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Here are just a few ways (318+ as of May 2010) in which our friends say "butterfly". We would appreciate if you could add to our list. We are most eager to hear from Native Americans. Email. (Our good friend, Pol Grymonprez of Ghent, Belgium, the source of many of our words, has pointed out that there are 4000 - 5000 languages in the world, so we've only covered about 6 or 7% of the languages.)

Note: certain words are followed by (?) indicating that the word has not been double-checked.

Language (Country): Word:
Acoma (Native American) buh?rai
Afrikaans (South Africa) skoenlapper, vlinder
Aja-Gbe (Benin, Togo) pkolinouhoin (PG)
Albanian (Albania) flutura
Amharic (Ethiopia) birrabirro (PG)
Anglo Saxon fifoldara
Arabic (Standard) farasha, abu daqeek(?)
Arabic (Algeria) bofertoto, bu frtutu
Arabic (Morocco) fertito
Arabic (Tunisia) fartattu
Aragonese birabolas(?), pitazana(?)
Armenian (Eastern) teeter, titer, teeterneeg, teeternig (PG)
Assamese (India) pokhila
Austria falter (common term)
Ayamara taparacu (?) (PG)
Baagandji (New South Wales, Australia) bilyululijga
Balinese (Indonesia) kupukupu (PG)
Bangla ('Bengali', Bangladesh) projapoti, prajapati (thanks to Dr AA Rahmann, Melbourne, Australia)
Bambura dimago
Basque tximeleta, pinpirin, pinpilinpauxa
Bemba (Zambia) cipelebesha
Bengali prajapathi
Berber (North Africa) t?f?tuth (PG)
Berlinerisch (Berlin, Germany) Schmettal?ng (SG)
Breton (Brittany and Loire-Atlantique) balafenn (SG)
Bulgarian (Bulgaria) peperooda, peperootka (PG)
Buli (Gur language in N. Ghana) kpalo?
Burmese (Burma) lapia (PG)
Byelorussian matylok
Cantonese (Yale) W?h dihp (SG)
Cape Verdean Criolu gorgoleta
Carelian (Finno-Ugric Group- former province of Finland) liippo, liipponen (JS)
Catalan (Ancient) papall?
Catalan (Dialectical) paloma, palometa, babaiana
Catalan papallona (BL)
Cebuano (Philippines) Alibangbang/kaba-kaba
Central Carrier (Western Canada) tsangwelht'ah
Chamorro (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands) ababang (thanks to Diane Bachelder)
Chechen (Chechnya) polla
Cheremissian (Finno-Ugric Group) lepe, lepene (JS)
Cherokee (Native American) kamama
Cheyenne (Native American) hevavahkema
Cornish tykki-Dyw (SG)
Corsican barabulella (BL)
Croatian leptir
Czech motýl
Dagon peplim (pee plim?)
Danish (Denmark) sommerfugl (=summer bird)
Danish (N. Jutland) sommerflue
Danish (S. Jutland) skurvefugl
Deri (Afghanistan) showparak (PG)
Dhivehi (Maldives) kokaa
Djingli (Australian N.T.) marlimarlirni
Dutch (Netherlands) vlindeer; dagvlinder; vlinderslag
Dutch (Middle Dutch) viveltre (SG)
Eischwiele Platt (West German dialect) Sommevuel (SG)
English butterfly
English (Middle English) buterflie (PG)
English (Old English) buttorfleoge (PG)
Esperanto papilio
Estonian (Estonia) liblikas
Ewe (Togo) dyekpakpa (PG)
Faroese summurfuglur; firivaldur
Farsi (Persian - Iran) parvan? or parvan?h (stress on final ?-sound - PG)
Fijian (Fiji) bebe (pronounced mbeh-mbeh, 'eh' elongated) from "A New Fijian Dictionary", 1968 (Thanks to John Ragg)
Finnish (Finland) perhonen
Font (Benin) awadapepe (PG)
French papillon
Fulani (West and Central Africa) lilldeh
Futurese (The American Language in 3000AD) batuhfle (SG)
Gaelic (Ireland) f?ileac?n, follican (PG)
Gaelic (Scotland) dearbadan-de, dealan-d? (PG)
Galician volvoreta, bolboreta (BL)
Gen (Ghana) ab?be, ab?, abey (PG)
Geordie (England - Tyneside region) lowey (SG)
Georgian (Georgia, former USSR republic) pepela (PG)
German (Germany) Schmetterling
German (poetic) Falter (PG)
