An (H) by any other name

27 languages that say HUMAN with an “H”

by Monique Torres for Human Intelligence ®

Some words simply resonate. They feel authentic. Fundamental. Understood without need for additional context. 

HUMAN is such a word.

Initiated from the diaphragm, the initial “hyu” sound has a certain sonorous force, followed by the secularized “man” that delivers a simple, solid landing.

It’s a declarative label that starts with a satisfying sound: the (H) which, as it turns out, is quite universal — it’s used by at least 27 languages to describe human and human being (and dare we say, HUMAN INTELLIGENCE®).

Here they are in alphabetical order. Did we miss any? Mail us! 

1. Bambera: Hadamaden – Pronounced “had-a-ma-den.” A tribal language spoken in the Western African nation of Mali by about 14M people. 
2. Basque: Hominido – Pronounced “ho-man-eedo.” Used in scientific texts to reference various primates of the family Hominidae, including humans (homo sapiens). Spoken in regions of Spain and France by about 900,000 people.
3. Buryat: хүн – Pronounced “hoon.” Translates to human, human being, and person. Spoken in Russia’s Republic of Buryatia by about 440,000 people. (Also see Mongolian, as these two languages are closely related and use the same word, spelling, and pronunciation.)
4. Catalan: Humà – Pronounced “uma.” Spoken in Spain (primarily Barcelona), Andorra, France, and Italy by about 9.5M people.
5. Cheyenne: Hetane – Pronounced “heh-tah-nee.” It translates to person or the people. Spoken by about 2,000 people, primarily on tribal lands in Montana and Oklahoma.
6. Corsican: Umanu – Pronounced “hu-mah-nu.” A Romance language spoken on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia. Spoken by about 340,000 people.
7. Croatian: Humani – Pronounced “hoo-mani.” Official language of Croatia; also spoken in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Spoken by about 5.5 million people.
8. English: Human – Pronounced “hyoo-man.” Spoken by about 1.5B people (about 20% of the global population).
9. Esperanto: Homo – Constructed over a century ago in Poland, this constructed international language takes “homo” directly from Latin. The number of speakers is unknown, but estimates are 1M-2M people. 
10. Finnish: Ihminen/Homo – The first is pronounced “e-hmin-en,” with a hard “H” airflow-type sound. The second, borrowed from Latin, is used in scientific contexts. Spoken by about 5.3M people.
11. French: Humain and Être humain – Pronounced “oo-mane,” the first is human and the second is human being. (The feminine versions add an “e”: humaine.) Spoken by about 321M people.
12. Hadza: Hadza/Hatsa – Pronounced “ha-dza.,” The Hadza people from Tanzania use the same word to mean their tribe, their language, and also human being. Plural forms are “hadzabe” and “hazabee.” Spoken by about 1,000 people and considered a vulnerable language by UNESCO.
13. Hindi: मानव – Written in the English-style alphabet, the word is Mānava and means human being. Pronunciation, however, starts with an aspirated (h) sound, “(h)may-nava,” because the “म” is from Sanskrit, which is closely related to Hindi. Spoken by about 610M people.
14. Hungarian: Humán – Pronounced “hyoo-man” (like in English, but with emphasis on the 2^nd syllable). Borrowed from Latin, “humán” is used in modern scientific contexts and human resources, etc., though the everyday word for human is emberi. Spoken by about 13M people, primarily in Hungary but also in Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Ukraine.
15. Italian: Umana/Umano – Pronounced “oo-man-ah” (feminine) and “oo-man-oh” (masculine). Derived from the Latin homo for human being or man (secular).
16. Japanese: 人 (Hito) – Pronounced “hee-toe.” Translates to person and human being. Spoken by about 123M people.
17. Korean: 휴먼 – Pronounced “hyoo-man.” Is a loanword from English that’s used in Korean modern media. Spoken by about 81M people.
18. Latin: Humanus/Homo – Pronounced “hu-man-ōs” and “ho-mo.”. Contrary to popular belief, Latin is not dead. Ecclesiastical Latin and Modern Latin are spoken by about 800M people (including on the Pope’s Twitter/X account) and widely used in scientific contexts.
19. Maltese: Uman – Pronounced “hoo-man.” Is the adjective form (human intelligence/intelliġenza umana, for example). Derived from medieval Sicilian Arabic, it is primarily spoken in Malta by about 500,000 people and is the only official Semitic language of the EU.
20. Mongolian: хүн – Pronounced “hoon.” Translates to human, human being, and person. Spoken by about 6M people. (Also see Buryat, as these two languages are closely related and use the same word, spelling, and pronunciation.)
21. Ndebele: Umantu – Pronounced “hoom-oon-too.” A Nguni language spoken in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa; closely related to Zulu. Spoken by about 4M people.
22. Papiamento: Humano – Pronounced “hoo-mano.” A language largely based on Portuguese as spoken in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Spoken most widely in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao by about 127,000 people.
23. Portuguese: Humana/Humano (feminine/masculine) – Similar to the Papiamento pronunciation but with gender-specific end vowels. As one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, Portuguese is spoken is Portugal but primarily in Brazil. Spoken by about 275M people.
24. Romanian: Uman/Om – Derived from Latin “homo.” The first is an adjective (human intelligence/inteligența umană, for example), the second a noun for human being. Spoken by about 25M people. 
25. Spanish: Humana/Humano/Hombre – The first two are the same as Portuguese. The third (hombre) now primarily means “man” (literal) but can also refer to “human” in older or formal contexts. Spoken by about 636M people.
26. Uyghur: ھەممە ئادەم (Hemme adem) – Pronounced “hem ad-em,” this term, read from right-to-left in its native version, translates to human being. A Turkic language, Uyghur is spoken primarily in China by about 10M people.
27. Yaqui: Hiaki – Pronounced “he-ah-kee,” this term is an autonym for people and is used by Native Americans in Sonora, Mexico and Arizona, USA. Spoken by about 20,000 people.

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