Danish Danish has several phatic greetings: • 'how goes it?'. Possible answers are: 'it goes good/fine'. • 'how does it cut?' Informal greeting between close friends. • 'what then?'. Similar to the English greeting ''what's up?''. More often used in Jutland. A possible answer is 'not that much'. • is a common informal greeting and equivalent to the English
hi, pronounced almost the same
. Single-word greetings with approximately the same meaning include (from combining with German from French
), , (both reduced forms of meaning 'day'), , , , (Pun greeting. Made by combining and 'onion sauce'), 'nice good day' is a more formal greeting. • is only used when the speaker is not sure they can be heard. Examples when saying/yelling is appropriate: Trying to find out if someone else is in a seemingly empty room/building; using it as an initial phone greeting; checking if the person you're calling can still hear you (when experiencing a bad phone connection); trying to get the attention of a listener that appears to not pay attention. •
Mojn is only used in Southern Jutland. It comes from North German from the German word meaning 'morning'. Despite its original meaning it is used as a greeting throughout the day. • or are common ways to say goodbye. 'we will see each other' is used as a farewell greeting in face-to-face conversations while 'we will speak each other'/ 'we will speak to each other by' are used in both face-to-face and phone/text conversations. • 'drive safely' is said to a person leaving the place where the speaker is located and going to drive/bike to another location. 'come well home' is said in the same situation whatever the method of transportation. • 'good lust for work' is said when parting with a person who is either currently at work or leaving to go to work. • 'thanks for today' is often said in more formal contexts of prolonged interactions like at the end of a meeting or the end of a class. • 'thanks for the last time that we were together' acknowledging that the people were together somewhere • 'good recovery'. Said when leaving a sick person. • 'have it good' or 'you (sg./pl.) may have it good' is a farewell phrase wishing for the other's well-being. A joke variant of this is 'have it as you look' (literally: 'have it as you look out'). By not saying the expected adjective 'good', the speaker is violating the
maxim of quantity and thereby inferring that they do not think the listener looks good. This can be understood as an insult and is therefore mainly used informally between friends. Some phatic greetings are only used in writings such as letters, e-mails and speeches read aloud: • 'dear' followed by a name is a formalised way of beginning a letter, speech etc. • Ways to end a letter or e-mail include 'greeting', '(with) friendly greeting', sometimes abbreviated to . Others include 'with loving greeting' abbreviated
, 'hug'. Some greetings like can be used throughout the day. Some are more specific, and the specific time of when to switch to the next greeting can vary from speaker to speaker. Time-specific greetings include ('good morning'), (literally 'good pre-noon'), ('good day'), ('good afternoon'), ('good evening'), and ('good night'). Ways of saying thanks include 'thanks', 'thanks shall you have', 'many thanks', 'thousand thanks', 'thanks for that' and 'I thank'. A thanks can be answered with 'self thanks' or 'it was so little' (referring to the small amount of work that had to be done). Other phatic expressions include ('luck and fortune'), equivalent to the English
good luck, and ('crack and break') which has the same meaning as
good luck similar to the English expression
break a leg, mostly used by hunters, fishers, and theater crews.
English "You're welcome", in its phatic usage, is not intended to convey the message that the hearer is welcome; it is a phatic response to being thanked, which in turn is a phatic whose function is to acknowledge the receipt of a benefit. Similarly, the question "how are you?" is usually an automatic component of a social encounter. Although there are times when "how are you?" is asked in a sincere, concerned manner and does in fact anticipate a detailed response regarding the respondent's present state, this needs to be
pragmatically inferred from
context and
intonation. Example: a simple, basic exchange between two acquaintances in a non-formal environment: :Speaker one: "What's up?" (US English. In UK English this more commonly means "Is there something wrong?") :Speaker two: "Hey, how's it going?" (In US English "Hey" is equivalent to "Hi", or "Hello". Adding "How's it going" returns the initial greeting-query, paraphrased, without offering any information about what is possibly "up". In short, the first speaker's token is replied to with the second speaker's equivalent token, not actually answering the first speaker's literal query.) Or: :Speaker one: "All right?" (UK English. In US English this can only be a
tag question, approximately meaning "Do you agree with or accept what I've said?" In the US, the longer question "(Are) you all right?" can mean "Is something wrong?") :Speaker two: "Yeah, all right." In both dialogues, neither speaker expects an actual answer to the question but rather it is an indication that each has recognized the other's presence and has therefore sufficiently performed that particular social duty.
Icelandic There are several phatic greetings in Icelandic differing in formality: • 'What say you (good)?'. Equal to English
how are you?. To a foreign speaker it can seem strange that the preferred answer, 'good', is embedded in the question. A preferred answer can be 'I say everything good/fine' • 'how goes?'. Thanking: • 'thanks for'.
Japanese In Japanese, phatic expressions play a significant role in communication, for instance the
backchannel responses referred to as
aizuchi. Other such expressions include the ubiquitous ('please treat me well', used before starting work with someone), (lit. 'you must be tired', closer to 'thank you for your hard work'—used for leave-taking and sometimes as a greeting) and ('thank you for your support').
Mandarin Chinese In China, the phatic expression (chīfàn le ma) 'have you eaten?' is equivalent to English speakers'
how are you? Food culture is important in China and thus inquiring if one is well-fed implies the speaker's desire to know if the listener has this basic need met. This expression is most often used by older members of society toward younger people.
Persian Taarof is a complex set of expressions and other gestures in
Persian society, primarily reflected in the
language.
Welsh In
Welsh, the general phatic is a regional and
colloquial version of ('how is?'). The general pronunciation in southern Wales is and in the North, . The usual answer is ('OK') or, ('OK, thanks')
, or maybe the more traditional ('quite good'), ('quite good, thanks'). Many native speakers do not answer like this, but simply say, or in response. The use of phatic has been used as a Welsh language campaigners to encourage Welsh speakers to begin conversations in Welsh, and for non-fluent speakers to "give it a go".
Shwmae Sumae Day was held for the first time in 2013 and is held annually on 13 October.
In fiction Phatic expressions are often created by authors, particularly in science fiction or fantasy, as part of their
worldbuilding. • In
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, the people of Essos use the expression
Valar Morghulis ('All men must die'), answered with
Valar Dohaeris ('All men must serve'). • In the
Star Wars series, "May the Force be with you" is used as a leave-taking phrase. • In
Star Trek, the expression "live long and prosper" is used phatically, accompanied by a
Vulcan salute. • In ''
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Blessed be the Fruit
is a common greeting exchanged between the people of the Republic of Gilead, responded to with May the Lord open.'' ==Non-verbal phatic expressions==