| Language | Language (in English) | turtle | gender | pronounced as: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Afrikaans | skilpad | |||
| Bahasa Indonesia | Indonesian | kura-kura & penju | |||
| Bahasa Melayu | Malaysian |
sea-turtle: penyu softshell: labi-labi other turtles: kura-kura | |||
| Bangla | Bengali | Kachhim & Kochchhop | |||
| Brezhoneg | Breton | baot-vor | f | ||
| Cesky | Czech | želva | f | ||
| Cymraeg | Welsh | môr-grwban | m | ||
| dansk | Danish | skildpadde | |||
| Deutsch | German | Schildkröte | f | ||
| Eesti | Estonian | kilpkonn | |||
| English | English | turtle | |||
| Español | Spanish | tortuga | f | ||
| Esperanto | Esperanto | testudo | |||
| Euskara | Basque | dortoka | |||
| Français | French | tortue | f | ||
| Frysk | Frisian | skýldpod | |||
| Gaeilge | Irish | turtar | m | ||
| Gaelg | Manx | turtyl | m | ||
| Hawai'i | Hawaiian | honu | |||
| Hindi | Hindi | kachua | |||
| Igbo | Igbo | mbé | |||
| ìslenska | Icelandic | skjaldbaka | f | ||
| Italiano | Italian | tartaruga | f | ||
| jezyk polski | Polish | zólw | |||
| Ladino | Ladino | tartuga | f | ||
| Lakota | Lakota Sioux | keha | |||
| lingua Latina | Latin | testudo | f | ||
| Magyar | Hungarian | teknősbéka | |||
| Maori | Maori | honu / nguturoa | |||
| Nederlands | Dutch | schildpad | f(m) | ||
| Norsk | Norwegian | skilpadde | |||
| Nukuoro | Polynesian | honu tolo/honu ssele | |||
| Occitan | Provençal | tartuga | ? | ||
| Papiamentu | Papiamento | morkoi,tortuga,karèt | |||
| português | Portuguese | tartaruga/cágado | f | ||
| Romîn | Romanian | broascâ ţestoasâ | f | ||
| Samoan | Samoan | laumei | |||
| Shqipe | Albanian | breshkë | f | ||
| ? | Sicilian | tartuca | f | ||
| Slovensko | Slovak | korytnačka | f | ||
| Slovenčina | Slovenian | želva | f | ||
| af-Somaliga | Somali | diin-ka | m | ||
| Suomi | Finnish | kilpikonna | |||
| Svenska | Swedish | sköldpadda | |||
| Swahili | Swahili | kobe | |||
| tiêng Viêt | Vietnamese | con-rùa | |||
| Tongan | Tongan | fonu | |||
| Türkçe | Turkish | kaplumbağa | |||
| Xhosa | Xhosa | i-sikolopati | |||
| Ye' Iswa | Catawba (South-Carolina) | Kayäk | |||
| Thai | 1: ta pab nam/plapha (softshells) 2: tao (all other species) | ||||
| Japanese |  | umigame, kame | |||
| Greek |  | f | chelona | ||
| Russian |  | f | tchiripacha | ||
| Farsi (Persian) |  | laakposht | |||
| Arabic |  | f | soulhoufat | ||
| Hebrew |  | tsav (zav) | |||
| Bulgarian |  | kostenurka | |||
| Chinese (traditional) | 1: 2:  | 1: pie (only softshells) 2: uguei (all other species) | |||
| Chinese (simplified) |  | 1: pie (only softshells) 2: uguei (all other species) |
N.B.: this is a collection of general words for 'turtle'. As a rule, more specific words like 'tortoise' and 'terrapin' are not listed because they don't refer to all turtle species. An exception is made if a language does not have an all-inclusive word for 'turtle'.
Please inform me if your language is missing, or if you want to make a correction. If your language uses non-standard symbols please email me an image of the written word for 'turtle', and a transcription of this word. My email address:
The first version of this list went online in May 2000 and it is older than other such lists. Please do not copy it to other sites. You are welcome to link to it though.
I would like to thank Guneet Singh, Franz Fischer, Martin, Zahra PourMorady, Barak Gull, Kei, Anna (Elbereth), Rawad Massoud, Mohd Uzairi Zailani, Yehuda Hatsvi, Mindy Chapman, Matt Lund, Imaam Chowdhury and others for their contributions to this page.
