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Henry74 Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary
What do frogs say?
Hello everyone,
So this girl I met the other day maintains that "frog" is an onomatopoeic name because "frog" is what frogs actually say.
I timidly voiced my disagreement when she first told me, but because she's a native speaker, I eventually conceded.
I think frogs say "crok, crok", hence the onomatopoeic verb to croak. I think she might be confused about where the onomatopoeia lies.
After a brief search on the web I found out that for a lot of people frogs say "ribbit, ribbit". One source maintains that that is true for one species of frogs only, the one that happens to have been popularized by Hollywood.
Do you have any insight into this highly theoretical subject?
Thank you
H.
So this girl I met the other day maintains that "frog" is an onomatopoeic name because "frog" is what frogs actually say.
I timidly voiced my disagreement when she first told me, but because she's a native speaker, I eventually conceded.
I think frogs say "crok, crok", hence the onomatopoeic verb to croak. I think she might be confused about where the onomatopoeia lies.
After a brief search on the web I found out that for a lot of people frogs say "ribbit, ribbit". One source maintains that that is true for one species of frogs only, the one that happens to have been popularized by Hollywood.
Do you have any insight into this highly theoretical subject?
Thank you
H.
Top answer
Henry74 So this girl I met the other day maintains that "frog" is an onomatopoeic name because "frog" is what frogs actually say. She is misinformed. The word "frog" most likely comes from an ancient word that means "hopper".
- Henry74 So this girl I met the other day maintains that "frog" is an onomatopoeic name because "frog" is what frogs actually say.
- She is misinformed.
- The word "frog" most likely comes from an ancient word that means "hopper".
- term=frog I would say that the usual verb for expressing the vocalizations of frogs is "croak".
- On the other hand "Ribbit" sounds more to me like a more realistic imitation of a frog sound.
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9 Answers
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Henry74So this girl I met the other day maintains that "frog" is an onomatopoeic name because "frog" is what frogs actually say.She is misinformed. The word "frog" most likely comes from an ancient word that means "hopper".
See http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=fro
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So your vote goes to "ribbit". I have found a sound bite of a frog that sounds more or less like "ribbit".
Interestingly, though, the etymology dictionary you cited has the Latin/Italian rana as imitative of the sound of croaking.
That would suggest a wider vowel, as in "rock", and it's closer to what I would have said.
Maybe American frogs make a different sound than
Interestingly, though, the etymology dictionary you cited has the Latin/Italian rana as imitative of the sound of croaking.
That would suggest a wider vowel, as in "rock", and it's closer to what I would have said.
Maybe American frogs make a different sound than
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Henry74Interestingly, though, the etymology dictionary you cited has the Latin/Italian rana as imitative of the sound of croaking.And I found that totally unbelievable, by the way, no matter how true it may be.
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Ask her this. If English frogs say 'frog', do French frogs say 'grenouille'? 
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I've never heard this interpretation before, but it's interesting, because there seems to be some merit in it. Typically, you say that frogs "say": "croak," or "ribbit." But the word "frog," if you pronounce it way down in your throat, sounds almost like "croak."
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CliveIf English frogs say 'frog', do French frogs say 'grenouille'?Good one, Clive! I had a good laugh over this.
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Clive If English frogs say 'frog', do French frogs say 'grenouille'?
Nice one!
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British frogs say ribbit, ribbit, but does anyone know what Russian frogs say?
I just want to say this is a good and amusing topic to discuss in a class of immigrants from various countries who are learning English.
You are likely to discover that dogs in Canada say woof-woof, but in China they say something else, and that cows in England say mooooo, but in Ethiopia they say somet
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