300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions

Newest Translations!

Additional languages obtained since the Second Edition was published. See "300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions" for discussion of dialects vs languages, rank, number of speakers and related questions.

Second Edition now features Na'vi, Phoenician, Chaucerian English, Gulla, Tlingit, Rap and Reggae!

Ancient languages

Hittite
Language of: Hattusa (modern-day Turkey)
Time Period: 16th C BCE - 13th C BCE

We only have the pronunciation:
Kaš išpanza kuwat-aš tameumaš?
tamedaš išpantaš naššu harnantuš našma natta harnantuš azzikkeweni
kedani-ma išpanti natta harnantuš-pat adweni. [matzah]
tamedaš išpantaš welkuwa humanta azzikkeweni
kedani-ma išpanti hazzuwanin-pat adweni. [herbs]
tamedaš-šan išpantaš anzel zuwan weteni anda natta šiyanki-pat šuniyaweni
kedani-ma-an-šan išpanti anda dwanki šuniyaweni. [dipping]
tamedaš išpantaš naššu ašantaš našma šašantaš azzikeweni
kedani-ma išpanti šašantaš-pat adweni. [leaning]
tamedaš išpantaš šiwattaš šakliyaš iwar azzikeweni
kedani-ma išpanti haššuwaš iwar adweni. [ceremony]

Translator: Professor Harry Hoffner
From: Chicago, IL

Prof. Hoffner is the world's foremost authority on Hittite. He founded the standard reference work, the Chicago Hittite Dictionary. The Biblical Hittites created an empire that spanned most of Asia Minor, the upper Mid-East and Upper Mesopotamia. Their military are known for making successful use of chariots. They called their language Nešili (the language of Nesa). In the Bible, the Hittites were never enemies; they supplied the Israelites with cedar, chariots and horses, as well as being a friend and ally of Abraham.

Middle English (Chaucerian)
Language of: England
Time Period: Norman invasion (1066) – Late 15th century

Translator: Professor George Petty, Professor Emeritus of English from Montclair State University
From: Denville, NJ

Middle English is the language of Chaucer and thus is known as Chaucerian English.

Phoenician/Canaanite
Language of: Phoenicia/Canaan (modern Lebannon, Syria and Israel)
Time Period: 11th C BCE - 1st C CE

The remainder of the translation is in the book ...

Translator: Rabbi Allen Darnov
From: Marlboro, NJ

Phoenician was likely the first alphabetic script to be widely used; its names and shapes can be traced to Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Most Phoenician texts survive on sarcophagi.

Ugaritic
Language of: Ugarit (Modern day Syria)
Time Period: 14th C BCE – 1180/70 BCE

Why is this night not like every night?
The remainder of the translation is in the book ...

Translator: Christopher Dost, adjunct instructor of religion and Bible at Sacred Heart University, Nyack College and Nyack-Alliance Theological Seminary.
From: Waterbury, CT

Language of Canaanites, precursors to Phoenicians. . They devised 30 symbols from which alphabets of all phonetic languages are derived (Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, Aramaic, Arabic, Greek, etc.). Ugarit produced great royal palaces, temples, shrines and libraries.
Note: Ugaritic character separates words.

Living languages

Hmong Daw (White Hmong)
Language of: China and Laos
Rank: 485
Number of Speakers: 613400

Yog ua li cas hmo no yuav txawv txhua hmo?
Nyob rau txhua hmo, peb noj ncuav xyaw keeb lossis mastxas;
nyob rau hmo no, peb tsuas yog mastxas xwb.
Nyob rau txhua hmo, peb noj txhuas yam txujlom;
nyob rau hmo no, tsuas yog txujlom iab xwb.
Nyob rau txhua hmo, peb tsis ntsw ib zaug li;
nyob rau hmo no, peb ntsw ob zaug.
Nyob rau txhua hmo, peb noj mov zaum ntseg lossis pw pheeb ib sab;
nyob rau hmo no, peb pw pheeb ib sab.
Nyob rau txhua hmo, peb cia li noj mov li txhua zaus;
nyob rau hmo no, peb noj hmo ua koobtsheej tshwjxeeb.

Translator: Mia Lor
From: Sheboygan, WI; parents from Laos

Kyrgyz
Language of: Kyrgyzstan
Rank: 197
Number of Speakers: 2,893,354

Translator: Mairam Orunbaeva
From: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Pennsylvania German (known as Pennsylvania Dutch/Amish)
Language of: USA
Rank: 1267
Number of Speakers: 98700

Ferwas is die Nacht net wie alle annere Nachde?
An all die annere Nachde esse mir ehnder Brot oder Matzah;
an die Nacht esse mir yusht Matzah.
An all die annere Nachde fresse mir alle sadde Greider;
an die Nacht esse mir yusht biddera Greider.
An all die annere Nachde mir dunka gore net;
owwer die Nacht mir dunka zwee mol.
An all die annere Nachde liega mir uns hie odder hocke mir fer esse;
an die Nacht mir liega uns hie.
An all die annere Nachde mir esse yusht wie annere Leit;
owwer die Nacht mir esse mit en abaddich Zeremonie.

