Why do Taiwanese dogs go "Wong Wong"?

OK, maybe this is not THE most important cultural observation I’ve made in Taiwan, but I’ve always wondered why books published in Taiwan have dogs saying wong, wong, instead of woof, woof. Then today I saw a Taiwanese lady imitating a dog for her toddler and she did it orally: wong, wong, wong. I realize all dogs bark differently, but to my ears woof, woof seems to be a fairly accurate approximation of most dog barks, whereas I don’t believe I have ever heard a dog say wong wong.

Has anyone else ever wondered about that? Why do Taiwanese people think that dogs say wong, wong, when they clearly don’t? Is woof a sound that is hard for Chinese speakers to hear or make? I wonder if Cantonese speakers also say wong, wong and if speakers of other languages besides English also translate woof woof differently.

Yes, maybe I do think too much, but I’m still curious about the above. :scooby:

Taiwanese dogs go “woof woof” just like western dogs. It’s the Taiwanese that have got it wong.

i have never heard a dog make an F sound or an NG sound.

Amazing how western dogs manage a clear /f/ with those long canines. Almost as amazing as the /ng/ Chinese dogs pull off for wong wong. :loco:

It took me four MINUTES to write that! :blush:

Anyway I only read this thread because I thought it was about the high rates of delinquincy among ugly chinese girls.

I think you’re referring to “汪”, pronounced “wang”? I guess there just isn’t a word in Chinese that can imitate “woof”.

That could be true. I have heard a lot of Taiwanese dogs say wang wang. The /th/ thang is tough for many taiwanese. Not just the dogs.

In my language dogs go ‘auh auh’ and IMO that’s what dogs do. ‘Woof woof’, ‘wong wong’, ‘gav gav’ etc are all just ridiculously wrong. :slight_smile:

Whatever sound dogs make it definitely has an R in it. Maybe AR! AR! is about the best we’ll do in the dog phonics department.

I think it’s also important to mention that even if a dog is barking, it doesn’t mean it’s aggressive. In Taiwan, two wongs don’t make a bite. :stuck_out_tongue:

I think it’s also important to mention that even if a dog is barking, it doesn’t mean it’s aggressive. in Taiwan, two wongs don’t make a bite. :p[/quote]

Groan :snoopy:

When is this thread going to turn to the animal sounds made by Taiwanese women?
:beer:

I didn’t know if I should flounder this thread of put it here. :blush:

No BoPoMoFo for Woof…

Why should onomatopoeic words be the same in every language? To me, this whole question is just about as stupid as asking “Why do Taiwanese people say Ni Hao instead of Hello?”

[quote=“Mother Theresa”]I’ve always wondered why books published in Taiwan have dogs saying wong, wong, instead of woof, woof.
[/quote]

Could it be because Taiwanese dogs bark from right to left?

:ponder:

Voff!

Because if they went “Mao Mao” they’d be Taiwanese cats.

Mjau…??

Onomatopoeic words shouldn’t be the same in every language, of course there should be some latitude, but they should somewhat resemble the sound they are meant to capture. For example, I feel that moooo is a great transcription of cow talk. If people somewhere claim that cows say moooh or muuuuw I could understand that, but if they claimed that cows say plickity plickity plack I’d suggest they get their hearing checked.

For dogs, auh auh and ar ar seem perfectly reasonable and as legitimate as woof woof, but I don’t understand why anyone would think a dog says wong wong. To me they might as well claim dogs say zippity zing – they don’t.