Chinese has many onomatopoeic animal names.  Here are some examples:

Mandarin for cat (mao-mi), cow (niu or nee-oo), dog (gou or go), duck (ya), snake (se), and the children's name for sheep (yang mei-mei).

Taiwanese for cat (niao or nee-ao), cow (gu), dog (gao), horse (beh or bay), and chicken (ke or ge).

If I've given two versions, one is according to a standard romanization and the second is transliterated into American English... Of course, no romanization does tones. When you consider the tones, the names sound even more onomatopoeic. For example, both syllables of the Mandarin name for cat should be said in the same high tone.

CL

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