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Cross-linguistic onomatopoeias

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Template:Contains Indic text Because of the nature of onomatopoeia, there are many words which show a similar pronunciation in the languages of the world. The following is a list of some conventional examples:

Human sounds

Baby crying

Bite

Burp

Fart

Food being eaten

Heart beating

Hushing

Kiss

Laughter

  • In Afrikaans, ha ha ha
  • In Arabic hà hà hà, hee hee
  • In Armenian "քա քա քա," "չա չա չա" ka ka ka, cha cha cha
  • In Asturian ḥa ḥa ḥa, ḥe ḥe ḥe
  • In Batak, kakak
  • In Bulgarian, "хахаха, хехехе, хихихи" hahaha, hehehe, hihihi
  • In Catalan, hahaha, hehehe
  • In Chinese, Mandarin hā hā 哈哈,[zho 4] hē hē 呵呵,[zho 5] xī xī 嘻嘻[zho 6] hēi hēi 嘿嘿
  • In Czech, ha ha, cha cha [xa xa], chi chi [xi xi]
  • In Danish, ha ha, hi hi, hæ hæ, ho ho, ti hi
  • In Dutch, haha, hihi
  • In English, hahah, heh heh, hohoho, (tee)heehee
  • In Estonian, haha, hahhah, hehe, hehheh, hihi
  • In Finnish, haha, hahhah, hehe, hehheh, hihi, hihhih (girly)
  • In French, hahaha, héhéhé, hihihi, hohoho
  • In German, hahaha, hihihihi
  • In Greek: haha χαχα, hehe χεχε
  • In Hebrew, xà xà xà חָה־חָה־חָה[heb 1]
  • In Hungarian, haha, hehe, hihi
  • In Icelandic, haha, hehe, (tittering or laughter) híhí
  • In Indonesian, hahaha, hehehe, wakakaka, 'wkwkwk'
  • In Italian, ah, ah, eh, eh, ih, ih, uh, uh
  • In Japanese, ahaha あはは, フフ (fu fu)
  • In Korean, hahaha 하하하, kekeke 케케케
  • In Latvian, ha ha
  • In Lithuanian, cha cha
  • In Marathi, ha ha हा हा, kho kho खो खो (loud laughter)
  • In Nepali, ha, ahaha
  • In Persian, hā-hā, he-he, qah-qāh
  • In Polish, hahaha, hihi, hehe, hohoho
  • In Portuguese, hahaha, kakaka
  • In Romanian, ha-ha, hi-hi
  • In Russian, haha хаха, hihi хихи, hèhè хехе
  • In Serbian, hahaha хахаха, "hihihi" хихихи
  • In Spanish, jajaja, jejeje
  • In Tagalog, hahaha, hehehe, hihihi
  • In Thai, ฮ่า ๆ ๆ (hahaha)
  • In Turkish, haha, hehe, hihi (girly), kikir (girly, sarcastic), hoho (sarcastic)
  • In Vietnamese, ha ha, hi hi, hô hô

Liquid being drunk

Scream

Shriek

Sneeze

Snoring

Stuttering

Thinking/Pause

Throat swallowing

Tooth brushing

Yawning

Animal sounds

Bee buzzing

Bird singing

Cat meowing

Chicken clucking

Cow mooing

Crow calling

Dog barking

Dog or wolf howling

Donkey braying

Duck calling

Eagle soaring

Elephant trumpeting

Frog croaking

This may differ according to the species of frog common in each language's speech area.

Goose calling

Horse whinnying

Horse trotting

Lion roaring

Monkey chatting

  • In English, oo-ooh a-aah
  • In Czech, u-u e-e
  • In French, Ouah ah ah hein
  • In Hebrew, -u-u a-àh אוּ־אוּ אַ־אָה
  • In Italian, u-u-ah-ah-ah
  • In Japanese, u-ki-u-ki ウキウキ
  • In Portuguese, u-u-u-u, u-u-ááá
  • In Russian, chi-chi-chi чи-чи-чи
  • In Thai, เจี๊ยก ๆ (chiak chiak)

