Greeting

Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between individuals or groups of people coming in contact with each other.

Examples are "Good day" in English, "Drud" in Persian, "Sat Shri Akaal" in Punjabi, "As-salamu alaykum" in Arabic, "Aloha" in Hawaiian, "Shalom" in Hebrew, "Namaste" in Hindi, "Ayubowan" in Sri Lanka "Sawatdi" in Thai and "Ciao" in Italian.

The Arabic term salaam (literally "peace", from the spoken greeting that accompanies the gesture), refers to the practice of placing the right palm on the heart, before and after a handshake.

While same-sex people (men or women) will shake hands, kiss on the cheek and even hug multiple times, a man and woman greeting each other in public will not go further than a handshake.

The most common Chinese greeting, Gongshou, features the right fist placed in the palm of the left hand and both shaken back and forth two or three times, it may be accompanied by a head nod or bow.

In India, it is common to see the Namaste greeting (or "Sat Sri Akal" for Sikhs) where the palms of the hands are pressed together and held near the heart with the head gently bowed.

Among Christians in certain parts of the world such as Poland, the greeting phrase "Praise the Lord" has had common usage, especially in the pre-World War II era.

[4][5][6] Adab, meaning respect and politeness, is a hand gesture used as a secular greeting in South Asia, especially of Urdu-speaking communities of Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, and Bengal in India, as well as among the Muhajir people of Pakistan.

[7] The gesture involves raising the right hand towards the face with palm inwards such that it is in front of the eyes and the fingertips are almost touching the forehead, as the upper torso is bent forward.

Javanese, Batak and other ethnicities currently or formerly involved in the armed forces will salute a government-employed superior, and follow with a deep bow from the waist or short nod of the head and a passing, loose handshake.

Muslim men will clasp both hands, palms together at the chest and utter the correct Islamic slametan (greeting) phrase, which may be followed by cheek-to-cheek contact, a quick hug or loose handshake.

Pious Muslim women rotate their hands from a vertical to the perpendicular prayer-like position in order to barely touch the fingertips of the male greeter and may opt-out of the cheek-to-cheek contact.

The traditional Javanese Sungkem involves clasping the palms of both hands together, aligning the thumbs with the nose, turning the head downwards and bowing deeply, bending from the knees.

In rural Burundi, familiar women greet each other in a complex interlocking vocal rhythm called akazehe, regardless of the meeting's contextual occasion or time.