cat, dog

    • Greek dog is (he) ο σκύλος, (she) η σκύλα, (pup) το σκύλακι, (αny) το σκυλί (pronounced skilos, skila, skilaki, skili)
    (he) ο γάτος, (she) η γάτα, (kitten) το γατάκι, (any cat) to γατί, (diminutive, like puss) γατούλα But almost always referred to in feminine form. We call cats with psi-psi-psi. Pronounced gatos, gata, gataki, gati, gatoula
     
    Sanskrit
    cat मार्जारः maarjaaraH (> Prakrit majjao; cf. the English cat sound meow and similar like Swedish mjau) or विडालः viDaalaH; the latter of course giving the mentioned Hindi बिल्ला बिल्ली billaa billii female/male cat
    dog श्वा, श्वन् shvaa, shvan (cf. Latin canis), कुक्कुरः kukkuraH > Hindi कुत्त kutta.
     
    chicagriega said:
    Cat:γάτα
    Dog:σκύλος
    Click to expand...
    «Γάτα» [ˈɣa.ta] (fem.) is the generic MoGr name for cat. It probably derives from the Koine fem. «κάττᾱ» kắttā, of unknown origin (although the word is found in Latin and most other languages of Europe).
    In ancient Greek it's:
    (a) «Aἰέλουρος/αἴλουρος» ai̯élourŏs/aí̯lourŏs (masc./fem.) --> wild cat (domestic cats were not found in the Greek world) traditionally believed as being the compound of «αἰόλος» ai̯ólŏs --> quick, swift + «οὐρά» ourā́ --> tail; for Beekes this interpretation is problematic.

    (b) «Γαλέη/γαλῆ» găléē (uncontracted)/gălê (contracted) --> weasel, marten, wild cat (with unclear etymology, it's probably connected to the Skt. गिरिका (girikā), mouse, and the Lat. glīs, dormouse).
    «Γαλῆ» [ɣaˈli] (fem.) was the preferred name for the proponents of the usage of Katharevousa Greek in every-day speech.

    «Σκύλος» ['scilos] (masc.) is the generic MoGr name for dog. It comes from the Koine masc. noun «σκύλ(λ)ος» skúl(l)ŏs --> young dog, puppy < Classical 3rd declension masc. noun «σκύλαξ» skúlăks (nom. sing.), «σκύλακος» skúlăkŏs (gen. sing.) --> puppy.
    In ancient Greek it's «κύων» kúōn. The name «σκύλος» has replaced it in the vernacular, at least since the Hellenistic era (as Hesychius the Alexandrian attests):
    «...σκύλον τὸν κύνα λέγουσιν» = "they (i.e the mainland Greeks) name the kúōn, skúlŏs."
     
    Lillita said:
    Hungarian:

    cat -- macska
    dog -- kutya
    Click to expand...

    Very similar with the Macedonian words. Do you pronounce them [mat͡ʃka] and [kuca] ?

    In Macedonian they are:

    cat
    • мачка (mačka) ['mat͡ʃka] n. fem. - female and species. Plural мачки (mački) ['mat͡ʃki]
    • маче (mačka) ['mat͡ʃɛ] n. neut. - kitten, diminutive. Plural мачиња (mačinja) ['mat͡ʃiɲa]
    • мачор (mačor) ['mat͡ʃɔr] n. masc. - tomcat, male. Plural мачори (mačori) ['mat͡ʃɔri]

    dog
    • куче (kuče) ['kut͡ʃɛ] n. neut. - male and species. Plural кучиња (kučinja) ['kut͡ʃiɲa]
    • кучка (kučka) ['kut͡ʃka] n. fem. - female, bitch. Plural кучки (kučki) ['kut͡ʃki]
    • пес (pes) ['pɛs] n. masc. - can be both male and female, pejorative. Plural песови (pesovi) ['pɛsovi], песа (pesa) ['pɛsa] and пци (pci) ['pt͡si]
     
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    apmoy70 said:
    «Γάτα» [ˈɣa.ta] (fem.) is the generic MoGr name for cat. It probably derives from the Koine fem. «κάττᾱ» kắttā, of unknown origin (although the word is found in Latin and most other languages of Europe).
    In ancient Greek it's:
    (a) «Aἰέλουρος/αἴλουρος» ai̯élourŏs/aí̯lourŏs (masc./fem.) --> wild cat (domestic cats were not found in the Greek world) traditionally believed as being the compound of «αἰόλος» ai̯ólŏs --> quick, swift + «οὐρά» ourā́ --> tail; for Beekes this interpretation is problematic.

    (b) «Γαλέη/γαλῆ» găléē (uncontracted)/gălê (contracted) --> weasel, marten, wild cat (with unclear etymology, it's probably connected to the Skt. गिरिका (girikā), mouse, and the Lat. glīs, dormouse).
    «Γαλῆ» [ɣaˈli] (fem.) was the preferred name for the proponents of the usage of Katharevousa Greek in every-day speech.

