Animal Sounds in Spanish

Animal Sounds in Spanish If a cow says moo in English, what does she say in Spanish? Mu, of course. But, when we are talking about the sounds that animals make, it is not always that simple. Although the words we give to animal sounds are an example of onomatopoeia (onomatopeya in Spanish), meaning words that are intended to imitate sounds, those sounds are not perceived the same in all languages or cultures. A Frog Makes a Different Sound For example, take the lowly frog, who says ribbit when he is in the United States. According to a language compilation done by Catherine Ball of the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, the source of much of the information in this article, if you take that same frog to France, he will say coa-coa. Take the frog to Korea, and he will say gae- gool-gae-gool. In Argentina, he says  ¡berp! Terms Vary by Country and Culture Below, you will find a chart that details the sounds that some animals make in Spanish, the corresponding verbs forms where they exist (in parentheses) and its English equivalents. Keep in mind that some of these terms can vary by country  and that there very well may be other additional terms in use. Having a variation of other terms should not be surprising, as in the English language we use a variety of words such as bark, bow-wow, ruff-ruff and arf to imitate the sound a dog makes. There also may be a variety of spelling alternatives to these animal sounds. Also, note that in Spanish it is possible to use the verb hacer to put a sound in verb form. For example, one could say the pig oinks by saying el cerdo hace oink-oink. List of Sounds by Spanish Speaking Animals The following list of animal sounds shows the sounds made by various Spanish-speaking animals. You will notice that some terms are similar to English, such as abeja  (bee) sounding like bzzz  similar to  our buzz. Special verb forms, where they exist, are noted in parenthesis following the word(s) for the animal sound. English forms follow the dash. See the animal sounds list below: Abeja (bee): bzzz (zumbar) - buzzBà ºho (owl): uu uu (ulular) - who, hoo, hootBurro (donkey): iii-aah (rebuznar) - heehawCaballo (horse): jiiiiiii, iiiiou (relinchar) - neigh, n-a-a-a-yCabra (goat): bee bee (balar) - b-a-a-a-aCerdo (pig): oink-oink, oinc-oinc (grunir) - oinkCuco (cuckoo): cà ºcu-cà ºcu - cuckooCuervo (crow): cruaaac-cruaaac - cawGallina (hen): coc co co coc (cacarear), kara-kara-kara-kara - cluckGallo (rooster): kikirikà ­, ki-kiri-ki (cantar) - cock-a-doodle-dooGato (cat): miau (maullar) - meowLeà ³n (lion): grrrr, grgrgr (rugir) - roar, growlMono (monkey): i-i-iOveja (sheep): bee, mee (balar) - b-a-a-a-hPaloma (dove): cu-curru-cu-cà º (arrullar)) - cooPato (duck): cuac cuac - quackPavo (turkey): gluglà º - gobblePerro (dog): guau guau, guau (ladrar) - bark, bow-wow, arf, ruffPollito (chick): pà ­o pà ­o - chirpRana (frog): cru cru, berp, croac (croar) - ribbit, croakTigre (tiger): ggggrrrr, grgrgr (rugir) - roar, growlVaca (cow): mu, mu uu (mugir) - moo