German (Early New High German) feifalter, sommervogel (SG)
German (Low German) Botterlicker, ?lep?le (SG)
German (Middle High German) Vivalter (SG)
German (Old High German) Fifaltra (SG)
Greek (Modern) petalou'da
Greek (Ancient) psyche
Guarani (A dialect in Paraguay) panambi (XI)
Gujarati (India) patangeo, patangiyu (PG)
Gurage (Ethiopia) billambilloot (PG)
Hadiya (Ethiopia) birabira (PG)
Hanty or Ostjak (Finno-Ugric Group Ob-Ugrian branch) lepentaj (JS)
Hausa (Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, C?te D?ivoire (Ivory Coast), Togo, Benin, Cameroon and Ghana) bude littafi, malam bu'de littafi (PG)
Hawaiian (Hawaii) pulelehua
Hebrew (Israel) parpar
Hessian (Germany) Schmedderling (SG)
Hindi (India) titli; thithili
Hmong (Vietnam) npau npaim
Hopi (Native American - USA) povolhoya (monarch: hookona)
Huastec (Mexico) lemtutu
Hungarian (Hungary) lepke
pillango, pillangok (pl)
Ibu (Nigeria) olookolombooka (PG)
Icelandic (Iceland) fi?rildi (SG)
Icelandic (Old Iceland) f?frildi (SG)
Ido (a 'universal' second language) papiliono (SG)
Igbo (Nigeria) ihe n'efe-efe or uru baba
Ila (Zambia) inkongolo; sikapempenya
Ilocano (Phillipines) kulibangbang
Indonesian kupu-kupu, rama rama
Interlingua (a universal second language) papilion (SG)
Interlingue (a universal second language) papilio (SG)
Inuit (Greenland) pakkaluak; paluak; utsuppaluak; takalekisa
Inupiak (Alaskan native language) taqalukisaq
Irish f?ileac?n (In phonetic English pronounced "faylacawn"
Italian (Italy) farfalla
Italian (Neapolitan) palomma
Jacaltec (Mexico) nam
Japanese (Japan) choo; chou chou; chocho
Javanese kupu
J?rriais (form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, Channel Islands - in decline) papillote (SG)
J?varo (Amazonian lowlands, Ecuador to Peru) w?mpishuk
Kaibab Paiute (Native American) a?c?v?tsi (? = barred-i, c = long-s)
Kalderash Romanes "Gypsy" peperuga
Kamaba (Kenya) kimbalut'ya (PG)
Kambaata (Ethiopia) bilatishu (PG)
Kannada (South India) chitta ("spots"), baruthe, barutha (PG)
Karok (NW California, nearly extinct) xatimniim
Kashmiri (India/Pakistan) titili (PG)
Kazakh (Kazakhstan) kobelek
Kikongo (Congo Brazaville) lumbebeba (PG)
Kikuyu (Kenya) kihuruta (PG)
Kinyarwanda (Rwanda) ikinyugunyugu
Kirundi (Burundi) ikinyugunyugu
Kisuaheli (Suaheli ) ikinyugunyugu
Kitaita kifurute
Koasati (Native American - AL, LA, TX - USA) hacokpalpa
Kokani (India) pakho (PG)
Konni (Gur language in N. Ghana) kpanjabi?
Korean (Korea) nahby; nabi
Kroboo (Ghana) kutuu (PG)
Kurdish (Turkey) sepirek, p?rp?ruk (PG)
Kurmanji Kurdish fepule, minni, tirtirk
Kwanyama (Namibia/Angola border) onanga
Kwara'?e: (a language of the Pacific) b?be
Kyaka Enga (East New Guinea Highlands)/TD> maemae
Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzstan) g?p?l?k
Lakhotah Sioux (Native American) kimimila (key-me'-me-lah)
Lamba (Zambia) ici-pempele
Lan (a language of the Pacific) b?be
Lao (Laos) meng kabeua; maingkabula
Latin papilio
Latvian (Latvia) taurins; tauri??
Lihua (Sudan) ukulukula (PG)
Limburgish (Limburg and Rhineland regions) vlinder, piepel (SG)
Lingala (Democratic Republic of Congo) kipouzala (PG); mpornboli
Lithuanian (Lithuania) drugelis; peteliske; petelishke
Lozi (Zambia) sipulumuki
Luganda or Ganda (Uganda) ekiwojjolo
Luise?o (Native American) av?llaka
Luo (Africa) oguyo
Lushootseed (Native American) yubec
Luxemburgish (Luxembourg) Päiperlek
Majang (Nilo-Saharan) bimbilo
Majang (Nilo-Saharan) bimbilo
Malagasy (Madagascar) lolo
Malayalam (Kerala-South India) poompatta (meaning insect like a flower)
Malay (Malaysia and Brunei) kupukupu; ramarama
Malaysian rama-rama
