here are many foreign languages' words for wolf, that i've collected over the years. i've divided and sorted the list by continent, because it's getting very long. i thank the many people around the world who have sent me words and corrections. please send me any corrections and additions you can. amongst the more famous languages, i lack the words from: asturian galician ligurian provencal azeri gascon malayalam punjabi cantonese nahuatl chukchi genoese padovan romansch frisian pali scots not to mention untold dozens of tribal languages of the northern hemisphere. -don davis, boston e-mail: don @ mit.edu Copyright (C) Donald T. Davis, 1999, 2010. Do not duplicate without permission and attribution of the author. europe: ------ language transliteration pronunciation _______________________________________________________________________ afrikaans: wolf albanian: ulk armenian: gul (between gool & kool; school w/o "s") aromanian (macedonia): lup asturian: llobu, lloba basque: otso (OHT-sho) breton: bleiz (blay, but blayss near leon, brittany) wolves: bleizi (blaze-ee) she-wolf: bleizez bulgarian: vulk (u as in gum) catalan: llop (yohp) ch'ti (france): leup, leuwarou cornish: blyth (bleeth, th as in thin) wolves: blydhas (BLEE-thahss, dh = th as in the) she-wolf blydhes (BLEE-thess, dh = th as in the) she-wolves: blydhow (BLEE-thoo, dh = th as in the) czech: vlk danish: ulv dutch: wolf (o as in clock) esperanto: lupo (LOOP-oh) cub: lupido (loop-EED-oh) female: lupino (loop-EEN-oh) pack: luparo (loop-AHR-oh) estonian: hunt (hoont) susi etruscan (extinct): oltas faeroese: u'lvur finnish (colloq): susi (su-si) (poetic): hukka (huk-ka, lit. "destruction") flemish: wolf (o as in clock) french: loup (loo) female: louve (loov) cub: louveteau (loovTOE) gaulish (extinct): succellus german: Wolf (vohlf) plural: Woelfe (oe = umlaut-o, "o" in "work") female wolf: Woelfin (oe = umlaut-o) wolf cub: Welpe (both "e" like "exit") gothic: wulfs greek (modern): lucos (LOO-cos) greek (ancient): lycos (LOO-cos) hungarian: farkas (far-KAWSH, trill the r) marsh wolf: toportyan icelandic: u'lfur indo-european: wlkwo (WOOLKwo, oo as in wool) wolf or fox: wlp (woolp, oo as in wool) irish: (colloqial): macti're (mock-teera, "son of the land") wolf (taboo): faol (fwhale, rhymes with whale) (diminutive): faola'n (fwhale-awn, = surname Whelan) italian: lupo lapp (northern): gumpe (northeastern): navdi latin: lupus lupa latvian vilks, vilkas ligurian (italy/france): lô lithuanian: vilk macedonian: volk magyar (hungarian): ordas (literary) maltese: dib, lupu manx bwoirryn norwegian: ulv (u w/ umlaut, very hard L) occitan (france): lop old english: wulf ("u" as in "full") old irish: olc (means "evil") old german female cub: Welf ("e" like "exit") old norse: vargr ulfr old church slavonic: vulk, vluku (u as in up) polish: wilk (veelk) portuguese: lobo (LOW-boo) rom (gypsy): vyusher ruv rumanian: lup (loop) the wolf: lupul russian: volk (voolk or wahlk) she-wolf volchiza (wallchAItsa) wolf cub: volchionok (volchiONek or wallchiONahk) sami: gumpe serbo-croatian: vuk (vook) aslovak: vlk, zozhrat' slovene: volk wolf cub: volchich sudovian (lithuania): vilkas spanish: lobo (LOH-boh) swedish: varg (trill the r) ukrainian: vilk (vilk, not veelk) vovk voro (estonia): susi walloon: loup (loo) welsh: blaidd (just like blithe, with voiced th) she-wolf: bleithast yiddish: wolf ------------------------------------------------------------------ asia: ---- ainu: harkeu arabic (classical): thirb (th as in breath, trilled r) (colloquial): dib (dib or deeb, depending on locale) aramaic: de'aavaa avestan (e.iran,extinct): vehrka, vehrko balochi (sw.pakistan): gurkh bengali: nekRe baagh (R almost like "d") chinese (mandarin): lang (lahng, rising tone) cuman (extinct): br see caucasus, e.g. chechen farsi (persian): gorg (trill the r) Halaj (iran): bieri hebrew: ze'ev (tsuh'ayv, ' like t in "latin") hindi: bhediyaa vrik hittite (extinct): ulippanna indonesian: serigala japanese: okami (OH-kami) khowar (pakistan): shapir korean: luec deh (ue = u with umlaut) neukdae i-ri ordinary wolf: ssung-nyang-i timber wolf: mal-ssung-nyang-i kurdish: gur, gurg laotian: mapaa marathi (india): laandagaa mazandarani (n.iran): varg nenets (n.russia): sarmik nganasan (n.russia): ngueliazhae persian, middle: gurg persian, modern: gorg persian, old: varkha- mongolian: chon ?inu-a nepali: