What sound does a Slovenian frog make?

Interjections, medmeti in Slovenian, express our mood and emotional conditions, they imitate natural sounds and are also used as an imperative (when we want to command something to somebody). They appear in every language. Interjections for the same thing in Slovenian and English (or any other language) are slightly different – not only how we write them, but also how we pronounce them. We can have a lot of fun comparing them in various languages, and “realise” that, for example, animals sound differently in different languages.

In Slovenian, in a sentence, we write a comma after an interjection. At the end of a sentence we usually write an exclamation mark. Interjections can also stand alone.

Examples:

Pst, zbudil boš otroke! (Shush, you will wake the children up!)
Juhuhu! (Yippie-yay-yo!)

We use interjections a lot in everyday conversation. Greetings also belong in a group of interjections, for example: živjo, čao, zdravo, hej, adijo, dober dan, nasvidenje.

Imitative Interjections

SLOVENIAN	ENGLISH	MEANING
mijav	miaow	the sound of cats
hov	woof	the sound of dogs
mu	moo	the sound of cows
čiv	cheep, tweet	the sound of birds
rega, kvak	croak	the sound of frogs
kikiriki	cock-a-doodle-doo	the sound of cocks
ga	quack	the sound of geese, ducks
bum	boom	the sound of explosion, drums, heart
cin	ring	the sound of a small bell, ting
tok	knock	the sound of knocking
čof, pljusk	splash	when splashing into the water
ačih	atishoo	when sneezing
ha	haha	when smiling

Mood Interjections

SLOVENIAN	ENGLISH	MEANING
fuj	yuck	disgust
joj	oh	astonishment, impairment
ah	oh	tiredness
eh	ah	apathy, annoyance
o	oh	amazement, admiration
aja	oh	getting ideas
hm	hmm	doubt, hesitation
juhuhu	yippie-yay-yo	joy, happiness
čin čin	cheers	when toasting
njam, mmm	yummy	saying when you taste something delicious
ej	hey	enthusiasm, also a greeting
av	ouch	when it hurts, pain
jupi, hura	yay	joy
vau	wow	admiration, astonishment
uf	phew	relief, annoyance
opa, ups	oops	when apologizing for your mistakes