What Does a Dog Say in Japanese? (2024)

These animal sounds are usually written in the katakana script, rather than kanji or hiragana.

The Bowwow Theory

The bowwow theoryposits that language began when human ancestors started imitatingthe natural sounds around them. The first speech was onomatopoeic and included words such as moo, meow, splash, cuckoo, and bang. Of course, in English especially, very few words are onomatopoeic. And around the world, a dog might say "au au" in Portuguese, "wang wang" in Chinese, and as noted, "wan wan" in Japanese.

Some researchers have suggested that the animals a culture is most closely aligned with will have more versions of the sounds they make in their respective languages. In American English, for example, a dog might say "bowwow," "woof," or "ruff." Since dogs are beloved pets in the U.S., it makes sense that American-English speakers would want to have a menu of sound words for this pet.

The Dog in Japan

Dogs are also quite popular as pets in Japan, where they were domesticated during the Jomon period in 10,000 B.C. Though katakana script is most common, you can write the Japanese word for dog,inu,in eitherhiraganaorkanji — but since the kanji character for dog is quite simple, try learning how to write it in kanji.

Phrases referring to dogs are as common in Japan as they are in the West. Inujinimeans "to die like dog," and to call someone a dog in Japenese is to accuse him of being a spy or dupe. The sentenceInu moarukebabouniataru(when the dog walks, it runs across a stick) is a common Japanese saying, meaning that when you walk outside, you could possibly meet with an unexpected fortune.