Owl hooting

Pig grunting

Rooster crowing

Sheep bleating

Snake hissing

Collisions, bursts, and strikes

Balloon or bubble bursting

Cannon firing; gunshot; machine gun fire

  • In Albanian, pam; tak
  • In Arabic, bom; bov, tokh طخ
  • In Bulgarian, "бум"(bum), "кх"(kh), тататата (tatatata)
  • In Catalan, buuum, pumba; pam, pum; ratatatatà
  • In Chinese, Mandarin, pēng 砰; ping, pa 乒, 啪; da da da... 嗒嗒嗒 [citation needed]
  • In Czech, bum, prásk, ratatata
  • In Danish, bang, bum
  • In Dutch, boem; pang, pauw; ratatata
  • In English, bam, boom, blam, kaboom; bang, pow; rat-at-at-at-at-at, gat-gat-gat-gat, dakka-dakka
  • In Estonian, põmm, kõmm; pauh, karpauh
  • In Finnish, pum; pam; ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, rä-tä-tä-tä-tä-tä
  • In French, boum; pan
  • In German, bumm, rumms, kawumm; peng, puff, päng; rat-tat-tat-tat
  • In Greek, cabum, bum μπουμ, bam μπαμ; bam, pan, piu-piu (mainly by kids); trrrrrr
  • In Hebrew, bum בּוּם
  • In Hindi, thaa
  • In Hungarian bumm, dörr; ratata, trrrrr
  • In Icelandic, búmm; bamm
  • In Indonesian, dor,
  • In Italian, bum; bang; pum
  • In Japanese, バーンバーン (bān bān), dōn ドーン, bakyūn バキューン
  • In Kannada, dum, dhaam
  • In Kazakh, bydyrsch быдырщ
  • In Korean, bbang
  • In Latvian, bum
  • In Lithuanian, bumpt, bum, pokšt
  • In Persian, bang
  • In Macedonian, bum бум; pau пау; ra ta ta ta ра та та та
  • In Polish, bum-bum; bang-bang, pif-paf and others; tra ta ta ta ta
  • In Portuguese, bam, boom, cabum; ,pum; ratátátá
  • In Romanian, bum; poc
  • In Russian, ba-bakh ба-бах; pif-paf пиф-паф; tra-ta-ta тра-та-та
  • In Sinhalese, ḍisum ඩිසුම්; ḍung ඩුං; ḍaka-ḍaka-ḍaka ඩක-ඩක-ඩක
  • In Spanish, pum; bang; praca
  • In Swedish, bom; pang, bang
  • In Tagalog, boom; boogsh
  • In Tamil, dishum
  • In Telugu, dishyoom
  • In Thai, ตูม (tuum, cannon firing); ปัง (pang, gunshot)
  • In Turkish, bom; bam, dıkşınyaa (by kids)
  • In Uropi, bam (cannon), pang (gun)
  • In Vietnamese, đoàng (louder); pằng (quieter); bùm (usually for cannons)

Crash

Door or floor creaking

Engine back-firing while freewheeling

  • In Batak, put-put-put, doput-doput
  • In Italian, rrra-tatatatata...
  • In Romanian, pâr pâr
  • In Russian, dìr-dìr-dìr дыр-дыр-дыр

Knocking

Strikes

Dull strike

Falling strike

Sharp strike

Wet strike

Machinery

Camera shutter

Car engine revving

Car horn honking

Clock ticking

A sign in a shop window in Italy proclaims "No Tic Tac".

Doorbell ringing

Keyboard striking

  • In Batak, tik tik
  • In Bulgarian, "трак-трак" (track-track)
  • In Catalan txiquiti-txiquiti, txic txic.
  • In Czech, klik, ťuk ťuk
  • In Danish: klik klik
  • In Dutch: tik tik
  • In English: click click, click clack, taka taka
  • In Estonian klõp klõp klõp
  • In Finnish: klik klik, klik klak, naks, naputinap
  • In French: clic clic
  • In German: klack klack klack (typewriter), tipp tipp tipp (computer)
  • In Hebrew, klik klik, קְלִיק־קְלִיק[heb 9]
  • In Italian, clic clic, tip tap
  • In Japanese, kata kata カタカタ
  • In Polish, klik klik
  • In Russian, klatz-klatz клац-клац
  • In Swedish, knapp knapp
  • In Tagalog, chu ku chu ku chuk
  • In Thai, ก้อกแก้ก (kokkaek)
  • In Turkish, tıkı tıkı tıkı, tıkır tıkır
  • In Vietnamese, lạch cạch

Match striking

Telephone ringing

Siren wailing

Train whistling

Physical and natural phenomena

Electric flowing (buzzing)

