the most beautiful word in the world

 

In 2007 a competition, organised by the German Institute for foreign cultural relations, was held to determine what the most beautiful word in the world was. 60 nations submitted more than 2,500 contributions and the winner was declared the Turkish word “yakamoz” which means “the reflection of  moonlight on water”. This particular word was chosen because a whole concept could be expressed in a single word,  a concept that requires 6 words in English, 9 in French and 10 in German for example. The editor of the German  Spiegel Online said they had wanted to find out which words were especially loved and to develop a feeling for other languages.

 

In second place was the Chinese word “hu lu” meaning to snore

In third place was “volongoto” meaning disorderly or chaotic, from the African Baganda people

In fourth place was the Norwegian “Oppholdsvaer” meaning “right after the rain has stopped”

In fifth place was “madala” from the African Hausa people meaning “thank God”

In sixth place was the Portuguese “saudade” meaning “longing” and

In seventh place was “Perekotipole”, the Ukrainian word for “tumbleweeds”