Animals

Margo's Magical Letter Page

The words which are most resistant to sound meaning are those with a very concrete referent, and these fit in a relatively small number of semantic classes. One of these classes is the class of animals. For example, a large percentage of words beginning in /b/ refer to explosions or explosive sounds or to large quantities. In general, /b/ is an overbearing sort of consonant. However, you can't really say that animals are explosions or large quantities or any of those /b/ things. They're just animals. The animals beginning with /b/ do tend to be the biggest in their class: bear, bison, buck, baboon, buffalo, etc.. But what's interesting is that we tend to think of /b/ animals as big, explosive and dangerous generally male, just as we think of the letter /b/. So the name we give to an animal (or for that matter person) influences how we think about it, as I'm about to demonstrate. Now we do have loaded terms for animals in English words like 'pooch' and 'mutt' and 'mongrel', but it would be cheating to use those in the test I am about to run. I'm going to stick to terms like 'dog' the basic terms for animals. And then I'm going to look at how we use those terms in idioms and name-calling as an indication of how we view the animal itself. And then I'm going to correlate that view of the animal with the way we pronounce the word which refers to it. To do this, I also have to leave out words for animals which we don't really have strong associations with like maybe cardinal and mussel.

Big and Fast

buffalo, bull!

Bamboozle: babble, Babel, bah, balderdash, ballyhoo, baloney, bamboozle, bandy, banter, bicker, bilge, blab, blabber, blarney, blaspheme, blather, blooper, blubber, bluff, blurb, bluster, boast, bombast, boner, bore, bosh, bounce, brabble, brag, bull, bumble, bunk, bunkum, burble, butter, buzz
Interfere: badger, baffle, bag, bamboozle, ban, bar, barricade, bate, bench, bend, bilk, bind, blank, blanket, blind, block, blot, bludgeon, bluff, blunt, blur, bog, boggle, bolt, bombast, boss, bother, bottle, bounce, bout, boycott, brake, breach, break, bridle, brook, brush, buck, buff, buffalo, buffer, buffet, bug, bull, bully, bulwark, bump, bundle, butt
Guile: bull, fool, guile, pull, wile wool
Fake: fake, false, farce, faze, feign, feint, fence, fib, filch, fix, flay, fleece, foil, foist, fool, forge, fox, frame, fraud, fudge; craft, graft, grift, left, shaft, shift; bluff, spoof

baboon, badger, barracuda, bat, bear, boa, boar, buck, buffalo, bull, buzzard

start with /b/, and /b/ is for 'beast' and:

Brazen: bad, balls, bantam, bawd/y, bold, brash, brass/y, bravado, brave, brawn, brazen, breast, bristle, bronco, brusque, brute

But is a baboon really more brazen than an orangutan? A bear more than a panda? A bat more than a hamster?

the lion

Large: lard, larder, large, largo, last, laurel, lead, legend, lion, load, lode, long, loom, lord, lot, loud, lummox, lump, lush, luster, luxe
Noble: count, crown, dean, don, fine, gent, grand, khan, man, mensch, knight, name, noble, note, prince, queen, reign, saint, throne

hogs, pigs and wild boars?

As for boar: boor, chore, gore, roar, sore, war... Need I say more? And a boar is a brazen /b/.

But hogs and pigs:

Puffy /p/: paunch, pig, plump, pork, port, pot, pudgy, pump
By contrast, the Big /b/ is more pervasive, and isn't so uniformly fat: ballast, bank, banner, barrel, best, better, bevy, Bible, big, bis, blanket, blow, boon, boot, both, bounty, Brahma, brisk, broad, Buddha, bulk, bumper, bushel, buxom (a favorite /b/ body part: boob, booby, bosom, breast, brisket, bust)
Often more wealthy: bacon, bail, balance, bank, bar, bargain, bear, bet, bill, bit, bleed, blow, bob, bonanza, bond, bonus, boodle, booty, bounty, bourse, brass, bread, bribe, buck, budget, bull, bullion, bunch, bundle, buy
Or burgeoning: batten, beef, best, blast, bloat, bloom, blossom, blow, boom, boost, breed, bud, build, bulge, bull, bulk, burgeon, bush, butt

Plundering /p/: pelf, pick, pig, pilfer, pillage, pinch, pirate, pluck, plunder, poach, pocket, pogrom, purloin
Heisting /h/: harrow, harry, heist, hijack, hoard, hog, hot
Gluttonous /g/: chug, hog, pig, swig
Snag: bag, bog, brig, cog, gig, glob, glom, glue, gluten, grab, graft, grasp, grip, gripe, grope, grout, gum, hog, hug, peg, pig, rig, snag, tag

(That's a thing about these velars. They're always so grabby. The only time /b/ takes anything is 'bribe' and 'burgle'... maybe 'bring'.)

