doc. dr. Tomaž BARTOL (Tomaz BARTOL), dipl. ing. zoot.
Assist. Prof., Head of the Chair of Information Science, Agronomy Department
Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
We present a multilingual glossary or dictionary of common animal names.
Besides the Latin scientific names we included the languages of the countries
neighbouring on Slovenia (Austria (German), Croatia, Hungary, and Italy).
We also included a few selected major international languages of European
origins, such as English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The glossary
comprises most domestic animals to be found in Europe, and also a few selected
domestic animals from other continents. It also contains a few of such wild
animals (birds and mammals) that are familiar to the inhabitants of Central
Europe.
As common names we usually included such nouns (without an adjective) that
generally denote a genus or even a family. Less frequently we considered a
particular species. An attempt to include all potential species would exceed our
capacities. Also, there exist in most languages quite a few synonyms pertinent
to a particular species so it would be rather difficult to identify those that
are the most relevant. However, as for the Latin names we always included the
entire name of a "characteristic" species. In case of several species
carrying the same noun we chose a species that is someway indicative of a genus
or even a family, and can be uniformly and comprehensively intertranslated among
different languages without the use of adjectives.
Examples:
For both hare varieties of the same genus (Lepus europaeus, Lepus
timidus), e.g., we employed only the L. europaeus, and rendered it
only under the name of genus (hare), that is without the adjecives of european
(brown), mountain (arctic), in all respective languages.
In a few selected cases we used one common name that can in some languages
though be applied to different genera. The same common name in English (mouse),
German (Maus), Slovenian (miš), Spanish (rat?), etc. stands for
genera Mus, Micromys, Apodemus. In French, however, the common names are
different (Souris, Rat des moissons, Mulot, respectively). In this case
we employed only one characteristic species, a house mouse, Mus musculus.
On this example it is fairly obvious that it is sometimes rather difficult to
maintain an absolute multilingual consistency. In naming animals we cannot rely
on morphological characteristics: The term rat which in French stands for
both black and brown rat (Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus),
is in this language assigned also to the tiny Micromys minutus, which is
much smaller than most species of mice.
Sometimes there exists in most languages the same common noun for individuals
of different species of the same genus. This is, e.g., the case with the Larus,
or gull (seagull). The most common or "prominent"
species, though, may sometimes in a particular language acquire a particular
name as is the case with Larus canus or gavina, and Larus
marinus or mugnaiaccio in Italian, where the gulls are in general
called a gabbiano. In this case we still used the species of L. canus
which we for the Italian data provided with both expressions.
It was rather difficult to uniformly intertranslate the names of these
two ordres, especially the owls (Strigiformes). This group of
birds comprises two families (Tytonidae, Strigidae) and several genera. Whereas
the English language invariably employs the term owl this is not the case
with other languages. Individual species do not intertranslate consistently.
However, due to shared anatomical characteristics of these nocturnal birds of
prey there exists in most languages an approximate common term which can be used
to label all species in both families event though these birds are far from
similar. To illuminate such lingual differences we present interspecific
distinctions in a few selected languages:
LAT
ANG
SLV
GER
SPA
FRE
ITA
Asio otus
long-eared owl
mala uharica
Waldohreule
búho chico
hibou moyen-duc
gufo comune
Athene noctua
little owl
čuk
Steinkauz
mochuelo
chevêche
civetta
Bubo bubo
eagle owl
velika uharica
Uhu
búho real
grand duc
gufo reale
Strix aluco
tawny owl
lesna sova
Waldkauz
cárabo
chouette hulotte
Allocco
Tyto alba
barn owl
pegasta sova
Schleiereule
lechuza común
chouette effraie
barbagianni
In this case we presented in our glossary the specific terms whereby we
included also the exact common name for each particular species. We also
included the most general common name for the order (ordo) if possible. We
employed those terms that are used in general dictionaries.
Some similar, if less pronounced, terminological characteristics can be
observed in the order of Piciformes where there exists, e.g., one common
Catalan, English, French, German, or Italian term, but two terms on the same
level in Slovenian, Croatian, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Again we used
the names for the particular species but also the approximate common name for
the order.
LAT
ANG
SLV
GER
SPA
FRE
ITA
Dendrocopos major
great spotted woodpecker
veliki detel
Buntspecht
Pico picapinos
Pic ýpeiche
Picchio rosso maggiore
Dendrocopos minor
lesser spotted woodpecker
mali detel
Kleinspecht
Pico menor
Pic ýpeichette
Picchio rosso minore
Picus viridis
black woodpecker
zelena žolna
Grünspecht
Pito real
Pic vert
Picchio verde
Drycopus martius
green woodpecker
èrna
žolna
Schwarzspecht
Pito negro
Pic noir
Picchio nero
With many animals, especially birds, we included also different species of
the same genus, particularly with those species that possess some distinguishing
characteristics and have thus acquired an individual name in the course of
human-animal interactions. This is, e.g., the case with song birds (Passeriformes),
and particular with some families of this order, such as the Corvidae
where in most languages there exists a particular name for each species.
As was mentioned in the beginning we consistently used the common
denominating nouns without the specific adjectives, where not necessary.
However, we did use the adjectives in cases where an adjective in a selected
language denotes a species that has a particular name in most other species.
This was the case with the deer in English, -huhn in German, rato
or ?uia in Portuguese, etc.
We compiled this simple glossary in order to rise awareness of the
differences, but also similarities among the European languages of different
linguistic groups. Both differences and similarities transcend the
characteristics of a particular group. They also show the fluidity of a language
as a way of communicating concepts and ideas. With this site we also hope to
modestly contribute to better understanding among the speakers of different
tongues.
We are sure we may have missed quite a few prominent animal kinds. However,
as we intend to constantly revise the glossary we will very gladly accept your
suggestions as to new names or modifications and corrections of existing terms.
The proposals can be submitted to the electronic address below.
