<div dir="ltr">(Not exactly language policy, but still interesting...)<br><br><div class="">
<h1>How Dogs Bark in Different Languages</h1>
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Here is a list of the sounds dogs make when they bark in more than 60 languages. </div>
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<span class="">Published on November 16, 2012 by <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/experts/stanley-coren-phd-frsc" title="View Bio">Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.</a> in <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner">Canine Corner</a></span>
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<a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/punishment" title="Psychology Today looks at Punishment" class=""> </a><div class="" style="width:230px"><img src="http://images.sussexpublishers.netdna-cdn.com/article-inline-half/blogs/1987/2012/11/111018-108878.jpg" alt="dog canine language communication bark translation word" title=""></div>Almost
all dogs bark. Science has shown that virtually all dogs also can
understand the barks of other dogs regardless of where they come from,
however the way that humans hear those barks differs depending upon the
language that people speak and the culture that they live in. We humans
often try to communicate the sounds of dogs barking to other humans when
we are telling stories using common words like "woof-woof" in English.
We also write these word sounds down, particularly in things like comic
strips where a dog might be saying "arf-arf" or in children's books
where we might indicate that a dog is barking using "bow-wow."<p>Linguists
would tell you that the words that we use to represent dog barks are
based upon onomatopoeia, which is the process by which we try to
characterize a real world sound with a word that sounds something like
it. Some common examples of onomatopoeia are hiss, buzz and thud.</p> </div>
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<p>I suppose that when I posted my list of the words used to say "dog" in some 250 different languages <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201211/how-do-you-say-dog">[click here to see that list]</a>,
it was inevitable that people would start to write to me to ask if dogs
spoke different languages. Many of the queries were obviously concerned
with how people hear or interpret the sounds of dogs barking as when
they asked questions like, "Is the word 'woof' used for dog barks in all
other languages?"</p><p>The answer is that there is no universally
accepted sound that humans use to represent dog barks. Even in a single
language there may be a number of different words used for a dog's bark,
for example, in English we recognize "woof-woof," "arf-arf",
"ruff-ruff" and "bow-wow." Many languages also have different words for
the barks of large versus small dogs, thus "yip-yip" or "yap-yap" are
used in English for the barking sounds of small dogs, never for big
dogs. The only thing that seems to come close to being unanimously
agreed upon about dog barks is that dogs almost always speak twice—thus a
Hebrew dog says "hav-hav", a Japanese dog says "wan-wan" and a Kurdish
dog says "hau-hau".</p><p> Over the years I have collected over 100 dog
bark words from more than 60 different languages. So to answer the
question of how dogs bark in different languages (at least as far as
their human listeners are concerned) I have decided to give you a look
at my collection. The list is alphabetical by language, and is presented
in the format "Language → Word(s) Used For Dog Barks", where the word
for a dog's barking sound is spelled out phonetically, or at least
phonetically as I hear the word when it is spoken (except for American
Sign Language or ASL which obviously has no phonetic equivalent). If any
of you know additional words for dog barking sounds in other languages
that I may have missed, or notice any entries that I may have wrong (or
mispronounced) please feel free to send them to me and I will edit the
list accordingly.</p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline">Language → Word(s) Used For Dog Barks</span></strong></p><p> Afrikaans → blaf-blaf; woef-woef; keff-keff (small dogs)</p><p>Albanian → ham-ham</p><p>American
Sign Language (ASL) → Both closed fists held horizontally
together-fingers in towards each other. Quickly open the fists together
to expose the fingers twice.</p><p>Arabic → hau-hau; how-how</p><p>Armenian → haf-haf</p><p>Balinese → kong-kong</p><p>Basque → au-au (any dog); txau-txau (small dogs); zaunk-zaunk (large dogs); jau-jau (old dogs)</p><p>Belgian → wooah-wooah (if you believe Tintin's dog Snowy is typical)</p><p>Bengali → gheu-gheu; bhao-bhao</p><p>Bulgarian → bau-bau; jaff-jaff</p><p>Burmese → woke-woke</p><p>Catalan → bau-bau; bub-bub</p><p>Chinese-Cantonese → wo-wo; wow-wow; wong-wong</p><p>Chinese-Mandarin → wang-wang</p><p>Croatian → vau-vau</p><p>Czech → haff-haff</p><p>Danish → vov-vov; vuf-vuf</p><p>Dutch → blaf-blaf; woef-woef; waf-waf (small dogs); kef-kef (very small dogs)</p><p>English → woof-woof; ruff-ruff; arf-arf; bow-wow; yap-yap (small dogs); yip-yip (very small dogs</p><p>Esperanto → boj-boj</p><p>Estonian → auh-auh; auch-auch</p><p>Finnish →hau-hau; vuh-vuh; rauf-rauf</p><p>French →wouaff-wouaff; ouah-ouah; whou-whou; vaf-vaf; jappe-jappe (small dog)</p><p>German → wuff-wuff; vow-vow</p><p>Greek → ghav-ghav</p><p>Hebrew → hav-hav; haw-haw-how-how</p><p>Hindi → bow-bow</p><p>Hungarian → vow-vow, vau-vau</p><p>Icelandic → voff-voff</p><p>Indonesian → guk-guk; gong-gong</p><p>Irish → amh-amh</p><p>Italian → bau-bau; arf-arf</p><p>Japanese → wan-wan; kian-kian</p><p> Korean → mung-mung; wang-wang</p><p>Kurdish → hau-hau</p><p>Latvian →vau-vau</p><p>Lebanese → haw-haw</p><p>Lithuanian → au-au</p><p>Macedonian → av-av</p><p>Malay → gong-gong</p><p>Marathi → bhu-bhu; bho-bho</p><p>Nigerian (Calabar area) → wai-wai</p><p>Norwegian → voff-voff; boff-boff; vov-vov</p><p>Persian → vogh-vogh; cut-cut; bad-bad</p><p>Polish → hau-hau</p><p>Portuguese → au-au</p><p>Romanian → ham-ham; hau-hau</p><p>Russian → gav-gav; guf-guf; hav-hav; tyav-tyav (small dogs)</p><p>Serbian → av-av</p><p>Sinhala → buh-buh</p><p>Slovak → haf-haf; hau-hau</p><p>Slovene → hov-hov</p><p>Spanish → guau-guau; gua-gua; jau-jau</p><p>Swedish → voff-voff; vov-vov</p><p>Tagalog → ow-ow; baw-baw</p><p>Tamil →wal-wal, bow-bow, lol-lol</p><p>Thai → hong-hong</p><p>Turkish → hev-hev; hav-hav</p><p>Ukrainian → hau-hau; haf-haf; dzyau-dzyau</p><p>Urdu → bow bow</p><p>Vietnamese → gau-gau; wau-wau; ang-ang</p><p>Welsh → wff-wff</p><strong>Stanley Coren</strong> is the author of many books including: <a class="" href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Stanley+Coren+Dogs&x=5&y=26" target="_blank">Born
to Bark, Do Dogs Dream? The Modern Dog, Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? The
Pawprints of History, How Dogs Think, How To Speak Dog, Why We Love the
Dogs We Do, What Do Dogs Know? The Intelligence of Dogs, Why Does My
Dog Act That Way? Understanding Dogs for Dummies, Sleep Thieves, The
Left-hander Syndrome</a><br><br><a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201211/how-dogs-bark-in-different-languages">http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201211/how-dogs-bark-in-different-languages</a><br clear="all"><div><div><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------
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