Why Animal Sounds Are Different in Different Languages

 

Here’s a question for you: In what world do “baraag,” “toot,” “toerroe,” “baaa,” “paoh-paoh,” and “u-u-u” all mean the same thing?

It’s in the wild world of animal sounds and how they’re expressed in different human languages.

Those sounds I just made? They’re all words for the sound an elephant makes when it trumpets, expressed, respectively, in English, Finish, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian. 

And this phenomenon—whereby an animal sound is expressed quite differently in different languages—isn’t limited to elephants.

For example, in English, we think of a mouse going “squeak.” But in German, it goes “piep-piep.” And in Japanese, “chu chu.”

In English, we think of dogs going “woof” or “ruff,” but in Danish, they go “vov vov.” In German, “wau wau.” In Russian, “gav-gav.” And in French, “ouah ouah.”

The diversity is so great that it inspired Derek Abbott, a professor at the University of Adelaide in Australia, to put together a giant online spreadsheet just to list them. 

“When I was a child,” said Abbott, “it frustrated me that I couldn’t find these types of words in a dictionary. That drove me to start creating my own list.” (1)

He did this by polling scientists he meets at international conferences and asking them “What would be written in the text balloon?” coming from the mouth in cartoons of various animals.

So far, 27 scientists from 17 different countries have answered him. Despite the strangeness of the request, Abbot says, “They are always delighted to help.”

Animal Sounds Are Onomatopoeias

So, what gives? Why do different languages have such different versions of what are essentially the same sounds? Isn’t everyone around the world just imitating observable natural phenomenon?

Yes – and no.

The words for the sounds that animals make are onomatopoeias. That means they are formed from an existing sound and are intended to imitate that sound. (12)

For example, “plink” is an onomatopoeia. It’s based on the real-life sound of water falling on a hard or metallic...

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