Horas

Horas (Toba Batak: ᯂᯬᯒᯘ᯲) is the Batak word to express gratefulness, happiness, and healthiness, however it is more commonly used as a simple greeting and goodbye. It is the equivalent to "hello" or "goodbye".^[1] This word can be found in every Batak languages, with a few exceptions being; Batak Dairi and Batak Karo. The Batak Karo and the Dairi Batak has their own greetings which is mejuah-juah or njuah-juah.

Batak Languages Distribution, Red is Ales-Kluet, Orange is Karo, Yellow is Pakpak, Green is Simalungun, Blue is Toba, Purple is Angkola, Brown is Mandailing

In pop culture

In pop culture, the word horas may be found in songs, such as:

• Sai Horas Ma Ho Tu Si Boru Lomomi, a Batak song composed by Hendro Sinambela^[2]
• Anak Medan, a Batak song composed by Freddy Tambunan^[3]