The same dog may be described as saying “wan-wan” in Japanese, while English uses woof or bow-wow. A cat says “nyaa-nyaa” in Japanese but meow in English. One of the most striking examples for Japanese learners of English is the difference between the Japanese rooster call “kokekokkoo” and the English cock-a-doodle-doo.
Many Japanese people are surprised when they first learn how different the English version sounds. The contrast is so memorable that plenty of adults still remember cock-a-doodle-doo years later. Even so, an actual rooster does not suddenly sound like it is saying those words. Japanese people simply learn that this is how English represents the sound.
Animal calls do not come neatly divided into clear units like “wan” or “nyaa.” Speakers of each language pick out different features of the sound and turn them into forms that fit naturally into their language. Japanese turns a dog’s bark into “wan-wan,” while English may turn it into woof. Neither is a literal transcription of the real sound. Each is that language’s way of representing it.
Japanese also uses these kinds of expressive words very widely in everyday life—not just for sounds, but for movement, appearance, and feelings as well. Alongside “wan-wan” and “nyaa-nyaa,” rain may fall shito-shito, light may sparkle kira-kira, and a pounding heart may go doki-doki. Animal calls are part of this much broader world of Japanese onomatopoeia.
So Japanese speakers are not literally hearing a dog produce two clear sounds—“wan, wan.” Rather, when they put a dog’s bark into Japanese words, “wan-wan” is what naturally comes to mind.
Foreign animal sounds can seem strange because speakers of different languages pick out different features of the same sound and turn them into words in different ways. The animal has not changed. The language used to describe it has.
