Onomatopoeia II

第174課: 擬声語 II: 鳴き声

Everyone likes animals. Haven’t you seen some today at work or school? Jokes aside, languages are not in agreement about what animals sound like. Sometimes they may sound similar across unrelated languages, but usually they don’t.  

Curriculum Note: This lesson is currently a stub lesson and will be expanded over time.  

Animal Sounds

The following table lists the most important animal sounds in Japanese. See how different they are? Many exist for birds.

 Dog ワンワン・キャンキャン Cat ニャーニャー
 Cow モーモー Bee ブンブン
 Mouse チューチュー Pig ブーブー
 Chicken コケコッコー Horse ヒヒーン
 Frog ケロケロ・ゲロゲロ Big cat ガオー
 Duck ガーガー Owl ホーホー
 Elephant パオーン Ape ウホウホ
 Cricket コロコロ Bird チッチッ
 Katydid ガチャガチャ Chick ピヨピヨ
 Sheep/goat メーメー Crow カーカー
 Fox コンコン Dove ポッポ
 Pheasant ケンケン Sparrow チュンチュン
 Warbler ホーホケキョ Common cuckoo カッコー
 Lesser cuckoo テッペンカケタカ  Kite ピーヒョロロ