Philosophers have long pondered whether a tree makes any sound if it falls and there is no one around to hear it. A more appropriate question might be what sound it would make if it fell in a different country. More accurately, what would it sound like to those who speak different languages? If English is your native tongue, you interpret the sound of a falling tree as a “crash.” For Lithuanians, the same event is a “bumpt.” The French hear a “bing,” and an Afrikaans speaker perceives a “kadoef.”
As detailed in this article, the sound a dog makes to communicate varies greatly depending on what language is being used to convey the sound. To the English speaker, a dog’s primary sound is a “bark.” To the Ukrainian ear, the same sound is a “dzyau.”
When a word that describes a sound is an approximation of the sound itself, it is known as an onomatopoeia. No one is entirely sure why language should make any difference in the way we try to articulate these sounds, but it definitely is a factor. Something as powerful as the sound of a cannon, for example, is conveyed in English as “Boom!” Mandarin Chinese, however, describes it as “ping” (乒).
Thanks to Derek Abbott at the University of Adelaide, we can see how the sounds made by animals are interpreted in various languages. Here are a few. For the full list, follow this link.
Animal Sound | Danish | Dutch | English | Finnish | French | German | Greek | Hebrew | Hungarian | Italian | Japanese | Portugese | Russian | Spanish | Swedish | Turkish | Urdu |
Bee droning | bzzz | buzz | buzz/bzzz | bzz | bzzz | summ summ | zoum zoum | bzzz | bzzz | zzzz | boon boon | zh-zh-zh | bzzz | buzz buzz | vizzz | bzzz | |
Bird (small) | pip-pip | tjiep | cheep/chirp/chirrup/peep | piip | piep piep | tsiou tsiou | tziff-tziff | csip-csirip | chip | pee pee/pii pii | fiyt-fiyt | pip-pip | jiyk jiyk | ||||
Bird (medium) | dit kari jay sige lige sa tit son jay vol | cheep cheep/tweet | tsirk/piip | cui cui | tschiwitt | tsiou tsiou | csirip | chip | pio | pío pío | pip-pip | juyk juyk | |||||
Bird (big) | squawk | kvak | kra kra | hihihi/chip (loudly) | ouh-ouh | ||||||||||||
Bird (many birds) | warble/twitter | chip chip | |||||||||||||||
Camel nuzzing | grumph | ga-a-a-a-h | |||||||||||||||
Cat mewing | miav | miauw | meow | miau | miaou | miau | miaou | miyau | miau | miau | nyan nyan/nyaa nyaa | miyau | miao | mjan mjan | miyav | meow | |
Cat purring | pierr | prrr | purr | hrr | ronron | srr | doromb | purr | goro goro | mrrr | rrr | ||||||
Chaffinch | pink | ||||||||||||||||
Chicken (hen) clucking | tok tok | cluck cluck | kot-kot | cotcotcodet | tock tock | ko ko ko/ka ka ka | chuck-chuck | kot kot | coccodé | ku-ku-ku-ku/ko-ko-ko-ko | ko-ko-ko | caca-racá/cocorocó/ | ock-ock | gut gut gdak | |||
Rooster (cock) crowing | kykyliky | kukeleku | cock-a-doodle-doo | kukko kiekuu | cocorico | kikeriki | kikiriku/kikiriki | coo-koo-ri-koo | kukuriku | chicchirichí | ko-ke-kok-ko-o | cucurucu | kukareku | quiquiriquí/kikiriki | kuckeliku | kuk-kurri-kuuuu uru uuu (pron: oo-oore-oo) | kuklooku |
Chick (baby chicken) | pip-pip | piep piep | cheep/peep | piip | piou piou | piep piep | ko ko ko | csip-csip | pio pio | piyo piyo | pi-pi-pi | pi-pi | pip-pip | jiyk jiyk | tsik-tsik | ||
Cow lowing | moe/boe | moo | ammuu/möö (calf) | meuh | mmuuh | moo | moo | mu | muu | mau mau | mu-u-u | muuu/meee | mu mu | mooo (pron: meuh) | baeh | ||
Cow/Bull (angry) snorting | snurk | snort | pärsk | pfff | buff | ||||||||||||
Crane | clang | ||||||||||||||||
Crocodile (biting) | klap | snap | clap | klap | gnam | clap/clack | |||||||||||
Crow cawing | kra-kra | kra kra | kaak/caw | kraa/vaak | croa croa | kräh kräh | kra-kra | krak-krak | kár-kár | cra cra | kar-kar | kar-kar | ah ah | kra kra | gaak gaak | ||
Cuckoo | koekoek | cuckoo | kukkuu | coucou | kuckuck | cuckoo | kakukk | cucú | kakko-kakko/tokkyo-kyoka-kyoku (baby cuckoo) | ku-ku | cu-cu | ko-ko | |||||
Deer | troat | ||||||||||||||||
Donkey braying | i-a | hee haw/eeyore | hihan | iaah iaah | iaa iaa | yi-ah | iá-iá | ioh ioh | ia-ia | iha iha/ji-jo | a-iiii a-iiii | ||||||
Dog barking (small dog) | vov-vov (in a high voice) | waf waf | yap yap/arf arf | hau hau | ouah ouah (in a high voice) | wau wau (in a high voice) | how-how | vau vau | arf arf/bau bau | kian kian | hav-hav/gav-gav | guau/gua | bjäbb-bjäbb | hev hev | |||
Dog barking (medium dog) | vov-vov | woef woef | woof woof/ruff ruff | vuff | ouah ouah | wau wau | gav gav | woof-woof | vau vau | bau bau | wan wan | hav-hav/gav-gav | guav | vov-vov/voff | hauv hauv | ||
Dog barking (big dog) | vov-vov (in a low voice) | bow wow | vuff/rouf | ouah ouah (in a low voice) | wuff wuff | vau vau | bau bau | wan wan | hav-hav/gav-gav | guf guf | hov hov | bow bow | |||||
Dog (biting) | gnash/snap | naps | gnam | gari gari | chac | ||||||||||||
Dog (gnawing bone) | knor | chomp/chump/gnaw | chrong | paku paku | chua-chua | haart haart | | ||||||||||
I’ve often wondered about this…
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This was fun! When still living in Australia, my Japanese friend and I used to read little kids books to our offspring and realized by oursevelves that animals make completely different noises in English, German and Japanese 🙂
I believe it works the other way around, too. Our cat from Egypt (long story that) adapted a miau that sound like the German ‘hunger’ for when she wants treats. Love your fun facts!!
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Thanks so much! You just inspired me to do some research about the way different cultures tell the same children’s stories. I suspect there might be some fun stuff there.
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