Articles...
What's in a Name?
Have you ever wondered what they call butterflies in languages other than English? I thought that I knew quite a few of them until I found this list! Many thanks to J. Akers Pence from the University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology for compiling the list (and letting me reproduce it). Here, for your amusement, education and edification, is what they call my favorite wondrous creature in other places…
| Language | Name... |
|---|---|
| African (Suto, Tswana , Pedi, Southern Sotho) | Serurubele (see-roo-roo-bear-lair) |
| Afrikaans | Skoenlapper |
| Albanian | Flutura |
| Amharic (Ethiopia) | Buraburay |
| Arabic | Abu Daqeek, Farasha |
| Bangla | Projapoti |
| Burmese | Lapia (spelling?) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | Hu-tieh but Hu Die is the official modern pronounciation |
| Croatian | Leptir |
| Czech | Motýl |
| Danish | Sommerfugl |
| Dutch | Vlinder |
| Esperanto | Papilio |
| Estonian | Liblikas |
| Farsi (Persian) | Parvani |
| Finnish | Perhonen |
| French | Papillion |
| Gaelic: Irish | Feileacan |
| Gaelic: Scottish | Dearbadan-de ( first D is a soft gee sound and the "de" is pronounced "jay") |
| German | Schmetterling |
| Greek | Psyche (ancient); Petaluodia (modern) |
| Gujarati | Patangeo |
| Hawaiian | Pulelehua |
| Hebrew | Parpar |
| Hindi | Titli |
| Hungarian | Lepke, Pillango |
| Icelandic | Fidrildi |
| Indonesian | Kupu-kupu |
| Inupiaq (Alaska native language) | Taqalukisaq |
| Italian | Farfalla |
| Japanese | Chou chou |
| Korean | Nabi |
| Kwanyama (border of Namibia and Angola) | Onanga |
| Lao | Meng kabeua |
| Latin | Papillio, Papilionis |
| Lithuanuian | Drugelis, Peteliske |
| Maori | Pepeke' |
| Marathi | Phulpakhru |
| Mayan | Pepen |
| Nahuatl (Aztec) | Papalotl |
| Nepali | Putali (long "a") |
| Norwegian | Sommerfugl |
| Palauan | Bangikoi |
| Philippine: Visayan | Kabakaba |
| Philippine: Tagalog | Paruparo |
| Polish | Motyl |
| Portugese | Barboleta |
| Romanian | Fluture |
| Russian | Babochka, Dushichka (dialect) |
| Serbo-Croatian | Meptir |
| Sign Language | "interlock thumbs, flapping flat hands like wings" |
| Sinhala (Sri Lanka) | Samanalaya |
| Spanish | Mariposa |
| Swahili | Ki-pepeo, Kungu-urumu |
| Swazi (Swaziland) | Luvivane |
| Swedish | Fjäril |
| Tamil | Pattam puchi |
| Thai | Pee seur (spelling?) |
| Tigre (Ethiopia) | Tsenblale |
| Tok Pisin (aka Melanesian Pidgin) | Bataplai (short 'a's) |
| Turkish | Kelebek |
| Ukranian | Metelyk |
| Urdu' | Titli Urdu' |
| Vietnamese | Buom buom, Ho diep |
| Yiddish | Zomerfeygele, Flaterl |
| Yup'ik (Alaska native language) | Caqelngataq |
| !Xu (A 'Bushman' or San language of the Kalahari Desert) | Dhad'hama |
| Xhosa (Spoken mainly in the Eastern Cape) | Ibhabhathane |
| Zambia: Lamba | Ici-pempele |
| Zambia: Ila | Inkongolo, Sikapempenya |
| Zambia: Mukuni | Limpempele |
| Zulu | Uvemvane |
