Random Person: “Where are you from?”
Me: “New Zealand.”
RP: “Sorry, where?”
Me: “New Zealand.”
RP: “Ah, the Netherlands.”
Me: “Nooooo, New. Zealand.”
This is one of many variations of conversations I’ve had way too many times while travelling. To alleviate the language (yay kiwi slang) and accent barrier, I’ve started to learn how to say New Zealand in the native language of the country I’m in. And those who you say it to will appreciate your tiny bit of effort.
The following is how to New Zealand is pronounced in 58 of the world’s top 100 most spoken languages (source). I’d love to get this list to 100. At the bottom of the page is a list of the 42 languages I haven’t worked out yet. If you know any, email [email protected]. You’re awesome.
| 1 | Mandarin | Xīnxīlán | China, Taiwan, Singapore |
| 2 | Spanish | Nueva Zelanda | Hispanic America, Spain, United States, Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara, Pacific islands |
| 3 | English | New Zealand | Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, Singapore, Philippines |
| 4 | Hindi | nyoojeelaind | India, Fiji, Nepal |
| 5 | Arabic | nywzilanda | North Africa, Western Asia (Middle East), East Africa |
| 6 | Portuguese | Nova Zelândia | Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste |
| 8 | Russian | Novaya Zelandiya | Russia, former Republics of the Soviet Union, Mongolia |
| 9 | Japanese | Nyūjīrando | Japan |
| 10 | Punjabi | Ni’ūzīlaiṇḍa | Punjab region (India, Pakistan) |
| 11 | German | Neuseeland | Austria, Belgium (Eupen-Malmedy), Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, South Tirol (in Italy) |
| 12 | Javanese | Selandia Anyar | Java (Indonesia) |
| 13 | Xhosa | Nyu Zilend | South Africa |
| 14 | Malay | New Zealand | Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore |
| 15 | Korean | nyujillaendeu | North Korea, South Korea |
| 16 | Telugu | N’yūjilāṇḍ | Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry (India) |
| 17 | Vietnamese | quần đảo Tân tây lan | Vietnam |
| 18 | French | Nouvelle-Zélande | Belgium (Wallonia, Brussels), Canada (particularly Quebec, New Brunswick and Eastern parts of Ontario), France, Switzerland, Francophone Africa, French Caribbean, French Polynesia, various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. |
| 19 | Marathi | N’yujhīlam̐ḍa | Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat (India) |
| 20 | Tamil | Niyūcilāntu | Tamil Nadu, Karnataka (India), Puducherry (India), Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius |
| 21 | Belarusian | Novaja Zielandyja | Belarus |
| 22 | Swedish | Nya Zeeland | Sweden and Finland |
| 23 | Turkish | Yeni Zelanda | Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria |
| 24 | Shona | Nyuzirendi | Zimbabwe |
| 25 | Italian | Nuova Zelanda | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino |
| 26 | Thai | Niwsīlænd̒ | Thailand |
| 27 | Gujarati | N’yūjhīlēnḍa | Gujarat (India) |
| 28 | Basque | Zelanda Berrial | Northern Spain |
| 29 | Hmong | New Zealand | Laos and neighbouring areas |
| 30 | Polish | Nowa Zelandia | Poland, USA, Germany, United Kingdom, Belarus, western Ukraine, Lithuania |
| 31 | Kannada | N’yūjilyāṇḍ | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (India) |
| 32 | Malayalam | n’yūsilānṟ | Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahé (India) |
| 33 | Sundanese | Selandia Baru | Java (Indonesia) |
| 34 | Hausa | New Zealand | Nigeria |
| 35 | Burmese | nayuujelaan | Burma |
| 36 | Armenian | Nor Zelandia | Armenia Georgi and Russia |
| 37 | Ukrainian | Nova Zelandiya | Ukraine |
| 38 | Yoruba | Ilu Niu silandii | Nigeria, Benin and Togo |
| 39 | Swahili | New Zealand | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda |
| 40 | Uzbek | Yangi Zelandiya | Uzbekistan |
| 41 | Amharic | nīwizīlanidi | Ethiopia |
| 42 | Igbo | New Zealand | Nigeria |
| 43 | Romanian | Noua Zeelanda | Romania, Moldova |
| 44 | Azerbaijani | Yeni Zelandiya | Azerbaijan and Northern Iran |
| 45 | Cebuano | New Zealand | Central and Southern Philippines |
| 46 | Dutch | Nieuw Zeeland | Belgium (Flanders, Brussels), Netherlands and Suriname |
| 47 | Kurdish | Zelanda Nû | “Kurdistan”, northern Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria |
| 48 | Serbo-Croatian | Novi Zeland | Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro |
| 49 | Nepali | N’yujilyāṇḍa | Nepal and neighbouring areas, Sikkim, (India) |
| 50 | Khmer | nou ve l se lng | Cambodia |
| 51 | Somali | New Zealand | Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Yemen |
| 52 | Hungarian | New Zealand | Hungary and areas in neighbouring countries |
| 53 | Greek | Néa Zilandía | Greece, Cyprus |
| 54 | Kazakh | Jaña Zelandïya | Kazakhstan |
| 55 | Zulu | E-New Zealand | South Africa |
| 56 | Czech | Nový Zéland | Czech Republic |
| 57 | Haitian Creole | Nouvèl Zelann | Haiti |
| 58 | Afrikaans | Nieu-Seeland | South Africa |
Bengali, Wu (Shanghainese), Urdu, Persian/Farsi, Cantonese, Minnan hua, Pashto, Chamorro, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Tagalog, Maithili, Sindhi, Fula, Oromo, Manipuri/Meitei, Chichewa, Malagasy, Saraiki, Santali, Sinhalese, Bambara, Assamese, Madurese, Magahi, Dogri, Marwari, Chewa, Kinyarwanda, Akan/Twi, Khasi, Tswana, Hebrew, Kinyarwanda, Kokani, Ilokano, Quechua, Kirundi, Hiligaynon, Uyghur, Balochi, Mossi, Konkani, and Persian/Farsi.
I’ve travelled a fair bit, but looking at this list…well, I’ve hardly travelled. I haven’t heard of a lot of these languages! I’ll forever be from New Zealand!
