Two examples from India immediately come to mind:
House Gecko - Hemidactylus frenatus - is known as Tiktiki in Bangla
(or Bengali) language.
Tucktoo (local and English common name) - Gekko gecko - is another
gecko found in Assam.
I'm sure I can remember plenty of other examples if I sit down and
think about it for a while.
Madhu
On Apr 19, 2008, at 1:21 PM, Warren W. Aney wrote:
Is anyone aware of a comprehensive study or report on the
onomatopoeia of
animal names?
Of course their are obvious examples such as chickadee, crow,
kookaburra,
katydid, cuckoo. And it seems there may be other less obvious
examples in
English and other languages, e.g., duck, cow (Latin bos, German kuh),
titmouse (Scandinavian titt), pig (Latin sui), owl (Latin ulula).
I also remember running across a speculation that human language may
have
first evolved as a means of communicating the presence of animals
(imagine a
proto-hominid running back to his clan calling out "Woo-woo" = wolf
= vulpe
= lobo).
And can you come up with other possible examples?
Warren W. Aney
Senior Wildlife Ecologist
Tigard, Oregon
