Italian Animal Sounds

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A barking dog is a barking dog—unless that cane happens to live in Italy. Then, instead of "bow-wow," he'll be yapping "bau-bau." At least that's how an Italian would describe the sound. So do Italian animals speak a different language?

Do You Hear What I Hear?
It shouldn't be surprising that sounds are perceived differently depending on your native tongue. Being immersed in a particular style of speech colors how you interpret songs, natural sounds, and other noises. Languages aren't only about pronunciation, they're about what you hear. And Italian, like other languages, represents animal sounds differently than what an English speaker might expect.

It's not a case of teaching Fido to speak Italian. Rather, it's partly linguistics, partly auditory, partly conjecture. Because humans are attempting to reproduce an articulated sound, it's an imperfect replication of a vocalization, regardless of the listener's native tongue. Italians simply have different ways of describing the sounds of animals.

Bau, Bau Dice il Cane
Italians describe the sound dogs make with the verb abbaiare (to bark) and the sound itself as bau bau. Below is a vocabulary list for other verbs associated with particular animal sounds plus some of the phonetic spellings that represents the sound heard:

—le api [bees] ronzano; fanno zzzzzz.
—gli asini [donkeys] ragliano; fanno i-oo, i-oo.
—i cani [dogs] abbaiano; fanno bau bau.
—i cervi [deer] bramiscono.
—le chiocce [hens] chiocciano.
—le cicale [cicadas] friniscono.
—i corvi [crows] gracchiano; fanno cra cra.
—i cavalli [horses] nitriscono.
—i cuculi [cuckoos] fanno cucú, cucú, cucú.
—i galli [roosters] fanno chicchirichí.
—le galline [hens] fanno coccodè.
—i gatti [cats] miagolano; fanno miao.
—i leoni [lions] ruggiscono.
—i lupi [wolves] ululano.
—i maiali [pigs] grugniscono.
—le mucche [cows] muggiscono; fanno muuuuuu.
—le oche [geese] starnazzano; fanno qua qua.
—le pecore [sheep] belano; fanno beeee.
—i pulcini [chicks] pigolano; fanno pio pio.
—le rane [frogs] gracidano; fanno cra cra.
—i serpenti [serpents] sibilano.
—i topi [mice] squittiscono: fanno squitt squitt.
—gli uccelli [birds] cinguettano; fanno cip cip.

Nella Vecchia Fattoria
Everyone knows the preschool song "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Try singing Nella Vecchia Fattoria (the Italian version of the famous song), though, and the animal sounds in Italian take on a different tune:

Nella Vecchia Fattoria