This Is How Europeans Say ‘Merry Christmas’. A Map That Shows the Linguistic Variety of Christmas Wishes

The cultural heritage of Europe is really vast, which is clearly visible in all the languages spoken there. So if you were thinking of saying or writing 'Merry Christmas in an original language, why not make use of one of them?

This unique maps were created by Jakub Marian, a Czech linguist and an author of numerous scientific publications. The maps are just a fraction of his works. Others include maps of how to say 'I love you' and words standing for 'Easter'.

The colors on the map refer to the origins of a given language. For example red stands for Romanic languages that use a Latin word referring to the birth of Jesus. As you can see, some other languages, for instance Celtic, use expressions borrow from the Romanic languages. In the north (in green), however, people use a phrase referring to an old Nordic pagan festival called Jul.

Albanian: Gëzuar Krishtlindjet

the Basque language: Eguberri na

Belarusian: з Калядамі or з Божым Нараджэннем ('z Kaljádami' or ‘z Bozym Naradžénnjem')

the Bretonic language: Nedeleg laouen

Bulgarian: Весела Коледа or Честито Рождество Христово (VESELÁ Kolęda or Chestito Roždestvo Hristovo)

Catalonian: Bon Nadal

Croatian: Sretan Božić

Czech: Veselé Vánoce

Danish: God jul or Glædelig jul

Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest

English: Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas

Estonian: Haid Joule

Finnish: Hyvää joulua

French: Joyeux Noël

The Galician language: Bo Nadal

German: Fröhliche Weihnachten or Frohe Weihnachten

Greek: Καλά Χριστούγεννα ( K alá Christoúgenna )

Hungarian: Boldog karácsonyt

Icelandic: Gleðileg Jol

Irish: Nollaig Shona + Dhuit (singular) or Daoibh (plural)

Italian: Buon Natale

Latvian: Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus

Lithuanian: Linksmų Kalėdų

Luxembourgish: Scheine Chrëschtdag

Macedonian: Среќен Божиќ or Христос се роди (Sreḱen Božik or Hristos se Rodi)

Maltese: il-Milied go-Tajjeb

Norwegian: God jul

Northern Sami: Buorit juovllat

Romanian: Crăciun fericit

The Occitan language: Bon Nadal

Portuguese: Feliz Natal

Russian: Рождеством (Христовым)

Scottish: Nollaig Chridheil

Serbian: Srećan Božić or Hristos SE Rodi

The Sardinian language: Bona Pasca de Nadale

Slovakian: Veselé VIANOCE

Spanish: Feliz Navidad

Swedish: God jul

Ukrainian: з Різдвом (Христовим)

Welsh: Nadolig Llawen