Representation
Woof is the conventional representation in the English language of the barking of a dog. As with other examples of onomatopoeia or imitative sounds, other cultures "hear" the dog's barks differently and represent them in their own ways. Some of the equivalents of "woof" in other European and Asian languages are as follows:
- English - woof, woof; ruff, ruff; arf, arf (large dogs and also the sound of sea lions); yap, yap; yip, yip (small dogs), bow wow
- Afrikaans - blaf, blaf; woef, woef; keff, keff (small dogs)
- Albanian - ham, ham
- Arabic - hau, hau; how how (هو, هو)
- Armenian -haf, haf
- Basque - au, au; txau, txau (small dogs); zaunk, zaunk (large dogs); jau, jau (old dogs)
- Balinese - kong, kong
- Belgium- woef, woef; blaf, blaf; waf, waf (large dogs) Keff, keff; Wuff, Wuff (small dogs)
- Bengali - gheu, gheu; bhao, bhao
- Bulgarian - bau-bau (бау-бау); jaff, jaff (джаф-джаф)
- Burmese - woke, woke
- Catalan - bau, bau; bub, bub
- Chinese, Cantonese - wong, wong (汪汪)
- Chinese, Mandarin - wang, wang (汪汪)
- Croatian - vau, vau
- Czech - haf, haf; štěk (the bark itself)
- Danish - vov, vuf
- Dutch - blaf, blaf; kef, kef; waf, waf; woef, woef
- Esperanto - boj, boj
- Estonian - auh, auh
- Finnish - hau, hau; vuh, vuh; rauf, rauf
- French - waouh, waouh; ouah, ouah; ouaf, ouaf; vaf, vaf; wouf, wouf; wouaf, wouaf; jappe jappe
- German - wuff, wuff; wau, wau;
- Greek - ghav, ghav (γαβ, γαβ)
- Hebrew - hav, hav; hau, hau
- Hindi - bow, bow
- Hungarian - vau, vau
- Icelandic - voff, voff
- Indonesian - guk, guk
- Irish - amh, amh
- Italian - bau, bau
- Japanese - wan-wan (ワンワン); kyan-kyan (キャンキャン)
- Korean - meong, meong (멍멍, )
- kurdi - hau hau (حەو حەو)
- Latvian - vau, vau
- Lithuanian - au, au
- Macedonian - av, av
- Malay - gong, gong ("menggonggong" means barking)
- Marathi - bhu, bhu; bho, bho
- Norwegian - voff, voff or boff
- Persian - vogh, vogh
- Polish - hau, hau
- Portuguese - au, au; ão-ão (nasal diphthong); béu-béu (toddler language); cain-cain (whining)
- Romanian - ham, ham; hau, hau
- Russian - gav, gav (гав-гав); tyav, tyav (тяв-тяв, small dogs)
- Serbian - av, av
- Sinhala - බුඃ බුඃ buh, buh
- Slovak - haf, haf; hau, hau
- Slovene - hov, hov
- Spanish - guau-guau; gua, gua; jau, jau
- Swedish - voff, voff; vov, vov; bjäbb, bjäbb
- Tagalog - aw, aw; baw, baw
- Tamil - வள் வள் - wal wal;லொள் லொள் - lol lol ;வௌ வௌ - wow wow
- Thai - โฮ่ง โฮ่ง ; บ๊อก บ๊อก
- Turkish - hev hev; hav, hav
- Ukrainian - гав, гав (hau, hau); дзяв, дзяв (dzyau, dzyau)
- Urdu - bow bow
- Vietnamese - gâu gâu; ẳng ẳng
- Welsh - wff, wff
Read more about this topic: Bark (sound)