Animals don’t make the same noises in each language, which is something quirky and interesting to understand when learning a new language. Have you ever wondered what noises animals make in Chinese? The nature of different animal sounds in each language doesn’t actually mean the animals make different sounds, it just means that we ‘translate’ the animal noises in each language into words we can pronounce.
In English, does go ‘woof’, in Spanish ‘guau’ and in French ‘ouaf’. You might be surprised to learn that in Chinese the dog sound ‘woof’ is interpreted as ‘wàng’.
What are some animal noises in Chinese?
- Duck
Chinese Simplified: 呱呱 – guā guā
Chinese Traditional: 呱呱 – guā guā
English: quack quack
- Chicken
Chinese Simplified: 咯咯 – gēgē
Chinese Traditional: 咯咯 – gēgē
English: cluck cluck
- Cow
Chinese Simplified: 哞 – mōu
Chinese Traditional: 哞 – mōu
English: moo
- Sheep
Chinese Simplified: 咩 – miē
Chinese Traditional: 咩 – miē
English: baa
- Pig
Chinese Simplified: 哼哼 – hēng hēng
Chinese Traditional: 哼哼 – hēng hēng
English: oink oink
- Horse
Chinese Simplified: 嘶 – sī
Chinese Traditional: 嘶 – sī
English: neigh
- Bird
Chinese Simplified: 叽叽 – jī jī
Chinese Traditional: 嘰嘰 – jī jī
English: tweet tweet
- Snake
Chinese Simplified: 咝 – sī
Chinese Traditional: 噝 – sī
English: hiss
- Bee
Chinese Simplified: 嗡嗡 – wēng wēng
Chinese Traditional: 嗡嗡 – wēng wēng
English: buzz
- Rabbit
Chinese Simplified: 蝈蝈 – guō guō
Chinese Traditional: 蟈蟈 – guō guō
English: ribbit ribbit
What are the animal sounds in your language? We’d love to hear from you on our social media channels!
In the meantime, why not learn how to say the seven days of the week in Chinese?