Translator: Leroy Brown
From: Topton, PA

Svan
Language of: Georgia
Number of Speakers: 15000

Translator: Vakhtang Pilpani
From: Tbilisi, Georgia
Language of the Svaneti region, in northern Georgia

Constructed languages

Binary Code (ASCII English)
Language of: Computers
Number of Users: Billions and billions

Why is this night different from all other nights?
101011111010001111001 11010011110011 1110100110100011010011110011 11011101101001110011111010001110100 110010011010011100110110011011001011110010110010111011101110100 1100110111001011011111101101 110000111011001101100 11011111110100110100011001011110010 1101110110100111001111101000111010011100110111111
The remainder of the translation is in the book ...

Binary is the code used by digital computers. The "dialect" shown here is ASCII. There are other character coding schemes, e.g. EBCDIC and others, and, of course, there is binary coding for non-latin characters used in other languages. For human readability, the spaces (100000) are not translated above to show word boundaries. The actual binary for just the intro question is shown below. (It goes way off to the right!) 10101111101000111100101000001101001111001101000001110100110100011010011110011010000011011101101001110011111010001110100010000011001001101001110011011001101100101111001011001011101110111010001000001100110111001011011111101101010000011000011101100110110001000001101111111010011010001100101111001001000001101110110100111001111101000111010011100110111111

Blissymbols
Language of: Alternative communication
Number of Users: 10,000??

Translator: Debbie Epstein Rahav
From: Katzrin, Golan, Israel

Blissymbols were invented by Charles Bliss in 1942 to language to allow communication between people speaking different languages. Bliss was inspired by Chinese characters, which he saw in the Shanghai Ghetto when he was a refugee from Nazi persecution. Blissymbols have become a method of communication for people with communication disorders such as cerebral palsy. Although Debbie has studied the language carefully, she points out this rendition is not necessarily authoritative.

Na'vi
Language of: Pandora
Number of Speakers: Growing
Biblical Quote: Eliyahu Ha-Na'vi

Fìtxon na ton alahe nìwotx pelun ke lu teng?
this-night like nights other all why not is same
Tonìri alahe, awngal yom hametsìt, yom matsat, ke tsranten;
fìtxon yom matsat nì'aw.
as-for-nights other we eat hametz eat matzah not matter
this-night eat matzah only
Tonìri alahe, awngal yom fkxenti lerìk nìwotx;
fìtxon yom sat a lu syä'ä nì'aw.
as-for-nights other we eat vegetable-food leafy all
this-night eat those that are bitter only
Tonìri alahe, awnga ke yemfpay si keng 'awlo;
fìtxon yemfpay si melo.
as-for-nights other we not dipping do even once
this-night dipping do twice
Tonìri alahe, awngal yom wutsot tengkrr hereyn nìpxim,
tengkrr teruvon, ke tsranten; fìtxon yom tengkrr teruvon.
as-for-nights other we eat meal while sitting erect
while leaning not matter this-night eat while leaning
Tonìri alahe, awngal yom wutsot nìfya'o letrrtrr;
fìtxon yom nì'eoio.
as-for-nights other we eat meal in-manner ordinary
this-night eat ceremoniously

Audio recited by Na'vi's creator
Translator: Dr Paul Frommer
From: Los Angeles, CA

Na'vi was created by Dr Frommer for the lovely blue aliens in the 2009 movie, Avatar. It is intended to sound both alien and pleasant. Words that needed to be added to the lexicon for a Na'vi seder were: hametsì: 'hametz'; matsa: 'matzah'; yemfpay: 'dipping, immersion'; fkxen: 'food of vegetable (as opposed to animal) origin'; pxim: 'erect, straight up and down'; tuvon: 'to lean'; and 'eoio: 'ceremonious'.

Pirate
Language of: Well, Pirates!

Ahoy! Why be this eve unlike all other nights?
On all other nights we be eatin' stale bread an' grule!
On this night we be eatin' only RUM!
GAarrr! On other eves we be eatin' of the sweet spices of the East India Tradin' Company!
On this night we be eatin' bitter RUM!
On most a starry night abroad the seven seas, we daren't dip our bread for fear of scurvy!
On this night, we be dippin' twice in a barrel of RUM!
Arrr! We be eatin' most suppers standin' in the comfort of the Galley!
Tonight we rest in our hammocks to Dine!
On other nights we eat WHENEVER WE BE PLEASIN' TO!
On this night we break out ALL THE RUM!

Translators: Will and Eric Roper
From: Berkeley Heights, NJ

Solresol
Number of Speakers: a few enthusiasts

sol-re fa-mi la-la-si si-fa-la-sol do-fa la-si' si-re la-la-si? Download solresol in pdf

Translator: Mark Shoulson
From: Highland Park, NJ

Solresol is a musical language developed by François Sudre between 1827 and 1866. Words are made up of 1 to 5 syllables (often the solfege "do re mi" syllables). Musical intervals convey conceptual relationships: I=do-re, you=do-mi; while mine=re-do and yours=re-mi. Romeo and Juliet was performed entirely in Solresol at CUNY in 2007.