Electric shock

Fire

  • In Afrikaans, knetter
  • In English, crackle crackle
  • In Japanese, Pachi pachiパチパチ
  • In Polish, trzask
  • In Swedish, knaster knaster
  • In Thai, พรึ่บ (prueb), พรึ่บ พรั่บ (prueb prub)

Lightning

Steam hissing

Thunder

  • In Batak, rapak, maturapak, dugu-dugu-dugu
  • In English, roll, rumble,boom
  • In Finnish, jyrin, jylin
  • In German, groll, grummel
  • In Japanese, goro goro ゴロゴロ
  • In Polish, "grzmot"
  • In Romanian, bum
  • In Russian, babakh бабах, tararakh тарарах, trakh-tararakh трах-тарарах
  • In Swedish, muller
  • In Thai, ครืน ครืน (kruen kruen)

Water dripping

White water

Wind blowing or waves flowing

  • In Bengali, ভোঁ bhõ, শন শন shôn shôn, ঝির ঝির jhir jhir
  • In Bulgarian, фииуу (fiiuu) wind blowing
  • In Chinese, Mandarin, fuuu
  • In Czech, fíííí
  • In Dutch, woesh, woesj
  • In English, whoo, whoosh, swish, rustle, whine, whizz, whistle, wheeze, howl, zoom, sigh, sough, surf
  • In Finnish, viuuh
  • In French, frou-frou, vromb, murmur, hurl
  • In German, huiiih, wutsch, saus, rausch, wein, schwirr, heul, zoom, surr, seufz
  • In Greek, fru fru φρού φρού, sfýrigh σφύριγ, url ούρλ, sýrigh σύριγ, thýr θυρ
  • In Hindi, sarr sarr, saayein saayein
  • In Hungarian, hiss-huss, huss
  • In Italian, fiuu, fisch, mormor, url, sussurr
  • In Japanese, byuu byuu, pyuu pyuu, zawa zawa, soyo soyo
  • In Korean, wing-wing 윙윙
  • In Lithuanian, ššš
  • In Macedonian, fuuuu fuuuu фуууу фуууу
  • In Polish, szszszsz, huuuuuu
  • In Portuguese, Vuuuush
  • In Romanian, vâj
  • In Russian, uu-u уу-у
  • In Spanish, fuuuu fuuuu, fgrrrr frgrrrr, aul, zumb, susurr
  • In Swedish, svisch
  • In Tagalog, fuuuu fuuuu
  • In Tamil, shhhhhhhhhh
  • In Telugu, shhhhhhh
  • In Thai, วิ้ว วิ้ว (wio wio), ฟิ้ว ฟิ้ว (fio fio)
  • In Turkish, vuuuu vuuuu
  • In Vietnamese, vi vu, vù vù; rì rào, xào xạc (rustling)

Others

Jingling

  • In Afrikaans, klingel, klingeling
  • In Armenian "զար զանկ" zar zank
  • In Chinese, Cantonese, dìuh-díu fihng 吊吊捹 (吊 means "hang")
  • In Chinese, Mandarin, dīng líng 叮铃,[zho 23] dīng dāng 叮当 [zho 24]
  • In Batak, "giring, giring"
  • In Bulgarian, ljush-bash люш-баш, ding-dong динг-донг
  • In Czech, cinky-cink
  • In Dutch, doing-doing-doing
  • In English, clink clank, dingle dangle
  • In Estonian kill-kõll, kilks-kõlks, kilin-kõlin
  • In Finnish, kilin, helin
  • In French, ding-dong
  • In German, klingeling
  • In Hebrew, ding-dong דִינְג־דוֹנְג[heb 10]
  • In Hungarian, csing-ling, bim-bam, giling-galang
  • In Japanese, チリンチリン (chirin chirin), チーン (chīn)
  • In Korean, dallang dallang 달랑달랑 ttallang ttallang 딸랑딸랑 jjallang jjallang 짤랑짤랑
  • In Latvian, dzin dzin
  • In Macedonian, dang, ding, dong данг, динг, донг
  • In Polish, dzyń-dzyń
  • In Romanian, ding-dong
  • In Russian, din'-don динь-дон dzìnj-dzìnj дзынь-дзынь
  • In Swedish, dingelidång kling klang
  • In Tagalog, klang klang
  • In Tamil, sil-sila silu-sila
  • In Thai, เคร้ง (kreng), กรุ๊งกริ๊ง (krung kring)
  • In Turkish, çangır çungur, şangır şungur

References

English words

Greek words

Hebrew words

Japanese words

Portuguese words

Chinese words