ନମସ୍କାର
namaskāra/n̪ɔmɔskaɾɔ/
In Odia, the English phrase "hi" is expressed as ନମସ୍କାର (namaskāra).
ନମସ୍କାର is a common and formal way to say hi in Odia.
Meaning: friendly, informal greeting (intj)
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is namaskāra and the IPA is /n̪ɔmɔskaɾɔ/.
Did you know?
- While ନମସ୍କାର is the standard greeting, close friends in Odisha often bypass traditional greetings entirely and start conversations by asking ଖାଇଲୁ? which means 'did you eat?'
- The Sanskrit roots of ନମସ୍କାର mean that you are not just saying 'hi', but are actually acknowledging the divine essence within the other person.
- The spelling of ନମସ୍କାର in Odia can sometimes look quite different from its Sanskrit ancestor because the Odia script evolved to be more rounded for writing on palm leaves.
Example conversation
Two friends meet each other at a park.
- ପୂଜା Pujaନମସ୍କାର, ରାହୁଲ!Namaskāra, Rāhula!Hi, Rahul!
- ରାହୁଲ Rahulନମସ୍କାର, ପୂଜା! କେମିତି ଅଛ?Namaskāra, Pūjā! Kemiti achha?Hi, Puja! How are you?
- ପୂଜା Pujaମୁଁ ଭଲ ଅଛି, ଧନ୍ୟବାଦ।Mu bhala achhi, dhanyabāda.I am fine, thank you.
- ରାହୁଲ Rahulଆଜି ପାଗ ବହୁତ ଭଲ ଅଛି।Āji pāga bahuta bhala achhi.The weather is very nice today.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ନମସ୍କାର, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
