Talking Like the Animals
By Gerald Erichsen, About.com Guide
Words for Animals Sounds Vary by Language
http://spanish.about.com/od/spanishvocabulary/a/animalsounds.htm
If a cow says "moo" in English, what does she say in Spanish? Mu, of course.
But when we're talking about sounds that animals make, it isn't always that simple. Although the words we give
to animal sounds are an example of onomatopoeia (onomatopeya in Spanish), meaning words that are intended to
imitate sounds, those sounds aren't perceived the same in all languages or all cultures.
For example, take the lowly frog, who says "ribbit" when he's in the United States. But according to a compilation
done by Catherine Ball of the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, the source of much of the
information in this article, take that same frog to France, and he says "coa-coa." Take him to Korea, and he says
"gae-gool-gae-gool." And in Argentina he says "¡berp!"
Following is a chart showing the sounds that some animals make in Spanish, the corresponding verbs forms
where they exist (in parentheses), and English equivalents. Keep in mind that some of these terms can vary by
country, and that there very well may be other terms in use. That shouldn't be surprising — after all, in English
we use words such as "bark," "bow-wow," "ruff-ruff" and "arf" to imitate the sound of a dog. There also may be a
variety of spelling alternatives.
Note also that in Spanish it is possible to use the verb hacer to put a sound in verb form. For example, one
could say "the pig oinks" by saying "el cerdo hace oink-oink."
The following list shows the sounds made by various "Spanish-speaking" animals. Special verb forms, where they
exist, are in parenthesis following the word(s) for the sound. English forms follow the dash:
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abeja (bee): bzzz (zumbar) — buzz
búho (owl): uu uu (ulular) — who, hoo, hoot
burro (donkey): iii-aah (rebuznar) — heehaw
caballo (horse): jiiiiiii, iiiiou (relinchar) — neigh, n-a-a-a-y
cabra (goat): bee bee (balar) — b-a-a-a-a
cerdo (pig): oink-oink, oinc-oinc (grunir) — oink
cuco (cuckoo): cúcu-cúcu — cuckoo
cuervo (crow): cruaaac-cruaaac — caw
gallina (hen): coc co co coc (cacarear), kara-kara-kara-kara — cluck
gallo (rooster): kikirikí, ki-kiri-ki (cantar) — cock-a-doodle-doo
gato (cat): miau (maullar) — meow
león (lion): grrrr, grgrgr (rugir) — roar, growl
oveja (sheep): bee, mee (balar) — b-a-a-a-h
mono (monkey): i-i-i
paloma (dove): cu-curru-cu-cú (arrullar)) — coo
pato (duck): cuac cuac — quack
pavo (turkey): gluglú — gobble
perro (dog): guau guau, guau (ladrar) — bark, bow-wow, arf, ruff
pollito (chick): pío pío — chirp
rana (frog): cruá cruá, berp, croac (croar) — ribbit, croak
tigre (tiger): ggggrrrr, grgrgr (rugir) — roar, growl
vaca (cow): mu, muuu (mugir) — moo