In different countries, people speak different languages. That includes onomatapoeia, as I learned in high-school Japanese. Apparently dogs go, “Wan! Wan!” Stupid Japanese people. Dogs go, “Woof! Woof!” This is why you lost the war. NationMaster (which is pretty cool) has a list of different onomatapoeia from around the world for the sound a cock makes. Cock.
The list is below, but that’s not the point of this post. I have found something very much cooler. Quack Project has mp3s of little kids from around the world doing their locally flavoured impression of farm-animal noises. In addition to being fascinating, it is also four times as cute as a button. And it’s not just the language filters on the ears. Animals, like cows and birds, actually have different accents depending on where they’re from.
Here’s the list:
- Arabic – KooKooKoo-koo
- Chinese – goh-geh-goh-goh
- Dutch – kukeleku
- French – cocorico
- German – kikeriki
- Greek – kikiriku
- Hebrew – ku-ku-ri-ku
- Italian – chicchirichì
- Japanese – ko-ke kokkoh
- Korean – k’ok’iyo
- Polish – kukuryku
- Portuguese – Cócórócócó
- Russian – ku-ka-rye-ku
- Spanish – kikiriki
- Swahili – KokoRikoo koo
- Swedish – kuckeliku
- Gujarati – kuk-de-kuk
There’s an interesting review of the “cows have regional accents” story over at Language Log:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003493.html
It seems pretty clear it’s terrible science reporting by the BBC.
My favourite Japanese onomatopoeia is their sound for boiling water. “Schucka-schucka-schucka” I’d render it. The Japanese person I was talking to was quite surprised I didn’t know what they were referring to.