Japanese Animal Sounds

Learn Japanese easily! If you’re a pet owner, you know how animals tend to become part of the family. In fact, we talk about animals all the time. And, you probably use onomatopoeia to describe the sounds they make, such as “woof woof” and “meow.” The Japanese language is no different. You might even hear Japanese children referring to dogs using onomatopoeia. In this Japanese article, you’ll discover the onomatopoeia we use to describe animal sounds. The focus is the always-popular dog (wanwan) and cat (nyannyan). But, you’ll also find a handy chart with some Japanese onomatopoeia and their corresponding animals, from frogs to pigs. As a bonus, a fun practice portion asks you to fill in the correct animal sound onomatopoeia.

Vocabulary: In this article, you’ll learn the following words and phrases:

tonari - “next to, next door to”

uchi - “house, home”

Inu - “dog”

Neko - “cat”

asa - “morning”

hiru - “noon, daytime”

yoru - “night”

urusai - “noisy, annoying”

komaru - “to be worried, to be bothered”

hiki - “counter for small animals”

Grammar: In this article, you’ll learn the following words and phrases:

Today’s target onomatopoeia are wanwan and nyannyan.

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Sample Sentences

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1. 
   Tonari no uchi niwa, inu ga san-biki, neko ga yon-hiki iru.
   
   “My neighbor has three dogs and four cats.”


2. 
   Asa kara wanwan, nyannyan urusakute komaru.
   
   “I’m really annoyed by their barking and meowing in the morning.”

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Explanation

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Wanwan is the sound dogs make, and nyannyan is the sound cats make. We spell them in both Hiragana and Katakana depending on the writer’s perception. Generally speaking, we use katakana when the writer wants to emphasize the word. As for the sound cats make, some people may pronounce the word nyaanyaa. Please review the list of animal sounds, and connect the name of the animals to the sounds they make.

Sound / Animal

meemee / sheep or goat

hihiin / horse

buubuu / pig

moomoo / cow

kerokero / frog

kokekokkoo / rooster

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Usage

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To make sound:

* (sound that animal or living creatures make) + (to) naku

* (sound that animal or living creatures make) + (to) iu

To bark:

* (sound that animal or living creatures make) + (to) hoeru

Children often refer to dogs as wanwan rather than their real name, inu.

For Example:

1. 
   Chiisai ko ga “A wanwan da!” to itte watashi no inu ni chikazuite kita.
   
   “A little kid said, ‘Oh, it’s a wan-wan (doggy),’ and came closer to my dog.”


2. 
   Ie no mae de chiisai neko ga nyny to naite ita.
   
   “A small cat was meowing in front of the house.”


3. 
   Zutto, uchi ni kaette inakatta node, inu ni wanwan hoerareta.
   
   “Since I haven’t gone home in such a long time, my dogs barked at me when I arrived.”


4. 
   Kon’ya wa kaeru ga kerokero yoku naite iru.
   
   “The frogs are ribbitting loudly tonight.”

Japanese Animal Sounds