<p>Instead of directly answering your question I'm going to post this picture:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/FFFBR.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/FFFBR.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-01T02:28:04.747Z
And note to @Zuriel: "g" and "k" are related sounds, so I would consider the Chinese and Korean sounds to be nearly identical, followed closely by the Japanese, Polish, Italian, German, and Hungarian imitations.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-01T09:10:26.137Z
Ribbit doesn't sound like frog to me at all. I guess it's not a onomatopoeic word. The corresponding words of ribbit in all the other languages seem to be onomatopoeic words.
ltux
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-31T12:10:26.023Z
2019-12-31T12:10:26.023Z
Mou某
<p>Unlike in English, where you can combine random letters of the alphabet to form nonsensical words to mimic a sound,  sound effect words in Chinese are all borrowed from existing characters, sometimes adding the 口 radical to indicate it is a sound, e.g. 口 + 瓜  = 呱, we can only choose the character similarly pronounced like the sound effect the most.</p>

<p>Frogs make more than one kind of sound, 'ribbit' is just one of them.  "呱呱" pronouns as  "gua gua" is similar enough to a kind of sound frogs make</p>

<p>To mimic the sound of 'ribbit' we have only one character in Mandarin that  is pronounced similar to "ri" (Rì), and no character is pronounced as "bit" </p>

<p>It is easier to match English sound effect with Cantonese because it has 9 tones instead of only four in Mandarin, 'Ribbit' would sound like 列別 /lit6 bit6/  in Cantonese</p>

<p>If you don't like 呱呱, you can use 咯咯, but you can't make up a new character for the frog sound</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-31T04:36:09.680Z
2019-12-31T14:52:46.967Z
2019-12-31T14:52:46.967Z
Tang Ho
<p>If you ask the frogs themselves, I think you might croak at their answers? </p>

<p>Here's one all could agree on, cats, "meow" in English and "喵喵" in Chinese, but I doubt the cats themselves would agree.</p>

<p>Let's not start on dogs, horses, etc......</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-01T02:08:30.203Z
However, if we kiss the frog, it may become a beautiful princess! I always get in trouble in big supermarkets: 你为什么来亲吻所有的青蛙呢？
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-31T05:58:24.653Z
2019-12-31T05:58:24.653Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>The words &quot;呱呱&quot; and &quot;ribbit&quot; are onomatopoeias that represent the sound of frogs, respectively in Chinese and English.</p>
<p>I hardly see any similarity between these two sounds. Why does the cry of the same animal sound so differently in Chinese and English?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-31T05:16:56.520Z
Are the sound in either language similar to the real frog sound in some way?
fefe
<etymology><word>
Why do the onomatopoeias describing the cry of frogs sound so different in Chinese and English?
# Why do the onomatopoeias describing the cry of frogs sound so different in Chinese and English?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-31)

The words "呱呱" and "ribbit" are onomatopoeias that represent the sound of frogs, respectively in Chinese and English.

I hardly see any similarity between these two sounds. Why does the cry of the same animal sound so differently in Chinese and English?

**Tags:** etymology, word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are the sound in either language similar to the real frog sound in some way?  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-12-31. Score: 7

Instead of directly answering your question I'm going to post this picture:

> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/FFFBR.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/FFFBR.jpg)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: And note to @username_0: "g" and "k" are related sounds, so I would consider the Chinese and Korean sounds to be nearly identical, followed closely by the Japanese, Polish, Italian, German, and Hungarian imitations.  
> **username_4**: Ribbit doesn't sound like frog to me at all. I guess it's not a onomatopoeic word. The corresponding words of ribbit in all the other languages seem to be onomatopoeic words.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2019-12-31. Score: 4

Unlike in English, where you can combine random letters of the alphabet to form nonsensical words to mimic a sound, sound effect words in Chinese are all borrowed from existing characters, sometimes adding the 口 radical to indicate it is a sound, e.g. 口 + 瓜 = 呱, we can only choose the character similarly pronounced like the sound effect the most.

Frogs make more than one kind of sound, 'ribbit' is just one of them. "呱呱" pronouns as "gua gua" is similar enough to a kind of sound frogs make

To mimic the sound of 'ribbit' we have only one character in Mandarin that is pronounced similar to "ri" (Rì), and no character is pronounced as "bit"

It is easier to match English sound effect with Cantonese because it has 9 tones instead of only four in Mandarin, 'Ribbit' would sound like 列別 /lit6 bit6/ in Cantonese

If you don't like 呱呱, you can use 咯咯, but you can't make up a new character for the frog sound


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### Answer by username_6 on 2019-12-31. Score: 0

If you ask the frogs themselves, I think you might croak at their answers?

Here's one all could agree on, cats, "meow" in English and "喵喵" in Chinese, but I doubt the cats themselves would agree.

Let's not start on dogs, horses, etc......

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: However, if we kiss the frog, it may become a beautiful princess! I always get in trouble in big supermarkets: 你为什么来亲吻所有的青蛙呢？  

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