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American Accent Posts

How Do We Say “Meow” in Different Languages?

9/14/2017

 

Author: Ela Britchkow, Speech Therapist, Accent Reduction Specialist

People all over the world use different words to describe the sound a cat makes. A small number of countries use Meow but most have their own special word. Read the post and learn more about the surprising variations.
People all over the world use different words to describe the sound a cat makes. A small number of countries use Meow but most have their own special word. Read the post and learn more about the surprising variations.
"Just watching my cats can make me happy."
-Paula Cole
​I like cats and I like languages (I speak 4 languages). My mother spoked Polish and when she read books and it showed a dog barking, she would say ‘how-how”. So I was wondering how people say the sound that cats make.
As you can see from this list, the cat’s basic “meow” is widely interpreted by different languages, but do share a recognizable sound pattern. The spelling/sound differences may be more from the limitations/parameters that each language has rather than a real difference in translating cat sounds.  I found looking at these enjoyable, I hope that you do, too. 
Saying Meow in European Languages
Albanian
mjaullin

Basque
Meow

Belarusian
мяў

Bosnian
Mjau

Bulgarian
мяу

Catalan
meu

Croatian
mijau

Czech
mňau

Danish
miav

Dutch
miauw

Estonian
Mjäu

Finnish
Miau

French
Miaou

Galician
miar

German
Miau

Greek
Μιάου

Hungarian
miáú

Icelandic
mjá

Irish
meow

Italian
Miao

Latvian
Mjau

Lithuanian
Miau

Macedonian
meow

Maltese
mjaw

Norwegian
mjau

Polish
Miau

Portuguese
Miau

Romanian
miau

Russian
мяу

Serbian
мјау

Slovak
mňau

Slovenian
mijav

Spanish
maullar

Swedish
mjau

Ukrainian
Мяу

Welsh
Meow

Yiddish
מיאַו

Saying Meow in Asian Languages
Language

Azerbaijani
miyavlamak

Bengali
মিউ

Chinese Simplified
喵

Chinese Traditional
喵

Georgian
meow

Gujarati
મેઓવ

Hindi
मियांउ

Hmong
Miob

Japanese
ニャー

Kannada
ಮಿಯಾಂವ್

Kazakh
мияу

Khmer
meow

Korean
야옹

Lao
meow

Malayalam
മ്യാവു

Marathi
Meow

Mongolian
Meow

Myanmar (Burmese)
ညောင်

Nepali
meow

Sinhala
මියාව්

Tajik
мияв

Tamil
மியாவ்

Telugu
మిఅవ్

Thai
เหมียว

Urdu
میاوں

Uzbek
myau

Vietnamese
meo

Saying Meow in Middle-Eastern Languages
Arabic
مواء

Hebrew
לילל

Persian
میو

Turkish
miyav

Saying Meow in African Languages
Afrikaans
miaau

Chichewa
muyawo

Hausa
meow

Igbo
meow

Sesotho
meow

Somali
Meow

Swahili
meow

Yoruba
Meow

Zulu
Meow

Saying Meow in Austronesian Languages
Cebuano
meow

Filipino
meow

Indonesian
meong

Javanese
Kantha

Malagasy
meo

Malay
meow

Maori
Meow
Are you repeatedly asked, “What?” or “Can you say that again?”
  • Quickly reduce infuriating requests, by pronouncing correctly one key misleading English sound.​
Receive FREE mini-lesson to master this sound and be confidently understood. 

​By Ela Britchkow, Speech and Language Pathologist
©2017 Ela Britchkow

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    ​Ela Britchkow, Speech and Language Pathologist, American English Pronunciation Specialist

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​English is rapidly becoming the world's main language. In almost every country, better education and employment opportunities depend more and more on a person's ability to speak English clearly and be understood. Internationally, the American accent is best understood among other English speakers.
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  • Home
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