middle or high income. In others, such as the German and the Dutch, it is generally given before it could be solicitated.

  See also

  References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Greetings

  External links

• wikihow.com