[Goldfinger]

I need to have the word "letter" (written message, not characters) in as many languages as possible. It's for some design class, I'm not sure if I'm going to use it but I just want to be able to visualize the idea so I can decide to keep it or ditch it.

Can you guys help me out here? Italian, chinese, japanese, korean, spanish etc. Every language you can think of is welcome.

[turtle777]

German: Brief

[Chuckit]

Japanese: 手紙
I think I recall it being 信 in Chinese.

[Faust]

Lettre (French)
Lettera (Italian)
Carta (Spanish)
Grama (Greek)
Brief (German)

[cjrivera]

Etter-le (Pig Latin)

[Cold Warrior]

письмо is the Russian.

[cjrivera]

Sulat (Tagalog)

[mindwaves]

letter - Definitions from Dictionary.com

Look near the bottom.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Japanese: 手紙
I think I recall it being 信 in Chinese.

Tegami = 手紙 to omoimasu.

[Chuckit]

Isn't that the same thing I wrote?

[- - e r i k - -]

Norwegian/Danish/Swedish: Brev
Dutch: Brief

[TETENAL]

German: Brief

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by TETENAL 

German: Brief

Third time listed?

[Chuckit]

German: Brief

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Isn't that the same thing I wrote?

well yeah, but it's hard for people to read kanji.

[Chuckit]

Oh, I just assumed since it was a design class, he'd want the original script.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Oh, I just assumed since it was a design class, he'd want the original script.

My bad.

[KeriVit]

I speak sign language.

[osiris]

I speak jive.

[KeriVit]

stop it.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Faust 

Grama (Greek)

Γράμμα

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Letra = Portuguese
Lettera = Italian

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by mindwaves 

letter - Definitions from Dictionary.com

Look near the bottom.

Yeah, FTW.

-t

[Sealobo]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I think I recall it being 信 in Chinese.

信件 is more like it.

信 alone has multiple meaning, such as Believe.

[Goldfinger]

Thanks for all the help!

[angelmb]

Kind of related… One language is lost about every two weeks.

Languages Die, but Not Their Last Words - New York Times

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Sealobo 

信件 is more like it.

信 alone has multiple meaning, such as Believe.

Would you actually say 信件 in regular conversation, though? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call a letter anything but just 信. Of course, usually, in conversation, you’ll include the measure word, so the meaning will be unambiguous, but even when there’s no measure word, I’d still say just 信, as in, “我收到了你的信”.

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Japanese: 手紙

This made me burst out laughing violently. 手纸 means ‘toilet paper’ in Chinese

[Oisín]

Oh, almost forgot: ‘letter’ in other languages (singular/plural, in case you need it):

Latin litterae/litterae [already plural]
Finnish kirje/kirjeet
Irish litir/litreacha
Scottish litir/litrichean
Welsh llythyr/llythyron or llythyrau

Letra = Portuguese

I’m not sure exactly how this works for Spanish and Italian, but in Portuguese at least (and, I think, in Spanish, too), letra means a letter of the alphabet. The normal word for a letter you send is carta, or you can use letra in the plural: letras. I’d venture a guess that this is the same in Italian, since the Latin word for a letter, litterae, is simply the plural of littera, which is a letter of the alphabet.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

This made me burst out laughing violently. 手纸 means ‘toilet paper’ in Chinese

Heh, you just know the Chinese did that intentionally.

[angelmb]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

I’m not sure exactly how this works for Spanish and Italian, but in Portuguese at least (and, I think, in Spanish, too), letra means a letter of the alphabet. The normal word for a letter you send is carta, or you can use letra in the plural: letras. I’d venture a guess that this is the same in Italian, since the Latin word for a letter, litterae, is simply the plural of littera, which is a letter of the alphabet.

Yes, carta is also Spanish for letter as written message. You get the plural form by adding a -s character… cartas.

Besides its meaning for character, Letra is also used in spanish as sort of bill of exchange document… e.g. 'Letras del Tesoro', would be kinda like shares where you are the holder and the company which capital is divided is related to the government itself… take it with a grain of salt since I am not into economics and can't provide you with the proper terms. Maybe that's related to its use in Portuguese… afaik Portuguese common terms for letter (document you send) are also carta - cartas.

[Sealobo]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Would you actually say 信件 in regular conversation, though? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call a letter anything but just 信. Of course, usually, in conversation, you’ll include the measure word, so the meaning will be unambiguous, but even when there’s no measure word, I’d still say just 信, as in, “我收到了你的信”.

You're right... nobody would say 信件 in the context of a conversation. But if it's not a full sentence then it's open to interpretation. 信件 has to be letter, while 信 alone could be trust, or honor (as in 言而無信).

[Oisín]

^ True—but if you see just the character 信 on its own, wouldn’t ‘letter’ or ‘message’ be the first thing you’d think of, at least if you see other words for ‘letter’ around it?

Yes, carta is also Spanish for letter as written message. You get the plural form by adding a -s character… cartas.

I think you misunderstood me—I do know the plural is created by adding -s. I was just saying that in Portuguese (and Spanish, it seems I was right), you wouldn’t use letra in the singular to mean a (postal) letter, but merely a letter of the alphabet. The normal word for a (postal) letter would be carta/cartas (singular/plural).

But letras, in the plural, also means a (postal) letter (as in the Letras del Tesoro or Letras do Tesouro you mentioned above), as well as referring to several letters of the alphabet (as in “¿Cuántas letras hay en la palabra ‘adiós’?” or Quantas letras tem a palavra ‘adeus’?), though this latter usage is more formal and stilted (Does “Ya he recibido tus letras” or “Já recibi as tuas letras” sound natural to you? I shouldn’t think so).

This latter meaning is a direct send-down from Latin, though, where the completely common way of saying, “I got your letter” would indeed be “Recepi litteras tuas”, as one of the Plinian letters even begins.

[angelmb]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

I think you misunderstood me—I do know the plural is created by adding -s. I was just saying that in Portuguese (and Spanish, it seems I was right), you wouldn’t use letra in the singular to mean a (postal) letter, but merely a letter of the alphabet. The normal word for a (postal) letter would be carta/cartas (singular/plural).

But letras, in the plural, also means a (postal) letter (as in the Letras del Tesoro or Letras do Tesouro you mentioned above), as well as referring to several letters of the alphabet (as in “¿Cuántas letras hay en la palabra ‘adiós’?” or Quantas letras tem a palavra ‘adeus’?), though this latter usage is more formal and stilted (Does “Ya he recibido tus letras” or “Já recibi as tuas letras” sound natural to you? I shouldn’t think so).

This latter meaning is a direct send-down from Latin, though, where the completely common way of saying, “I got your letter” would indeed be “Recepi litteras tuas”, as one of the Plinian letters even begins.

Ah sorry Oisín, I got it now… You're right, there is no way than 'ya he recibido tus letras' would sound any good… if most you would get a what? plus a weird look for using such a sentence.