I Never Knew There Was a Word for It - Adam Jacot De Boinod [33]
zaru a horse that travels nimbly with long steps
mirjam a horse that makes the dirt fly when running
raji a horse returning tired from a journey only to be immediately dispatched upon another
rakl to strike a horse with the heel to make it gallop
zau’ shaking the horse’s rein to quicken the pace
shiyar riding a horse backwards and forwards to show it off to a buyer
safin a horse standing on three legs and touching the ground with the tip of its fourth hoof
Man’s best friend
The Indians of Guatemala have a word, nagual, which describes an animal, chosen at birth, whose fate is believed to have a direct effect on the prosperity of its owner.
Hopping mad
The Kunwinjku of Australia use a range of words to describe the way in which kangaroos hop; in part this is because, from a distance, the easiest way to identify a particular type of kangaroo is by the way it moves. Thus kanjedjme is the hopping of a wallaroo, kamawudme is the hopping of a male Antilopine wallaroo, and kadjalwahme is the hopping of the female. Kamurlbardme is the hopping of a black wallaroo and kalurlhlurlme is the hopping of an agile wallaby.
False friends
ape (Italian) bee
anz (Arabic) wasp
bum (Arabic) owl
medusa (Spanish) jellyfish
slurp (Afrikaans) elephant’s trunk
ukelele (Tongan) jumping flea
Shoo!
The Latin American sape, the German husch and the Pashto (of Afghanistan and Pakistan) tsheghe tsheghe are among the many similar-sounding words that mean ‘shoo’. Other animal commands refer to particular creatures: Pashto pishte pishte is said when chasing cats away; gja gja is the Bulgar driving call to horses; kur is the Indonesian call to chickens to come to be fed; and belekisi ontu (Aukan, Suriname) is an insult hurled at a dog. The Malays are even more specific, with song, the command to an elephant to lift one leg, and soh, the cry to a buffalo to turn left.
Peacocks’ tails
Many languages identify specific parts or attributes of animals for which there is no direct English equivalent. Kauhaga moa is the word used by Easter Islanders to designate the first and shortest claw of a chicken, while candraka in Tulu (India) is the eye pattern that appears on the feathers of a peacock’s tail and kannu is the star in the feather. In several languages there are particular words for different types of animal excrement: monkey urine in the Guajá language (Brazil) is kalukaluk-kaí; the liquid part of chicken excrement in Ulwa (Nicaragua) is daraba; while in Persian the little bit of sweat and dung attached to a sheep’s groin and tail is called wazahat.
Kissing and hissing
Other words describe the closely observed actions of animals, many of which we can instantly recognize:
mengais (Indonesian) to scratch on the ground with claws in search of food (generally used of a chicken)
apisik (Turkish) any animal holding its tail between its legs
maj u maj (Persian) kissing and licking (as a cat does to her kittens)
greann (Scottish Gaelic) the hair bristling as on an enraged dog
fahha (Arabic) the hissing of a snake
tau’ani (Cook Islands Maori) to squeal at one another while fighting (used of cats)
kikamu (Hawaiian) the gathering of fish about a hook that they hesitate to bite
alevandring (Danish) the migration of the eel
paarnguliaq (Inuit) a seal that has strayed and now can’t find its breathing hole
Two Persian tricks
Tuti’i pas ayina is a person sitting behind a mirror who teaches a parrot to talk by making it believe that it is its own likeness seen in the mirror which is pronouncing the words. While kalb is the practice of imitating barking to induce dogs to respond and thus show whether a particular dwelling is inhabited or not.
Animal magnetism
Some animal words attract other meanings as well. Hausa of Nigeria uses mesa to mean both python and water hose,