Animals in Esperanto: cat, dog, horse and more

The Esperanto word for animal is besto. A cat is kato, a dog hundo, a horse ĉevalo, a bird birdo and a fish fiŝo. Animal names are ordinary nouns ending in -o, so they take -j in the plural (katoj "cats") and -n as the object (Mi havas katon "I have a cat"). Word parts then give the baby (-id-), the female (-in-) and the male (vir-). Pronunciation guides split words into syllables, with the stressed syllable in capitals; the stress always falls on the second-to-last syllable.

#General words

Besto normally means an animal other than a human; the dictionary ReVo adds a second sense that includes humans, which is also what animalo means. For an animal the usual pronoun is ĝi "it" (see pronouns): Mia hundo estas malgranda, sed ĝi bojas laŭte. – "My dog is small, but it barks loudly."

#Pets and farm animals

The word dombesto also covers farm animals; ReVo's examples are cows, donkeys, pigs and chickens. Why a cow is bovino is explained in the section on cattle below.

#Wild animals

Where English has two words, Esperanto sometimes has one: simio covers monkeys and apes, and testudo tortoises and turtles. Rabbit and hare stay apart: kuniklo and leporo. Apro is a wild boar; a male farm pig is virporko.

#Birds

Watch the look-alikes: pigo is a magpie, not a pig (porko), and a cuckoo is kukolo, not kuko "cake". Korvo covers crows and ravens (ReVo: the genus Corvus); the hooded crow is korniko.

#Sea animals, fish and insects

Kankro is a crayfish, not a crab. Look any other animal up in the dictionary. Colour adjectives work as usual (see colours): nigraj katoj "black cats".

#Cow, bull, ox and calf

Bovo is the species, cattle, and bovino is the female bovo: a cow. It does not mean "bovine"; the adjective "of cattle" is bova. ReVo cites the Fundamento's dictionary, the Universala Vortaro, as the source of both bovino and bovido "calf".

Traditionally people add -in- whenever they mean a female, so bovo beside bovino can sound like "bull". PMEG describes the same habit for koko and kokino. The plural still includes both sexes, and a growing number of speakers no longer add -in- automatically. Both ways are correct.

#Babies, females and males

Animal roots are sex-neutral: kato can be any cat. Three tools say more.

-id- marks the young of an animal (PMEG). -in- makes a female. Both can stand alone as roots: ido is "a young animal" and ino "a female". The stress moves with them: KA-to → ka-TI-do, ka-TI-no, but vir-KA-to.

Vir- is not an official prefix, and it is not on PMEG's list of 29 unofficial ones. It is the root viro "man" placed in front of another root, as in any compound. You can also use the adjective: vira kato. A few roots already mean a male animal: boko "buck", stalono "stallion", kapono "capon", okso and taŭro (PMEG). Some speakers use the unofficial suffix -iĉ-, as in katiĉo; PMEG calls it the most popular such proposal, though most still use vir-. More on prefixes and suffixes.

#Places, groups and meat

Other suffixes work well with animals; see word building for the system.

The separate word grego means any herd or flock: grego da ŝafoj "a flock of sheep". -Aĉ- expresses contempt, so use it with care.

#Animal sounds

The general verb for an animal's cry is bleki: La ŝafoj blekas. – "The sheep bleat." Many animals also have a verb of their own. ReVo notes the pattern animal + -e + bleki, such as bove bleki "to moo" and porke bleki "to grunt".

PMEG calls sound words the wildest part of any language, so spellings vary. It lists glu glu glu for a turkey.

#Animals in sentences

Notice the object ending -n (katojn, beston) and the plural -j. See nouns and adjectives.

#Common questions

#How do you say "cat" in Esperanto?

Kato (KA-to). A kitten is katido, a female cat katino, and the plural is katoj. Mi havas katon. – "I have a cat."

#How do you say "dog" in Esperanto?

Hundo (HUN-do). A puppy is hundido, a female dog hundino, and to bark is boji. Mia hundo bojas. – "My dog is barking."

#What is the Esperanto word for "animal"?

Besto, plural bestoj. Animalo also exists and includes humans. A pet is a dorlotbesto.

#What is "cow" in Esperanto?

Bovino, the female of bovo "cattle". It is not the word for "bovine", which is bova. A bull is virbovo and a calf bovido.

#How do you name a baby animal in Esperanto?

Add -id-: hundo → hundido "puppy", bovo → bovido "calf". The stress moves to the -id- syllable.

#What sounds do animals make in Esperanto?

Dogs bojas, cats miaŭas, horses henas, sheep blekas and pigs gruntas. The general verb is bleki.

#Sources

• ReVo: besto, kato, hundo, ĉevalo, ŝafo, kapro, porko, koko
• ReVo: bovo, bovino, bovido, virbovo, taŭro
• ReVo: simio, korvo, leporo, kuniklo, apro, kukolo, kankro
• ReVo, animal sounds: bleki, boji, miaŭi, muĝi, mu, heni, iai, grunti, kokeriki, gaki, ululi, kluki, kvaki, pepi, zumi, ronroni
• ReVo (mamulo, hamstro, meleagro) and English Wiktionary for the other animal names
• PMEG – Seksa signifo de O-vortoj
• PMEG suffixes: ID, IN, EJ, AR, AĈ, unofficial IĈ
• PMEG: unofficial prefixes, personal pronouns, sound words
• Universala Vortaro (Fundamento)
• Wiktionary: bovejo