Stupid animal sounds
Occasionally in raising Adam, Magda and I have had occasion to question our cultural and linguistic baggage (here and here, for example). Here we go again.
Me: [singing] Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o. [Magda joins in]
And on that farm he had some pigs, e-i-e-i-o. With a…
Magda: I don’t know what noise pigs make.
Me: oink-oink.
Magda: What is that?
Me: Oink. The noise pigs make.
Magda: [firmly] No.
Me: What do you mean, ‘no’?
Magda: Pigs don’t go ‘oink’.
Me: Okay, what do pigs say?
Magda: [tentatively] Eeeh-houw…?
Me: That’s a donkey.
Magda: Well, no pig ever said ‘oink’.
You would think that onomatopoeia would be more universal. It certainly is stupid. Which of our languages has the silliest animal noises? To further this discussion I’ve put together this table (which is sure to contain errors — as in any language-related post, we welcome corrections). In the interest of impartiality, a moderator appears in the fourth column.
| ENGLISH | POLSKI | SLOVENSKI | ESPERANTO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pigs grunt: “OINK!” |
Swinia chrumka (chrzaka): “CHRUM!” |
Prašič kruli: “KRUL-KRUL!”* |
Porkoj gruntas: “GRUNT!” |
| Donkeys bray: “HEE-HAW!” |
Osiol ryczy: “IHA, IHA!” |
Osel riga: “KROHOT” / “IA IA!”* (?) |
Azenoj iaas: “IA!” |
| Cows low: “MOO!” |
Krowa ryczy (muczy): “MUUUUU!” |
Krava muka: “MUU-MUU!” |
Bovoj muĝas: “MUU!” |
| Sheep bleat: “BAAAH!” |
Owca meczy (chrzaka): ” MEEEEEE!” / “BE, BE!” |
Ovca bleje: “BEE-BEE!” |
Sxafoj beas (aw mekas): “B-E-E-E!” / “MEK!” |
| Roosters** crow or vex: “COCK-A- DOODLE-DOO” |
Kura gdacze: “KO KO KO!” |
Pišanec čivka: “ČIV-ČIV!” |
Virkokoj kokerikoas: “KOKERIKO!” |
| Dogs bark: “BOW-WOW!” / “ARF-ARF!” |
Pies szczeka: “HAU HAU!” |
Pes laja: “HOV-HOV!” |
Hundoj bojas: “BOJ!” |
| Cats meow: “MEOW!” / “MIAOW!” |
Kot miauczy: “MIAU!” |
Mačka mijavka: “MIJAU!” |
Katoj miawas: “MIAW!” |
*Thanks to ka-ma for input on these (see comments)
**This row is problematic; I could find information only for the male of the species in Esperanto, while the Slavic birds are more like “chicken”. Also, “cock-a-doodle-doo” is the most egregiously silly sound in the table, and I feel stupid just typing it.
I am indebted to the Georgetown University Sounds of the World’s Animals page for much of the above information.
Hi!
I just recently discovered this page and I find it immensly amusing! Here is just a few things to add to your animal sounds list in the Slovenian part of the column
SLOVENSKO:
-PRASIC KRULI krul-krul or sometimes even oink-oink
-OSEL RIGA ia-ia
-as for the PISCANEC….more adequately it would be PETELIN KIKIRIKA – kikiriki!
(Yes, we do have names for the rest of the rooster’s family too: piscanec is a litle chick, kokos or kura is a chicken)There might even be some other variations to all the sounds according to local dialects….but I am sure you don’t want to go too deeply into this….
ka-ma
Comment by ka-ma — Friday 21 October 05 @ 01.49 MDT+2.00
Thanks, ka-ma, for the help with the pig sound (so controversial in our house). The rule I set for myself was that I wouldn’t include any animal for which I couldn’t find both verb and “SOUND!”. This is why I didn’t go into the full chicken family discussion. That and laziness.
Comment by sgazzetti — Friday 21 October 05 @ 09.00 MDT+2.00
Hey John!
I was meaning to do a post on this for a long time, so that’s great timing!
I also found a WILD difference among onomatopoeia. Check these out (in Spanish):
pig: el cerdo o chancho hace OINK ???
donkey: el asno o burro ???
cow: la vaca muje MUUUUUUUUUUU
sheep: la oveja bala MEEEE (interesting, in Spanish, the bilabial consonants get mixed up)
rooster: el gallo canta QUI-QUI-RI-QUIIIII (just like in Slovenian, go figure)
dog: el perro ladra GUAU
cat: el gato maúlla MIAU
cat 2: el gato ronronea (purrs)
What the hell were we thinking? :-)
Comment by Carlitos Yoder — Friday 21 October 05 @ 16.11 MDT+2.00
Do you want me to give them for Japanese too? Just for curiosity’s sake.
Comment by jdog — Friday 21 October 05 @ 21.53 MDT+2.00
[...] 7;s made of extra-thick plywood so that it can accommodate the batteries that generate the meows and woofs and whatnot when you match the animals with their voids. Ex [...]
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