Comments on: Míkmaq trees

by: Bia

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:24:42 +0000

What about humming bird?
In Portuguese, at least in Brazil, it is called “beija-flor”, flower-kissing. Is it poetic or what?

by: TJ

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:13:41 +0000

Caenwyr: It’s quite true. I hate writing the double “E” but sometimes I just care about would a reader imagine the word.

If it is to make it more accurate, IPA is better, but as you said, software and other causes don’t allow us to write it down as we like!
by the way, IPA do not represent all sounds of Arabic correctly.

by: Haamu

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:45:57 +0000

In Dutch there’s a bird called “oehoe” (pronunciation “oohoo”). According to the dictionary it is called an eagle owl in English.

by: Caenwyr

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:58:20 +0000

I know this is quite off-topic, but I suddenly feel the urge to say this: there is something about the English transliteration of Arabic that I don’t quite like, probably because I’m not a native English speaker myself. Personally I’d prefer things like:
tanīn
za’īr
hadīr
roghā’
fahīh
ranīn
dabīb
But I know it often is a question of having the right keyboard (and the right server software. I’m not sure if it will be showed correctly even here).

On-topic: in Dutch too there are quite a few onomatopoeic words:
een bonk (a hard hollow bounce, like a head hitting the floor)
een flits (a flash, like the one on a camera. which is strange, since a flash actually makes no sound nowadays, but of course it did back in the days)
een bliksem (lightning: same remark as with ‘een flits’)
een boer (a burp)
een schaaf (a scrub plane)
schuren (to scrub)
een tjilp (pronounced chilp, the sound a bird makes)

And many many more examples. I guess there’s lists of onomatopoeia somewhere. It’s always nice to compare different languages, and their solutions for a new invention. I always liked the sound of the German word for a train: ‘ein Zug’. As if a child invented the name… Ahh, neologisms, they really make the world go around.

by: TJ

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:08:40 +0000

I would say “hoopoo” ?
the sound of this bird do sound like “hoo-poo”

That reminds me of one topic that we used to mess about it as always in school old days, in the Arabic lessons, when we have to memorize some sound names since every animal has a sound name in Arabic, maybe I can list some here:

Pigeon: Hadeel
Dog: Noaah
Cat: Mowaa’ (this one obviously comes from the sound itself I guess).

Fly: Taneen
Lion: Za’eer
Thunder: Hadeer
Sheep: Roghaa’ (I might be wrong about this one)
Snake: Faheeh (hard fricatives)
Phone: Raneen
Ants: Dabeeb

by: xarxa

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:55:23 +0000

arabic ‘dhubaaba’ and hebrew ‘zevuv’ - fly

by: Weili

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:38:13 +0000

I wonder if 蛇 shé (snake) in Chinese came from the sound made by snakes.

by: Ben

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:33:17 +0000

We mustn’t forget the important Cheeseburger Bird ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=0ou9J8G56mo ).

Apparently called the black-capped Chickadee by weird scientist folk, the Cheeseburger Bird is apparently quite common throughout the United States.

Listen carefully for its cry - ‘Cheese-bur-ger!’

-Ben