    «Σκύλος» ['scilos] (masc.) is the generic MoGr name for dog. It comes from the Koine masc. noun «σκύλ(λ)ος» skúl(l)ŏs --> young dog, puppy < Classical 3rd declension masc. noun «σκύλαξ» skúlăks (nom. sing.), «σκύλακος» skúlăkŏs (gen. sing.) --> puppy.
    In ancient Greek it's «κύων» kúōn. The name «σκύλος» has replaced it in the vernacular, at least since the Hellenistic era (as Hesychius the Alexandrian attests):
    «...σκύλον τὸν κύνα λέγουσιν» = "they (i.e the mainland Greeks) name the kúōn, skúlŏs."
    Click to expand...
    Apologies for quoting myself but just wanted to add a few dialectal words for the two animals:
    -In Tsakonian, cat is «κατσούα» [kaˈt̠͡s̠ua] (fem.) which is the feminine form of the ancient neuter diminutive «καττούλιον» /kɐt.ˈtulion/ --> kitten; the palatalization of geminated - ττ - /tt/ to - τσ - /t͡s/ is a linguistic phenomenon in MoGr called tsitakism.
    Dog is «κούε» [ˈkue̞] (masc.) < Classical masc. noun «κύων» /ˈkyɔːn/ (see my previous post). Puppy is «κουνάζι» /kuˈnaz̠i/ (neut.) < Koine neuter diminutive «κυνάδιον» /kyˈnɐdion/ for the dog of small stature with lenition.

    -In Pontic Greek, cat is «κάτα» [ˈkat̠a] (fem.) a word inherited from Byzantine Greek. It's also the name for the female cat. The male cat is the masculine «κάτον» [ˈkat̠o̞n] (Pontic Greek has the peculiarity of identifying the nominative masculine singular with the accusative).
    Dog is «σκύλον» [ˈs̠cilo̞n] (masc.) which is the same MoGr word. The female dog however is «τσούνα» [ˈt̠͡s̠una] (fem.) < feminine form of ancient «κύων», «κύνᾱ» /ˈkynɐː/, again with tsitakism.

    -In Cypriot Greek, the generic name for cat is «κάττα» [ˈkat̠.t̠a] (fem.) taken directly from Byzantine Greek, which is also the name for the female cat, while «κάττος» [ˈkat̠.t̠o̞s̠] (masc.) is the male cat. Kitten is «καττίν» [kat̠.ˈt̠in] (neut.), the diminutive of «κάττα».
    Dog is «σσύλλος» [ˈʃil.lo̞s̠] (masc.), also the male dog, while the female dog is «σσύλλα» [ˈʃil.la] (fem.) < Koine Gr «σκύλλος» with palatlization of - σκ - /sc/ to - σσ - /ʃ/. Puppy is «σσυλλίν» [ʃil.ˈlin] (neut.) < Koine neuter diminutive «σκυλλί(ο)ν» /skyl.ˈli(o)n/.
     
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    My language already features, but I thought I'd just add the following:

    a puppy - 'ci bach' (Literally, 'little dog'.) The adj. comes after the noun, as normal.
    a kitten - 'cath fach' (Literally, 'little cat'.) Ibid.

    bach and fach are not interchangeable and depend on the gender of the noun being so described as 'small'

    masc. + bach,
    fem. + fach,
    masc./fem. + plur. + bach    .
     
    kgleoite said:
    In Irish
    cat - cat (pronounced c/o/th)
    dod - madra (pronounced mod/ rah) or gadhar (pronounced guy/err, with the emphasis on the guy)
    Click to expand...
    There is a further word for a dog in Irish, “cú”, suggesting perhaps more the senses of English “hound”, and cognate with Latin “canis”, French “chien”, English “hound” and so on. See also the name of the folk hero Cú Chulainn - Wikipedia
     
    linguist786 said:
    Arabic:

    Cat - قط/قطة (qiTTun/qiTTatun)
    Dog - كلب (kalb)
    Click to expand...
    Actually, Arabic has several words for cat:
    قطّ qiTT, borrowed from ancient Egyptian.
    هرّ hirr, most common name in Classical Arabic, it is derived from the cat’s purring sound.
    بسّ biss, derived from the sound humans make to call a cat.
    بزّون bazzoon
    سنور sannour
    ضيون DHayyoun

    Not sure what the origin of the other three is, I couldn’t find the etymology in dictionaries.

    All the above words were used in Classical Arabic. They are still used in dialects, but you can also add a few more words in dialects borrowed from other languages.

    Interestingly, there is only one word for dog, the same one in CA, MSA, and in dialects!
     
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