A note about The Cuddlywumps Chronicles

This blog is written and maintained by Miss Cuddlywumps, a fluffy-tailed calico cat who is both classically educated and familiar with mysteries. She receives creative input from the Real Cats and clerical assistance from She of Little Talent (old SoLT, a.k.a. Roby Sweet). Comments or complaints should be addressed to Miss C rather than to old SoLt (Ms. Sweet). Ms. Sweet accepts no responsibility for Miss C's opinions.

Friday, May 2, 2014

30 Ways to Say Meow



Devon Rex kitten meowing--Adobe stock image
Is this kitting saying "meow," "miar," or perhaps "yaong"?
Photo via Adobe Stock.

The English word for the characteristic sound of a cat is "meow" (or "miau," "miaow," or "meaow"). Other languages have their own versions, and because you never know when you might find yourself talking to a cat or cat person from Albania, Denmark, or Japan, I have compiled this handy Meow Translation Chart. Most of the translations link to a Google page where you can hear what the word sounds like in that language (to hear it, just click the little speaker on the right side of the Google page).

The Meow Translation Chart is interesting for a couple of reasons: first, because so many of the words look and/or sound a lot like the English "meow," so I guess that is what quite a few of you humans think we cats sound like. The second interesting point at first might sound like the opposite of the first point: There is quite a bit of diversity in spelling and pronunciation, and even though the letters might say “m-e-o-w,” the spoken word can sound very different from what we American cats are used to (take the Welsh version for a spin to see what I mean).

What's your favorite non-English word for "meow"? Let us know in the comments!



Meow Translation Chart
Afrikaans
Albanian
Azerbaijani
miyavlamak
Bosnian
Bulgarian
myaukane
Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Macedonian
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swahili
Swedish
Turkish
Welsh
 

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