onomatopoiea

My learned language teaching colleagues and I were discussing onomatopoeia over lunch today, particularly the noises made by animals in different cultures. Did you know, for example, that although dogs say 'woof' or 'bow wow' in English speaking countries, in Germany they say 'wau wau', in France the say 'ouah ouah' and in Japan 'wun wun'?

I'm not sure what dogs said in ancient Rome, but many of the latin verbs which describe the sounds animals make have an onomatopoeiaic quality. Can you guess which animals are most commonly associated with these latin verbs ?

• balo
• baubo
• coaxo
• maumo
• mugio
• pipio
• ululo
• vagio

While we're at it, there's a famous play by the Greek comedian Aristophanes, in which the chorus dances around singing 'brek-kek-kek-kek koax koax, brek-kek-kek-kek koax'. Which animal are they imitating (it's also the name of the play)?

• Related post: Cats and Dogs

Lysistrata

I missed this stunt when it first came out, but I came across it in a copy of the Green Voice which I found on the train last week, and thought it was worth putting up here.

On the Sunday of the APEC weekend, Greens MP Ian Cohen took to the seas off Bondi in an action directed at APEC spouses, asking them to withhold sex until their husbands or wives stop all war and commit to binding greenhouse targets. Ian paddled out surrounded by police (on jet skis this time) to reveal a novel but historically proven message.

In keeping with the universal concept of survival ‘Make Love Not War’- Ian painted one word onto his surfboard and paddled through the waves.

The APEC spouses having lunch at the Bondi Icebergs were invited to consider a simple but potent word displayed by Ian from the water: ‘LYSISTRATA’

“Aristophanes wrote this tale about women who had grown weary of war. Led by Lysistrata, they succeeded where other aspirational strategies had failed,” Ian explained to waiting media. “My goal today was to place firmly in the minds of the political partners this ancient Greek play, which features the women of Greece going on a sex strike to prevent their husbands going to war.”

“It worked in Ancient Greece. It can work today. Spouses withholding sexual favours can change the world for the better.”