We all know that the world is full of different language but did you know that animals also "speak" differently around the world, with France being no exception? We got Saari when we moved to France but we brought Poppy with us and we always joked that the two dogs would not understand each other as the "spoke" different languages! Of course dogs from the world over can happily communicate with their universal body language and bottom sniffing but it is us humans who describe their sounds differently. So when Saari barks, because she is French, she says ouah (pronounced waf) as that is what French dogs say, rather than Poppy who used to sat woof (in a very English way!). If you listen to Saari she definitely does say WAF complete, I am sure with a Gallic shrug!!
So what do other French animals "say"? Here's a list I have come up with ..
Pets
Cats: miaou and when they purr it's ron-ron (remember to roll your r when you say this)
Dogs: ouah (waf)
Horses: hiiiii
Farm Animals
Cockerels: cocorico
Sheep: bêêê
Donkeys: hee-han
Pigs: groin-groin
Hens: cot-cot
Ducks: coin-coin
Turkeys: glou-glou
Cows: meuh
Other Animals and Birds
Birds: cui-cui
Frogs: coââ-coââ
Cuckoos: coucou
Crows: croa-croa
Some, I do think, describe the animal sound better in French than the English equivalent but I have to say I have never heard Colin, our cockerel, say cocorico!! Do you know any more French animal sounds? What for example does a lion say ... or a hippopotamus for that matter. Come to think of it what does a hippo say in any language?!
This post will be linked to Animal Tales tomorrow, the weekly blog linky for all sorts of animal related posts. The next one opens on Tuesday 15th September and I'd love to see you link up with any posts (old or new) that you have about our animal friends.
A lovely lesson in French to start my day.
ReplyDeleteMerci :)
DeleteI thought about writing exactly this to link up one day here, but you've beaten me to it! As it's in my list of blog post ideas I might still do it one day but I'll have to find a different angle!
ReplyDeleteQuite often you write things I had thought about too but I don't think there is a problem writing similar blogs as we have a lot of different followers who will not have read the other blog. I've got a post on animals in French idioms brewing as well but am struggling with images.
DeleteI agree, of course we can write about the same things and have done lots, but mine was specifically for this linky so I'll have to leave it a while otherwise it is a bit boring, there's only so much you can say about meuh vs moo and ouah vs woof!
DeleteOops - sorry! We need more sangliers to come a visiting ... or maybe not!
DeleteThe Animal sounds are funny in different languages but I must admit that I was quite surprised when I found out that English cockerels say Cockadoodledoo - I grew up with them saying Cukalukalu!
ReplyDeleteI do think you are right that animals pronounce their voices differently - our Nigerian dog certainly had a different bark (on the two times in his life we heard him bark) to our Venezuelan, the English dogs all sound the same but the Kazakh dog is different again. They learn different human languages too - our Nigerian and Venezuelan dogs could 'speak' English, Dutch and Spanish.
The coin and cot-cot are spot on!
It seems that cockerels say odd things the world over. Mind you I think my hens say buk buk and my ducks say something that I can't work out how to spell! Maybe waaack? They are Muscovy ducks, though, that sound different to other ducks.
DeleteI should take a print out of this next time I visit France...in case I want to have a conversation with the local animals! Actually it's rather fascinating how the onomatopoeic sounds can vary from country to country or be incredibly similar.
ReplyDeleteLOL - I should print one off and put it in the gite!
DeleteI've always found this amusing as the animals sound the same. In German the animals have different sounds too (and probably just about every other language).
ReplyDeleteMostly true but Saari definitely says waf not woof.
DeleteRussian ducks Russian ducks крякать (kryakat) so say кря-кря (krya-krya) could it be that.....
ReplyDeleteI think it's a more soft sound for this breed - I'll have to head out and have a listen!
DeleteI enjoyed reading that post. My French language skills were never great at school, and I fear I may well struggle again, just talking to the animals. Still, at least they can't tell me how bad I am conversing with them :-)
ReplyDeleteIf you come to France then, Adam, you need to come here - our animals are bilingual ;)
DeleteI never thought of that! At least all dogs seem to sound or bark the same? Or am I wrong? ;) #animaltales
ReplyDeleteWe are sure Saari (who was born in France) barks differently to Poppy who was born in England. I shall make it my business to listen to other French dogs now LOL
Deletewe still speak to Bob in Afrikaans, although he does respond to English more often
ReplyDeleteIt generally doesn't tkae dogs long to learn another language does it?
Deletewe only use one afrikaans phrase now and when it's urgent which is 'kom' instead of 'come' as he responds to the urgency in the accent
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