GREETING

Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings (as well as other members of the animal kingdom) intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship or social status between individuals or groups of people coming in contact with each other. While greeting customs are highly culture- and situation-specific and may change within a culture depending on social status and relationship, they exist in all known human cultures. Greetings can be expressed both audibly and physically, and often involve a combination of the two. This topic excludes military and ceremonial salutes but includes rituals other than gestures.

Greetings are often, but not always, used just prior to a conversation.
Some epochs and cultures have had very elaborate greeting rituals, e.g., greeting of a king.

telephone greeting

Most languages have alternate greetings to be used over the telephone. In this case, the greeting is meant to confirm whether the person on the other line is present.
The term "greeting" may also refer to a pre-recorded message replayed when the call cannot be answered.

Country/Language	Owner answers phone	Caller's response
Argentina	Hola?
Belgium and The Netherlands	using first and family name, sometimes only the first or family name is used.	Hallo met "name of caller"
Brazil	Alô?	Quem está falando?
Canada - Québec	Oui, allô?	Bonjour ! C'est (appelant) puis-je parler à (appelé) s'il vous plait ?
China - Hong Kong	Wei? / 喂?
Catalonia	Digui?
Finland	Haloo?
France	Allô?
Germany	using family name, often with first name
Hungary	Halló, jónapot kívánok! /	Halló, tessék!
Iceland	Halló?
India	Hello	Hello!
Iran	Alo. / Baleh?
Israel	Shalom.
Italy	Pronto. Chi parla?	Pronto. Sono <caller>, Parlo con <called>?
Japan	Moshi moshi / もしもし
Japan	Hai / はい	Dochirasama desuka? / どちら様ですか？
Japan	Hai / はい	Dare desuka? / 誰ですか？
Korea	Yeoboseyo? / 여보세요?	Nuguseyo? / 누구세요?
Malta	Hello?	Min hemm fuq il-linja?
Mexico	Bueno.	¿Con quien hablo?
Mongolia	сайн байна уу?	sain baina uu?
Paraguay	Hola.	Hola. ¿Con quien hablo?
Poland	Słucham. / Halo?
Portugal	Está?	Quem fala?
Romania	Alo?	Cine e?
Russia	Slushayu vas. (Allyo?) / Слушаю вас.
Spain	Diga/Digame.
Spain - Catalonia	Digui?
Turkey	Alo? (Efendim?)	Kiminle görüşüyorum?
Venezuela	¿Aló?	¿Quien habla?
Vietnam	A-lo?