diff --git a/src/app/api/telegram/webhook/__tests__/route.test.ts b/src/app/api/telegram/webhook/__tests__/route.test.ts
index ac4e3b012..ecb653d87 100644
--- a/src/app/api/telegram/webhook/__tests__/route.test.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/telegram/webhook/__tests__/route.test.ts
@@ -546,6 +546,67 @@ describe("Telegram webhook — text-message dispatch", () => {
     expect(prisma.medicationIntakeEvent.create).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  /**
+   * The bare word is an alias for `/help`. It knew "help" and "hilfe", so the
+   * four other shipped languages asking for help fell through to the intake
+   * keyword, failed it, and the handler returned without sending anything —
+   * silence, not an error. These pin one spelling per shipped language.
+   */
+  it.each([
+    ["help", 210],
+    ["Hilfe", 211],
+    ["aide", 212],
+    ["ayuda", 213],
+    ["aiuto", 214],
+    ["Pomoc", 215],
+  ])("answers the bare help word %s", async (word, updateId) => {
+    const res = await POST(
+      tgRequest({
+        update_id: updateId,
+        message: { message_id: 20, text: word, chat: { id: 7777 } },
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(sendTelegramMessage).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(vi.mocked(sendTelegramMessage).mock.calls[0][2]).toMatch(
+      /available commands/i,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("does not swallow a sentence that merely starts with a help word", async () => {
+    // The alias matches the WHOLE message; "help me log my weight" is prose
+    // the later paths should still see, not a command.
+    const res = await POST(
+      tgRequest({
+        update_id: 216,
+        message: {
+          message_id: 21,
+          text: "help me log my weight",
+          chat: { id: 7777 },
+        },
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(sendTelegramMessage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["bonjour", 220],
+    ["Hola", 221],
+    ["ciao", 222],
+    ["cześć", 223],
+  ])("answers the greeting %s", async (word, updateId) => {
+    const res = await POST(
+      tgRequest({
+        update_id: updateId,
+        message: { message_id: 22, text: word, chat: { id: 7777 } },
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(sendTelegramMessage).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(vi.mocked(sendTelegramMessage).mock.calls[0][2]).toMatch(/👋/);
+  });
+
   it("greeting like 'hi' echoes a friendly reply", async () => {
     const res = await POST(
       tgRequest({
diff --git a/src/lib/telegram-webhook-handlers.ts b/src/lib/telegram-webhook-handlers.ts
index 5d05f0239..f458bf6cc 100644
--- a/src/lib/telegram-webhook-handlers.ts
+++ b/src/lib/telegram-webhook-handlers.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
 } from "@/lib/telegram";
 import { getServerTranslator } from "@/lib/i18n/server-translator";
 import { locales, type Locale } from "@/lib/i18n/config";
+import { foldForMatch } from "@/lib/i18n/fold-for-match";
 import { recomputeMedicationComplianceForEvent } from "@/lib/rollups/medication-compliance-rollups";
 import {
   applyCanonicalSlotWrite,
@@ -43,6 +44,60 @@ import {
  * from the linked chat via `findTelegramUser` — never from the payload.
  */
 
+/* ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * Bare-word aliases.
+ *
+ * The bot's real commands are slash commands (`/help`, `/start`, `/add`) plus
+ * the `taken <name>` text command, and `telegram.helpBody` documents exactly
+ * those in all six bundles — none of that depends on the reader's language.
+ * What did depend on it were the two undocumented courtesies below, which knew
+ * English and German: "aide", "ayuda", "aiuto" and "pomoc" reached the intake
+ * keyword instead, failed it, and the handler returned without replying at all.
+ * Silence is the worst answer to someone asking for help.
+ *
+ * These are ordinary words, not app labels, so there is nothing in the bundles
+ * to derive them from. They are matched on the FOLDED text so "cześć" and
+ * "czesc" are one entry and a stray capital or accent cannot miss.
+ * ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+/** "Help", in every language the app ships. */
+const HELP_WORDS: readonly string[] = [
+  "help",
+  "hilfe",
+  "aide",
+  "ayuda",
+  "aiuto",
+  "pomoc",
+];
+
+/** Greetings the bot answers with a wave, in every language the app ships. */
+const GREETING_WORDS: readonly string[] = [
+  "hi",
+  "hello",
+  "hey",
+  "hallo",
+  "moin",
+  "bonjour",
+  "salut",
+  "hola",
+  "buenas",
+  "ciao",
+  "salve",
+  "czesc",
+  "witaj",
+  "dzien dobry",
+];
+
+/**
+ * True when the whole message is one of `words`. Folded on both sides, so the
+ * comparison is case-, accent- and punctuation-insensitive; anchored to the
+ * whole message, so "help me log my weight" is not swallowed as a command.
+ */
+function isBareCommandWord(text: string, words: readonly string[]): boolean {
+  const folded = foldForMatch(text);
+  return folded !== "" && words.includes(folded);
+}
+
 export interface TelegramUpdate {
   update_id: number;
   message?: {
@@ -1106,12 +1161,15 @@ export async function handleTextMessage(update: TelegramUpdate) {
     }
   }
 
-  // "Help" / start: accept English + German keyword aliases independent of locale
+  // Help / start. The slash commands are locale-independent by construction and
+  // are what `telegram.helpBody` documents in every bundle. The BARE word is an
+  // undocumented convenience that used to know English and German only, so a
+  // French user typing "aide" got silence — the handler falls through to the
+  // intake keyword and returns without a reply.
   if (
     /^\/help\b/i.test(text) ||
     /^\/start\b/i.test(text) ||
-    /^hilfe$/i.test(text) ||
-    /^help$/i.test(text)
+    isBareCommandWord(text, HELP_WORDS)
   ) {
     const userMsgId = message?.message_id;
     const resp = await sendTelegramMessage(
@@ -1212,10 +1270,7 @@ export async function handleTextMessage(update: TelegramUpdate) {
   }
 
   // Greeting responses (kept locale-independent)
-  const greetings = ["hi", "hallo", "hey", "moin", "hello"];
-  const lowerText = text.toLowerCase();
-  const matchedGreeting = greetings.find((g) => lowerText === g);
-  if (matchedGreeting) {
+  if (isBareCommandWord(text, GREETING_WORDS)) {
     const userMsgId = message?.message_id;
     const reply = text.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + text.slice(1).toLowerCase();
     const resp = await sendTelegramMessage(botToken, chatId, `${reply}! 👋`);