bvanso (BWAHso) pashto (afghanistan): leewe, sharmush/sharmukh roshani (tajikistan): urg sanskrit: vR^ika (R^i = final sound in french "chambre") sherpa: khatamu sumerian: ur tamil (s. india): onaai (oh-NAI) telugu (s.india): todealu thai: ma'ba` (rising tone,then falling; voiceless b) tibetan: cengqu (junggoo, first syll has high tone) tojiki: gurg turkish: kurt (u as in pull, r trilled) boerue (dialect; oe, ue : umlaut) urdu: bheyRya vietnamese: so'i, cho' so'i yukaghir (siberia): kOde: zazaki (e.turkey): verg siberia & central asia: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- balkar: boerue (oe, ue = umlaut) bashkir: buere chuvash: pir6 (6 = schwa) dolgan: boerue karaim: boerue karakalpak: boeri karakhanid: boeri (oe = o w/ umlaut) kazakh: boeri khakassian: puer (ue = u w/ umlaut) kirghiz: boerue kumyk: boerue noghai: boeri oyrat: boerue salar: puer'e sary-yughur: boeji, peri (oe = o w/ umlaut) shor: poerue tajik: urk tatar: buere (u w/ umlaut) tofalar: boerue turkmen: bori, mojek, gurt tuva: boerue, dial. (Todzh.) boeruek uighur: boere (o w/ umlaut) uralic (samoyed): colp, cor'ma uzbek: boere (o w/ umlaut) yakut: boerue ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- caucasus (w. asia): (key: ' = after a cons't: ejective (glottalized) consonant ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ abaza: kwaezhma abkhaz: a-kwaezhma akhvakh bach'a (ch = as in "cheese") andi boc'o archi yam avar bac' bagvalal bac'a batsbi b9orc (9 = voiced pharyngeal (Arabic 'ain)) bezhta bac'o botlikh bac'a budukh eb chamalal bac'a chechen borz dargwa bec' georgian mgeli (mmGEHli) godoberi bac'a hinukh boc'e hunzib bAc'6 (A as in "ah," 6 = schwa as in "sofa") hwarshi boc'o ingush borz kabardian (circassian): dighuzh karata bac'a kryz eb lak barc' laz mge-, mger-, mzhwer- (case ending omitted) lezgi zhanavur mingrelian ger- (case ending omitted) rutul ubul tabassarian Åzhanavar tsez boc'i tsakhur umul ubykh k'a:bIae' udi ul adyghe aghul svan ----------------------------------------------------------------------- africa: ------ amharic (ethiopian): #kareboh (# = pharyngeal click; trill the r) arabic (colloquial): dib (dib or deeb, depending on locale) berber (morocco): ushin (ooSHIN, not ooSHEEN) somali uubato swahili: mbwa mwitu zulu: impisi ----------------------------------------------------------------------- americas: ---------- alabama: waso ifimmoosi (literally, "dog's uncle") algonquin: tuk'sit apache: chato (literally, "flat nosed") athabascan-athna: tikaani athabascan-denaina: tiqun blackfoot (archaic): makoyi (modern): omahkapi'si caddo (nat. am.): tasha cherokee: wa ya cheyenne: ho'nehe (' = t in "latin", e = i as in "pit") chippewa: gun'iew chinook: le-loo' choctaw: nashoba cree: maheegan delaware: p'tuksit (origin of "tuxedo") guarani: aguara hopi: mansi (lit. "plucked flower") inupiaq (alaska eskimo):amag'uk amabuq kiowa: mokuyi kwakiutl: gwala lakota (sioux): skaska "big coyote:" shunkmanitu tanka lenape: mohegan menomini: moquiao mingo: uth·yÙni navajo: ma' iitsoh nootka: lokwa' odawa: mheen-guhn ojibwa: maengun ojibwa-cree: mahigan or mahican oneida: tahiON (aspirated h) pawnee: skiri' ki pawnee sign language: (r. index & middle f. next to r. ear, then forward). quechua (mexico): atuc, lupu saanich (Pac. NW): stuhqeyuh? (? = glottal stop) seneca: kyiyu shoshone: beya ish ute: sinapu yup'ik (alaska indian): kegluneq or kegg'luneq ----------------------------------------------------------------------- etymology: according to the american heritage dictionary, most of the european forms derive from taboo variants (like "gosh" or "darn") of a single, original indo-european root "wlkwo." specifically, wlkwo => wlpo => wolf, wulf, ulfr, ulv (germanic) wlpo => lupo => lupus, loup, lup, lobo (romance) wlkwo => lukwo => lycos (greek) wlkwo => blaidd, blyth, bleiz, faol = fw'el (celtic) wlkwo => vilk, vlk, volk, vulk, vuk, wilk (slavic) wlkwo => vargr, varg, vR^ika, farkas, gorg a similar process in modern american english is the substitution of "darn it, dang it, dash it" for "damn it." though the celtic words look quite different from wlkwo, in each case, the initial w remained a labial consonant, and the -kw became a dental or was dropped. irish macti're is clearly a taboo substitute, from the latin terra "land", as is old irish olc "evil." ------------------------------------------------------------------