LL-L "Animal Communication" 2010.06.05 (02) [EN]

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*L O W L A N D S - L - 05 June 2010 - Volume 02*
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From: Jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>

Subject: LL-L "Animal communication" 2010.06.04 (02) [EN-NL]



Beste Ron,



you wrote:


By the way, folks, this is a case of a fairly off-List thread that would be
more suitable for the Village Commons
(http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118916521473498).



I fully agree! Nice weekend!



Jonny Meibohm

Lower Saxony, Germany



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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>

Subject: Animal communication

Thanks, Jonny.

On the other hand, the Dutch article you posted made me think about the way
animal sounds are rendered in various languages.

In particular, I was reminded that in Dutch and in Mecklenburg Low Saxon
cows say “boo” (Dutch *boe*, LS *buh*) while in German and, I think, in Low
Saxon dialects of Northwestern Germany, as in English, they tend to say
“moo” (*muh*). These two predominate in the worlds languages (are only
spelled differently).

I wonder if there used to be a “boo” continuum from Dutch all the way to
far-eastern Low Saxon, or if “boo” (*buh*) entered Eastern Low Saxon (in the
colonial dialects Marcus and I talked about recently) from the language
variants of immigrants from what are now Belgium and the Netherlands. Any
hunch, anyone?

This reminds me of a Mecklenburg Low Saxon lullaby (below given with
regularized spelling). It contains various animal sounds, and all animal
names occur in the regional diminutive with -*ing* (-*king* after a vowel) and
umlaut:

Buhköhking: buh,
brümming, brümming, buh,
Hünning, Hünning: wau wau,wau,
Katting, Katting: mau mau mau,
Äänting, Äänting: prack prack prack,
Gösing, Gösing: gigagack,
Hähning, Hähning: küükrekü —
slöppt mien Jünging bet morgen früh.

My general guide translation (with some liberties):

Moo cowsy: moo,
Grumbly, grumbly moo,
Doggy, doggy: bow wow wow,
Kitty, kitty: meow meow meow,
Ducky, ducky: quack quack quack,
Goosy, goosy: honk honk honk,
Cocky, cocky: doodle-doo,
My laddie will sleep all night through.

*Cow*: Koh > Köhking: “buh” [buː]
*Dog*: Hund > Hünning: “wau wau” [vaˑʊˈvaˑʊ]
*Cat*: Katt > Katting: “mau mau” [maˑʊˈmaˑʊ]
*Duck*: Aant > Äänting: “prack prack” [prakˈprak]
*Goose*: Goos (~ Gaus) > Gösing (~ Gäusing): “gigagack” [gigɒˈgak]
*Rooster*: Hahn > Hähning: “küükrekü” [kykreˈkyː]

Animal sounds in closely related languages:

*Cow*: Afrikaans *moe *[muː], Dutch *boe* [buː], English *moo*, German *muh*
*Dog*: Afrikaans *woef* [ʋʊf], Dutch *woef* [ʋʊf], English *bow-wow*, *arf*,
*woof*, *ruff ruff*, German *wau wau *[vaʊˈvaʊ]*, wuff wuff *[vʊfˈvʊf]
*Cat*: Afrikaans *miaau*, Dutch *miauw*, English *meow*, German *miau*
*Duck*: Afrikaans *kwak kwak*, Dutch *kwak kwak*, English *quack quack*,
German *quack quack
**Goose*: Afrikaans ?, Dutch ?, English *honk honk*, German *gigagack*
*Rooster*: Afrikaans ?, Dutch *kukeleku *[kykəleˈkyː], English *
cock-a-doodle-doo*, German *kikeriki *[kikəriˈkiː]

 What are the sounds in other Lowlands language varieties? Frisian?
Limburgish? Scots?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA



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