When humans describe barking, the sounds they ascribe to dogs are all a bit different, depending on the language spoken.
- French: Wouaff Wouaff!
- English: Woof Woof! Bow Wow! Ruff Ruff! Arf Arf! (large dogs); Yap Yap (small dogs)
- German: Wau Wau!
- Estonian: Auh Auh!
- Finnish: Hau Hau!
- Arabic: Hau hau!
- Italian: Bau Bau!
- Tagalog: Ow Ow!
- Hindi - Bho Bho!
- Japanese: Wan Wan!
- Mandarin: Wang Wang!
- Greek: Gav Gav!
- Russian: Gav Gav!
- Spanish: Gau Gau!
- Indonesian: Guk Guk!
- Swedish: Vov Vov!
- Thai - Hoang Hoang!
- Korean: Mong Mong!
- Lebanese: Haw Haw!
- Hebrew: Hav Hav!
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In my various travels in Latin America I've heard them use "Wau Wau" instead of "Gau Gau."
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in Hawaii and would give Japanese tourists a tour around a large private ranch I would ask then what sound a cow makes when we passed the cows. Their answer was invariably "Mow" (as in 'mow the lawn'). I told them that since these cows were in the U.S. they spoke English and said "Moo". You'd be amazed at how many would say, "Wow, it's true! I can hear them and they're saying Moo!"
ReplyDeleteIt's true how they say English is a technical language... we have 5 different ways of saying 'bark'!
ReplyDeleteI'm always fascinated by all the various words we have for describing the same thing, only a bit different.
Polish: Hau hau!
ReplyDeleteAnother version in Russian: Tyaf tyaf!
In Chinese it's " wang wang"
ReplyDeleteLisa wrote: In my various travels in Latin America I've heard them use "Wau Wau" instead of "Gau Gau."
ReplyDelete"Gau Gau" is pronounced "Wau Wau."
A Spanish-speaker I met one time with a dog named Güera ["white girl"] spelled it "Weda" so that non-Spanish-speakers would pronounce it better. Yes, the dog was white!