Almost all dogs bark. Science has shown that virtually all dogs also can understand the barks of other dogs regardless of where they come from, however the way that humans hear those barks differs depending upon the language that people speak and the culture that they live in. We humans often try to communicate the sounds of dogs barking to other humans when we are telling stories using common words like "woof-woof" in English. We also write these word sounds down, particularly in things like comic strips where a dog might be saying "arf-arf" or in children's books where we might indicate that a dog is barking using "bow-wow."
Linguists would tell you that the words that we use to represent dog barks are based upon onomatopoeia, which is the process by which we try to characterize a real world sound with a word that sounds something like it. Some common examples of onomatopoeia are hiss, buzz and thud.
I suppose that when I posted my list of the words used to say "dog" in some 250 different languages [click here to see that list], it was inevitable that people would start to write to me to ask if dogs spoke different languages. Many of the queries were obviously concerned with how people hear or interpret the sounds of dogs barking as when they asked questions like, "Is the word 'woof' used for dog barks in all other languages?"
The answer is that there is no universally accepted sound that humans use to represent dog barks. Even in a single language there may be a number of different words used for a dog's bark, for example, in English we recognize "woof-woof,""arf-arf", "ruff-ruff" and "bow-wow." Many languages also have different words for the barks of large versus small dogs, thus "yip-yip" or "yap-yap" are used in English for the barking sounds of small dogs, never for big dogs. The only thing that seems to come close to being unanimously agreed upon about dog barks is that dogs almost always speak twice—thus a Hebrew dog says "hav-hav", a Japanese dog says "wan-wan" and a Kurdish dog says "hau-hau".
Over the years I have collected over 100 dog bark words from more than 60 different languages. So to answer the question of how dogs bark in different languages (at least as far as their human listeners are concerned) I have decided to give you a look at my collection. The list is alphabetical by language, and is presented in the format "Language → Word(s) Used For Dog Barks", where the word for a dog's barking sound is spelled out phonetically, or at least phonetically as I hear the word when it is spoken (except for American Sign Language or ASL which obviously has no phonetic equivalent). If any of you know additional words for dog barking sounds in other languages that I may have missed, or notice any entries that I may have wrong (or mispronounced) please feel free to send them to me and I will edit the list accordingly.
Language → Word(s) Used For Dog Barks
Afrikaans → blaf-blaf; woef-woef; keff-keff (small dogs)
Albanian → ham-ham
American Sign Language (ASL) → Both closed fists held horizontally together-fingers in towards each other. Quickly open the fists together to expose the fingers twice.
Arabic → hau-hau; how-how
Armenian → haf-haf
Balinese → kong-kong
Basque → au-au (any dog); txau-txau (small dogs); zaunk-zaunk (large dogs); jau-jau (old dogs)
Bengali → gheu-gheu; bhao-bhao
Bulgarian → bau-bau; jaff-jaff
Burmese → woke-woke
Catalan → bau-bau; bub-bub
Chinese-Cantonese → wo-wo; wow-wow; wong-wong
Chinese-Mandarin → wang-wang
Croatian → vau-vau
Czech → haff-haff
Danish → vov-vov; vuf-vuf
Dutch → blaf-blaf; woef-woef; waf-waf (small dogs); kef-kef (very small dogs)
English → woof-woof; ruff-ruff; arf-arf; bow-wow; yap-yap (small dogs); yip-yip (very small dogs
Esperanto → boj-boj
Estonian → auh-auh; auch-auch
Finnish →hau-hau; vuh-vuh; rauf-rauf
French →wouaff-wouaff; ouah-ouah; whou-whou; vaf-vaf; jappe-jappe (small dog)
German → wuff-wuff; vow-vow
Greek → ghav-ghav
Hebrew → hav-hav; haw-haw-how-how
Hindi → bow-bow
Hungarian → vow-vow
Icelandic → voff-voff
Indonesian → guk-guk; gong-gong
Irish → amh-amh
Italian → bau-bau; arf-arf
Japanese → wan-wan; kian-kian
Korean → mung-mung; wang-wang
Kurdish → hau-hau
Latvian →vau-vau
Lebanese → haw-haw
Lithuanian → au-au
Macedonian → av-av
Malay → gong-gong
Marathi → bhu-bhu; bho-bho
Nigerian (Calabar area) → wai-wai
Norwegian → voff-voff; boff-boff; vov-vov
Persian → vogh-vogh
Polish → how-how
Portuguese → au-au
Romanian → ham-ham; hau-hau
Russian → gav-gav; guf-guf; hav-hav; tyav-tyav (small dogs)
Serbian → av-av
Sinhala → buh-buh
Slovak → haf-haf; hau-hau
Slovene → hov-hov
Spanish → guau-guau; gua-gua; jau-jau
Swedish → voff-voff; vov-vov
Tagalog → ow-ow; baw-baw
Tamil →wal-wal, bow-bow, lol-lol
Thai → hong-hong
Turkish → hev-hev; hav-hav
Ukrainian → hau-hau; haf-haf; dzyau-dzyau
Urdu → bow bow
Vietnamese → gau-gau; wau-wau; ang-ang
Welsh → wff-wff
Stanley Coren is the author of many books including: Born to Bark, Do Dogs Dream? The Modern Dog, Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? The Pawprints of History, How Dogs Think, How To Speak Dog, Why We Love the Dogs We Do, What Do Dogs Know? The Intelligence of Dogs, Why Does My Dog Act That Way? Understanding Dogs for Dummies, Sleep Thieves, The Left-hander Syndrome
Copyright SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd. May not be reprinted or reposted without permission