Is anyone aware of a comprehensive study or report on the onomatopoeia of animal names?
Of course their are obvious examples such as chickadee, crow, kookaburra, katydid, cuckoo. And it seems there may be other less obvious examples in English and other languages, e.g., duck, cow (Latin bos, German kuh), titmouse (Scandinavian titt), pig (Latin sui), owl (Latin ulula). I also remember running across a speculation that human language may have first evolved as a means of communicating the presence of animals (imagine a proto-hominid running back to his clan calling out "Woo-woo" = wolf = vulpe = lobo). And can you come up with other possible examples? Warren W. Aney Senior Wildlife Ecologist Tigard, Oregon