A dog always says “woof woof”, right? Animals sound the same all over the world. But do their sounds sound the same in different languages? Actually, no. Humans hear animal sounds and imitate them with the sounds of their own language.
Linguists call such words onomatopoeia. These include animal sounds such as “woof”, “meow” or “oink”, but also sounds from comics such as “Boom!” or “Pow!”. They do not arise by chance. Each language forms them according to its own sound rules and writes them differently. In Ukrainian, there is a separate letter for the German “sch”: “ш”. The sound remains the same, but the spelling follows different traditions. These can sometimes be very similar; for example, pig sounds in German and English follow the same spelling: “oink”.
Animal sounds from around the world
For the comparison, we asked people from different countries in our editorial office. Colleagues from Syria, Iran, Germany, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and other regions told us how animals “speak” in their native languages. Dogs, cats, roosters, pigs and ducks exist in many countries. Dogs sound different depending on the language. In Arabic, they make a “haw” (هاو) sound, in Ukrainian a “hav” (гав) sound. In Dari, their sound is often described as “hâp” (هاپ), in Farsi as “waq” (هـاپ). In West African Yoruba, the dog says “hau”. It is important to note that onomatopoeia can even differ within a language.
There is almost unanimous agreement when it comes to cats. They “speak” very clearly. In German, they say “miau”, in Arabic “miyau” (مياو), in Persian “miyu” or “mio” (ميو), in Yoruba “meaum” and in Ukrainian “nyav” (няв).
The cockerel is a very loud bird. German and Ukrainian roosters sound similar: “kikeriki” and “kukuriku” (кукуріку). In Arabic, the rooster crows “kuku kuuu” (كوكو كوو). In Dari, it sounds completely different: “bogh bogh” (بوغ بوغ) and in Farsi “guguli gugu” (قوقولى قوقو).
Pigs don’t sound the same everywhere either. In German, they say “oink”. In Ukrainian, you hear “khryu” (хрю), in Arabic “khru” (خرو خرو) and in Yoruba “mkru”.
When it comes to ducks, people in German, Arabic, Persian or Dari hear “quak” or “wak”. In Ukrainian, on the other hand, ducks say “krya” (кря).
These examples show how differently languages represent the same sounds. At the same time, they make it clear how close people are to each other in everyday life.
You can find more examples of animal sounds in different languages here:
www.blog.duolingo.com/de/tierlaute-in-verschiedenen-sprachen/
By Anastasiia Nesterova
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