hallo

Hallo is a common greeting in German and in some other languages, equivalent to "hello" in English. In German-speaking regions it is used to initiate informal conversations, greet friends and family, or to draw someone's attention. It can stand alone as a greeting or be followed by a name or phrase, for example "Hallo, Peter" or "Hallo! Wie geht es dir?"

Etymology and history: Hallo is an interjection, likely derived from an onomatopoeic shout to attract attention. Its precise origins are uncertain, but forms resembling hallo/hallo appear in German and other languages before the modern standard "hello." In English, "hallo" and the variant "hullo" circulated from the 18th and 19th centuries and contributed to the development of "hello" as the standard telephone-era greeting.

Usage and register: In written German, Hallo is capitalized as a normal word. It is less formal than "Guten Tag" and more informal than "Guten Morgen" but widely used in everyday speech, media, and digital communication. The spelling and capitalization follow standard orthography for German words.

Variants and cognates: Similar forms appear in other languages, such as Dutch hallo, Swedish hallå, Norwegian hallo or hallå, and Danish hallo. These forms share the same basic function as an informal greeting or attention-getter, though pronunciation and diacritics vary.