Sharks are the ominous ocean predators that have often been described as the rulers of the oceans, stars of horror movies, and subjects of fascination.
Sharks have also been celebrated as powerful gods and divine creatures by some native cultures. For example, Fijians believe the shark god Dakuwaqa could protect fishermen from the dangers at sea
And today, sharks are recognized as apex predators and some of the most fascinating creatures of the world’s ocean.
There are over 500 different species of shark. The largest is over 40 feet long and the smallest could fit in the palm of our hand.
Unfortunately, one-third of these species are threatened due to over-fishing. After millions of years in the making, these amazing predators may be meeting their greatest challenge yet.
Today’s post is all about these amazing creatures. We’ve decided to pay our respect to these apex predators by explaining how to say “shark” in 45 different languages. So, without further ado, let’s get to it.
Afrikaans : haai (af)
Araki : p̈aheu (*) , Pahe (*)
Armenian : շնաձուկ (hy) ( šnadzuk )
Basque : marrazo (eu)
Bulgarian : акула (bg) ( akula )
Catalan : Tauró (AC)
Chinese : 鲨鱼 (zh) ( Shayu )
Czech : Žralok (cs) male
Danish : haj (da) common
Dutch : haai (nl)
English : shark (en)
Esperanto : Sarko (eo)
Faroese : hákelling (fo)
Finnish : hai (fi)
Frisian : haai (fy)
Georgia : ზვიგენები (ka) ( zvigenebi )
German : Hai (of) male , Haifisch (of) male
Greek : καρχαρίας (el) ( karkharías ) male
Hebrew : כריש (he) ( karys )
Hungarian : CAPA (hu)
Icelandic : hákarl (is) male
Ido : sharko (io)
Italian : pescecane (it) , squalo (it)
Japanese : 鮫 (ja) ( Sami ) シャーク (ja) ( Shaku )
Kali’na : aipajawa (*)
Korean : 상어 (kb) ( sangeo )
Latin : squalus (the) male
Luxembourg : Hai (lb) male , Haifësch (lb)
Mavea : Paio (*)
Mosina language : Bogo (*)
Norwegian : hai (no) male
Papiamento : Tribon (*)
Persian : کوسه (fa)
Polish : rekin (pl) male
Portuguese : tubarão (pt) , cocoa (pt) ; cão-do-mar (pt)
Romanian : Rechin (ro) male
Russian : акула (ru) ( Akula ) female
Shingazidja : panganyile (*) , mbamba (*)
Slovak : Žralok (sk) male
Spanish : tiburón (es) male
Sranan : sarki (*)
Swedish : haj (sv)
Tamil : சுறா (ta) ( CURA )
Thai : ปลา ฉลาม (th) ( bplaachàlăam )
Turkish : Köpek baligi (tr)
Ukrainian : акула (uk) ( Akula ) female
Yiddish : הייַפֿיש (yi) ( hayfyš ) male
And why we are feeling silly let’s have a bit of ‘Baby Shark’…
We hope you enjoyed today’s post and that you managed to remember how to say shark in some of those languages. To find out more about sharks, consider getting yourself The Ultimate Book of Sharks from the link below:
