Learn How to Speak Like Chinese Animals With These Beastly Onomatopoeia

Huang Chenkuang | Sep 27, 2021 8:30 am | Add a comment | 1243 reads

Animals living in different parts of the world largely all "speak" the same language, yet how we humans hear, write, and vocalize those sounds varies widely depending on where we're from and which language we speak. Animal noises in Chinese are also doubly interesting given that they must adhere to sounds of preexisting words, making for some truly interesting-sounding pets (for example, Chinese dogs bark wāngwāng, not woof woof). You may also be surprised by how many others sound like their English counterparts.

Here are the Chinese onomatopoeia (拟声词 nǐ shēng cí) of some common animal noises, with the English equivalent at the end.

Bee - 嗡嗡 wēng wēng - buzz

Bird - 叽叽喳喳 jīji zhāzhā - tweet

Cat - 喵 miāo - meow

Cow - 哞哞 mōu mōu - moo moo

Chick - 唧唧 jījī - cheep cheep

Chicken - 咯咯 gēgē - chirp chirp

Cicada - 知了知了 zhīliǎo zhīliǎo - chirp chirp

Crickets - 口瞿口瞿 qūqū- chirp chirp

Dogs - 汪汪 wāngwāng - woof woof

Ducks - 嘎嘎 gāgā - quack quack

Frogs - 呱呱 guāguā - croak croak

Goats and sheep - 咩 miē - baa

Mice and rats - 吱吱 zhī zhī - squeak squeak

Mosquitoes - 哼哼 hēng hēng - buzz buzz

Pigs - 哼哼 hēnghēng - oink oink

Roosters - 喔喔 wōwō - cock-a-doodle-doo

Snake - 咝 sī - hiss

Furthermore, just like in English, there are also various names for the type of sounds animals make (roar, growl, hiss). Here are 10 of the most common examples:

鹤唳 hè lì - cranes whoop

虎啸 hǔ xiào - tigers roar

狼嚎 láng háo - wolves howl

鹿鸣 lù míng - deer bleat

马嘶 mǎ sī - horses neigh

犬吠 quǎn fèi - dogs bark

狮吼 shī hǒu - lions roar

熊咆 xióng páo - bears growl

猿啼 yuán tí - apes whistle

狐狸... húlí - fox... wait, what does the fox say?

READ: Where to Adopt Rescue Animals in Beijing

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Email: kuang@thebeijinger.com