Why is the cheetah is faster than a leopard or lion or tiger?

Because it's spelled with:

Charging 'ch': champ, charge, chariot, chase, chop, chug
And Speedy 'ee': beam me up!, beat it!, bee, bleed, breeze, clear out!, ease, flee, fleet, free, gear (up), grease, heat, turn to your heels, keen, lead, leak, lean, leap, leave, mean, near, peak, peel (out), reach, scream, ski, sleek, speed, spree, steam, steed, steer, streak, stream, sweep, wheel, zeal
And /t/ at the end is pretty fast too: fast, first, fleet, flight, haste, heat, jet, light, past, pert, roast, rout, scat, scoot, shoot, spit, split, sprint, swift, tilt

(Another aside which I can't resist)

Not all sounds are fast! The 'ch' above is not particularly fast. The /d/ in 'speed', for example, does not fall in a class of fast words, but rather:
Add: add, aid, and, blend, breed, build, feed, food, load, maid, meld, mound, scend, speed (you on your way)
Drive Onward: ford, gad, goad, hound, knead, lade, pound, prod, raid, rid, ride, rod, scend, send, should, spade, speed, wade, weed, wield, wind(n)
It's the /s/ and the 'ee' in the word 'speed' which are fast. And they're fast in different ways. The /p/ in 'speed' is not so much fast as peppy. /p/ can jump to attention on very short notice, but has little stamina.

Sharp and Sneaky

wiley coyote, catty, never smile at a crocodile
hawk, jackal, shark, skunk, snake

all have that:

Sneaky, Careful and Mysterious K: cabal, cache, cage/y, care, calm, canker, case, closet, clam, clue, code, cover, coy, crack (case), craft/y, crane, craven, creep/y, crime, crook, cruel, cunning, cut/ting, curse, crypt, crystal (ball), culprit, fox, hawk, keep, key, quest, quiet, scheme, shark, skulk, strict, tact

And for the lowly creatures of /s/
fox, louse, lynx, skunk

Scum ball: beast, pest, fence, hex, minx, Satan, Saturn, satyr, scab, scamp, scorpion, scoundrel, scum, serpent, siren, skunk, slime, snake, sphinx, swine
Smelly: sachet, scent, sense, skunk, smell, sneeze, sniff, sniffle, stench, stink
Sneaky: pseudo, psych, sabotage, scalp, scam, scandal, scant, scheme, scourge, screw, scurvy, secret, sell, sidle, skin, skulk, skunk, slide, slink, slip, slither, sly, smuggle, snake, sneak, snooker, soak, spoof, sport, stalk, steal, stealth, stick, sting, stooge, stunt, sucker, swindle

The jaded /J/s jackal, jay

Jaded: dodge, forge, fudge, gentile, germ, gyp, hedge, jackal, jade, jerk, Jezebel, jilt, jingo, jinni, jinx, jive, job, stooge

Both the sneaky /k/s and the jaded /J/s frequently involve deception. The /s/s aren't so much deceptive as mere scoundrels. However, the sneaky /k/s imply some kind of secret, some withheld information. The /J/ class implies rather a corruption. This is very hard to get at, because of course forgeries and snow jobs involve withheld information just as 'cruelty', 'crime' and 'cunning' involve some kind of corruption, but the way I feel it, corruption is not implicit in the /k/ words in the same way as in the /J/ words. I wouldn't want to shove such an interpretation down anyone's throat. However, I do feel a difference between these two classes, and 'secret' vs. 'jaded' is one attempt to characterize the difference.

the shrewdness of the shark shark is in that /sh/

Shrewd: charades, charlatan, chicane, schmuck, schnook, shade/y, sham, shanghai, shark, sharp, shift/y, shrewd, sure

And a trick is in /r//k/

Trick /k/: act, bilk, fake, fox, hoax, kwack, like, mock, prank, psych, scam, skunk, take, trick
Trick /r/: bribe, craft, cross, draw, farce, forge, frame, fraud, graft, grift, prank, prowl, racket, ruse, screw, shrewd, spring, strand, straw, strip, throw, trap, trick, trip, trump

the cool cat, the foxy lady and the poor ugly dog

Cool: calm, class/y, clean, clear, cold, cool, couth, coy, quiet

Fast and Flashy: fast, feisty, fever, fire, flair, flash, fling, flirt, floozy, flower, fondle, fox, fresh, fuck, funk/y

Dreary: dank, dark, date/d, dead, dearth, December, dike, dim, dingy, dive, dodo, dog, doldrums, dole, dolor, doom, dour, doxy, dowdy, down, drab, drag, drain, draw/n, dreary, dregs, drip, drone, droop, drudge, dry, dull, dump
Ugh: bag, bog, bug, dig, dog, drag, fig, frog, gag, hag, hog, morgue, nag, pig, plague, prig, rag, rogue, sag, scrag, shrug, slog, slug, smog, smug, thug, ugh

Stupid and Cuckoo

on burros, mules and donkeys

A burro carries the weight of that /b/: back, bag, bairn, ballast, barbell, barge, barrow, basket, bear, boom, boost, borrow, bough, box, bra, brace, bridge, bring, brook, brunt, bucket, bulk, bundle, burden, burro, bus
And that /r/: bear, chore, oar, spur, steer, stir, tour, veer

A mule is stubborn because /l/ is slow: bleep, plod, quell, slack, sleep, slog, slop, sloth, slow, slug, stall, still
And /m/ becomes enmired: mat/ted, maze, mess, miasma, mince, mire, monk, morass, muck, muddle, muff, mum, mumps, mute

And a donkey is kind of dumb, not because its brain cells are all that different, but because the hapless creature was labeled with a /d/: daffy, daft, dark, deaf, dense, dim, dingbat, dingy, dip/py, dodo, dolt, donkey, dope, dote, dotty, drip, drivel, droll, drone, drool, dross, dub, dud, duffer, dull, dumb, dummy, dunce, dupe

the monkey

Mess: mat/ted, mayhem, maze, melee, mess, miasma, mire, mix, monkey, morass, motley, mottle, muck, muddle, muff, mush, muss
Hanky Pankey: blank, blink, bonk, bunk, crank, dunk, fink, flunk, funk, gink, gunk, hankey, junk, kink, pankey, pink, prank, punk, sink, skunk, stink, swank, wink, yank, zonk

lemmings
follow the leader:

Lead/Follow: haul, lead, line, lope, lug, lumber, lure, pull, sham, trail, trawl, troll
Mime: form, frame, manikin, map, mask, maya, mime, mimic, mirror, mock, model, monkey

cuckoo!, cuckoo, I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!

Kook: bunk, case, cuckoo, crack/ed, crank, craze, creep, cretin, crock, crap, flake, fluke, freak, funk, geek, gink, joke, junk, kaka, kink/y, klutz, kook, kwack, nark, punk, quack, quaint, queer, quirk, spook, whack/y

baboons, strange birds and other silly gooses

A baboon is a buffoon, a cartoon, a goon, a loon, a lampoon, isn't it? More so than a gorilla?

In general, an 'oo' is pretty silly: boob, crude, dupe, fool, fruitcake, blow a fuse, goofball, goon, kook, loon, outa the loop, loser, lure, spoof, stooge, swoon

What a strange bird that's in the /r/: absurd, card, corn, curve, dark, irk, lorn, lurch, lurk, mark, murk, nerve, purge, quirk, scarce, search, shirk, smirk, sort, sparse, spurn, squirm, stark, third (wheel), twerp, turn, ward, warn, warp, weird

Birds

Chicken!