Maltese farfett
Mandarin - Pinyin h?di? (SG)
Mandarin - Yale h?dy? (SG)
Mandarin - Wades-Giles hu-tieh (SG)
Mandarin - Gwoyeu Romatzyh hwudye (SG)
Mandingo (Ivory Coast) vrievran (PG)
Manobo (Philipines) kelivangbang
Mansi (Finno-Ugric Group Ob-Ugrian branch) l?p??k (JS)
Manx Gaelic (Isle of Man) follican (SG)
Maori pepeké purerehua'
Mapudungun (spoken in central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche) llamp?dken (variant llamp?dke?)
Maracucho (Vicinity of Maracaibo, Venezuela) tara or tarita (XI)
Maranao (Philipines) paroparo
Marathi (India) phulpakhru, phoolpaharu (PG)
Mari (Finno-Ugric Group) lepe, lepene (JS)
Masai osampurumpuri
Mayan pepen
Mayi-Kulan (Queensland, Aus.) pardirr
Mekeo (Austronesian lang. of SE Papua) fefe; fefe-fefe
Mekeo (West) pepeo
Mende (Sierra Leone) buwa (PG)
Micmac (Eastern Canada) Miimiiges - pronounced "me me ges"
Mongolian erveehey (SG)
Mopan (Mexico) pempem
Mor? (Burkina Faso) pilimpiko; abaga (PG)
Motu (Papua) kau-bebe
Mukuni (Zambia) limpempele
Mvskoke (Creek - Native American) tvffolopv, tvffolope
Nahuatl (Aztec) paplotl; papalotl (PG)
Navajo (Native American) k'aalogii (accent on "o"); ho'o neno
Ndumba (South Africa) kaapura?rora
Nepali (Nepal) putali
Neuro (Ethiopia) mantech (PG)
Ngaju Dayak (Indonesia) kakupo
North Frisian (North Frisia, Germany - endangered) schrubf??gel, samerf??gel (SG)
Norwegian (Bokm?l) sommerfugl (SG)
Norwegian (Nynorsk) sommarfugl (SG)
Occitan parpalhol (BL)
Ojibway (Native American) memenghwaah
Oriya (India) prajapati (PG)
Oromic (Ethiopia) billaacha (PG)
Osage (Native American) dsithato?ga
Ossetian (Ossetia, on the borders of Russia and Georgia) g?l?bu (SG)
Paipai (Baja California Norte, Mexico) minmin, nyirwir, maskarap
Paiute (Native American - Western USA) tsoapu
Paiwan (native to Taiwan) kalidungudungul
Pakistan (Northern region) palmandook
Palauan (Palau, Micronesia) bangikoi
Patois of St. Thomas zanimo
Peul (Guin?e Conakry) pucharlar (PG)
Peul (Mauritania) bidilallah, bedelallah (PG)
Peul (Sierra Leone) palapala (PG)
Pittsburghese (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) dupa erfly (SG)
Polish (Poland) motyl
Portuguese (Portugal) borboleta (BL)
Quechua (Bolivia, Peru) ali?uahi(?), urubamba(?), pilpintu, pillpintu, pirpintu, pilipintu, pilhpintu (PG)
Rom or Kaalo (Gypsy language, Finland) besko-chirikli (little bird) or deulesko besko-chirikli (God's little bird)(JS)
Roma (Gypsy language, Slovakia) lepetka (PG)
Romanian (Romania) fluture, fluturi (PG); flutare (BL)
Romanish fluture, fluturi (PG); flutare (BL)
Romansh (also spelled Romansch, Rumants(c)h, or Romanche (Switzerland) tgiralla (BL)
Russian (Russia) bábochka; babochka; motyliok
Samic (Native Lappish people in Lappland) lablok (JS)
Samoan (Samoa and American Samoa) Pepe (thanks to Ama Tuatoo)
San (Bushman language) tha thava, tavalele (SG)
Sardic (Sardinia, Italy) mariavolavola (PG)
Saterfrisian (East Frisia, Germany) Flinnerke (SG)
Saterfrisian (Ut?nde) Flitterke (SG)
Senegalese lupe lupe
Sepedi (South Africa) serurubele (PG)
Serbo-Croat leptir
Setwana (Botswana) serurubele (PG)
Shona shavishavi
Shoshoni (Native American) waayapputunkih
Sidamo (Ethiopia) bilach'a (PG)
Sign Language interlocked thumbs, flapping hands like wings
Sinhala (Sri Lanka) samanalaya
Sioux (Native American) kimimi
Slavic neveah (XI)
Slovak (Slovakia) mot?l (Thanks to B. Uhrik)
Slovenian metulj
Somali (N.E. Africa) balanbaalis
Sotho (Bantu language, South Africa) sororomele; serurubele
Sorbian-Lower (Slavonic minority in Germany) mjatel or mjatelik (diminutive)
Sorbian-Upper (Slavonic minority in Germany) mjetel or mjetelčka (diminutive)
Soussous (Guin?e Conakry) chuani (PG)
Spanish mariposa
Spanish (Ancient and Dialectical) paloma, palomica ('dove')
Sranantongo (Surinam) kaperka (PG)
Stellingwarfs (Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf in Dutch province of Friesland) vlinder (SG)
Sumatra Barat (Indonesia) angiak (PG)
Swahili (Africa, Somalia to northern Mozambique) kipepeo; kungu-urumu
Swazi (Swaziland) luvivane
Swedish (Sweden) fjäril
Swedish (Old Swedish) fi?dhal
Swiss German Schm?tterling
Tagalog (Philippines) paru-paro
Tatar (a Turkic language) kübelek
Taino tanama
Taiwanese (Taiwan) o' -tiap ("moth" is ya-a
Tamil (India) vannattuppucci; pattampoochi
Telegu (India) chetakoka chiluka; sitakoka chiluka (PG)
Teso (Uganda, Kenya) eporiporit (PG)
Tewa (Native American) pojoaque
Thai (Thailand) meng peeseua; pi sugnya
Tigre (Ethiopia) tsenblale (PG)
Tigrigna (Ethiopia) tsimblalee'a (PG)
Tiwi (Melville & Bathurst Islands, Aus.) kwarikwaringa
Tok Pisin (New Guinea) bataplai; bembe
Tshiluba (Congo-Zaire) bulubulu (PG)
Tohono O'odham or Papago (Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States and northwest Mexico) hohokimal
Tok Pisin (Melanesian Pidgin) bataplai
Trukese or Chuukese (Island of Chuuk, Micronesia) nipwisipwis
Tshiluba (Zaire) bulubulu
Turkish (Turkey) kelebek
Turkmen (Turkmenistan) chuturast, kelebek (PG)
Tuvaluan (Tuvalu - a Polynesian nation of 9 islands) pepe (thanks to ST)
Tuvinian (Siberia) khovagan
Twi (Ghana) afafranto (PG)
Ukrainian (Ukraine) metelyk
Urdu (Pakistan) titli
Urubu (Nigeria) iyenye, yenj? (PG)
Uzbek (Uzbekistan) kapalak
Venda (South Africa) tshisusu
Veps (Finno-Ugric Group) lipik?ine (JS)
Vietnamese (Vietnam) buom buom; ho diep
Visayan (Philippines) kabakaba
Welsh (Wales) i?r fach yr haf (literally "little summer hen"); gl?yn byw"(roughly "living glow"); pila pala; bila bala
West Armenian titernig
Wik-Ngathan (Australia) kalpakalpay
Wolaytigna (Ethopia) mukaw (PG)
Wolof (Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania ) l?pp-l?pp bi (SG)
Xhosa (Eastern Cape) ibhabhathane
Xitchangani (Bantu lang. of Mozambique) phapharati
Yaqui (Native American - USA) vaisevo?i
Ygyde (an artificial language) ykolobo (SG)
Yiddish schmetterling; zomerfeygele ("summer bird"); flaterl; motyl
Yoruba (West Afrida - Nigeria, Benin, and Togo) labalaba
Yucatec Maya (Yucat?n Peninsula, northern Belize, parts of Guatemala) pepem
Yup'ik (Alaskan native language) Caqelngataq
Yurok (Native American, northwest California) wrrp
Zulu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) iveveshane; uvemvane; ijubajubane; itwabitwabi
!Xu (Bushman language of the Kalahari Desert Dhad'hama

NOTES:
(PG) Thanks to Pol Grymonprez of Ghent, Belgium.
(SG) Thanks to Sam Giloi
(JS) Jukka Suvisaari, heraldist, Espoo, Finland
(XI) Thanks to Ximena - xjara@puc.cl
(BL) Thanks to Bill Langlois
Thanks to J. Akers Pence of the University of Florida for some of the above.

Thanks also to Robin Allott, author of Language and Evolution

The following list was sent to us by Nicola Stratford of Australia, taken from Macquarie "Aboriginal Words" dictionary. Thanks also to Andras Rajki for additional words.

Aboriginal People: Word:
Bundjalung banjalahm
Datiwuy buurnba
Diyari karlipilhi
Gooniyandi malimali
Murrinh-Patha manman
Nyungar bataplai
Paakantyi pilyu-pilyuka
Pitjantjatjara ngutungutu
Sydney burudyara
Warlpiri pintapinta
Western Arrernte intelyapelyape
Wik-Mungkan konkoniyang
Wiradjuri buuja-buuja
Yndjibarndi gawarliwarli

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