Back Out: change, cheap, check, chicken, chide, chill, chink, chintz, choke, chuck
Weak: lack, lank, leak, shrink, slack, weak

and on pigeons and doves

A dove would have been dumb as a donkey but for the /v/ which is the sound of 'live' and 'love', of both 'virtue' and 'evil', so the /d/ in this case becomes gentle: dad, daddy, dally, dance, darling, date, daughter, dear, dolce, doll, dote, dotty, dove, duck/y. The /v/ could have given it a more sinister tone, as in devil, but in the realm of sound, opposites are nearly the same.

The pigeon, on the other hand, is neither virtuous nor evil, but merely junk: bilge, drudge, sludge, smudge. In general /p//J/ is filled with second class citizens: page, pidgin, lunge, pudgy, purge, sponge. And a pigeon is one of the poopier of birds: crap, drip, drop, pass, pee, piss, pooh, poop, pour, puke

a mother hen?

Is she really that much more possessive than a mother pigeon?
Or does she just sound that way?

Have: hand, hand/y, hanker, harem, harness, have, here, hire, hoard, hog, hold, host
Hold: haft, halt, halter, hammock, hand, handle, hang, hansom, harbor, harness, hasp, hatch, have, heel, hedge, hem, heme, hickey, hilt, hinge, hitch, hog, hold, hollow, hook, hoop, house, huddle, hug, hunch
Fasteners: halter, handle, hank, harness, harrow, hasp, hemp, hinge, hold, hook
House: hacienda, hall, hangar, harem, haunt/s, haven, hearth, hive, hogan, hold, hole, hollow, home, host, hostel, hotel, house, hovel, hut, hutch
Hunger: hanker, hold, hone, hope, hot, hunger
Halt!: halt, hang, harpoon, haul, have, hearse, heave, hem, hijack, hock, hold, hue, hush
Hinder: hamper, hail, halter, hang, harness, harangue, hard, hard/ly, harm, heavy, hedge, helm, helmet, help, hem, herd, herring, hex, hiccup, hinder, hinge, hitch, hoarse, hobble, hold, humble, hurdle, hurt, hush

(Remember I warned you about those grabby velars?) Also applicable to /h/: hungry as a horse. Hound dog. And that /n/ really nails you down too:

Pin: boon, clinch, crunch, fend, find, gain, gin, glean, hunt, learn, mean, mine, nab, nail, nark, need, net, nip, noose, nurse, own, pan, pen, pin, scrounge, snag, snap, snare, snatch, sniff, snitch, snoop, sound, win, winch, wind

(An aside I can't resist)

Perhaps it's possible to sense here the difference between the /h/ words and the /n/ words in this class. The /h/ involves either a sort of loose belongingness (have, hold, home), or just general attachment (hook, hinge), or a hampering of motion, so that it's directed, but not completely owned. /n/ on the other hand either 'hunts' or 'nails' things down, but either way, it's aim is full control or possession. This can be hard to see just by a quick perusal, because all the other sounds besides /h/ and /n/ in these words also have their say. But look at 'have', 'here', 'hold' and even 'hog', vs. 'hand' and 'hunt'. In the former words, the ownership is tentative, temporary or illegitimate. When the /n/ comes in, the ownership becomes final and legitimate. These few words, of course, are insufficient to prove that it is the /n/ which is legitimizing the ownership, but it is. A couple hundred hours spent with /h/ and /n/ would convince you of this. So the above statement is not intended as a proof of anything, but merely as an explanation for what is going on. This 'nailing down' runs throughout /n/. Often when I want to get at the essence of a sound quickly, I look at the most basic words which contain it and which contain few other sounds: Compare 'at', 'to', with 'in' and 'on'. The /t/ points the direction, but the /n/ nails it right on the head. Feel into the difference between, 'he is by me', 'he's here' with 'he is near'. The /n/ in the latter case introduces more than just physical collocation, but a Presence that is the noetic /n/.

Bugs, etc.

badger, bee, (bug), bumble

/b/ can also be a:

Bother: badger, baffle, bamboozle, barge, barrel, batter, bite, bitter, blight, blitz, bombast, bore, bother, bristle, buffalo, bug, bugaboo, bully, burn, bust, butt

bees, fleas, hornets, louses (okay, lice), mites, spiders, wasps

The bee is busy, buzzing, bumbling.
The flea is reproduces fast: farm, father, feed, fledge, foot, form, foster, found, frame, fund
The hornet is angry: haggle, hammer, harangue, harass, harp, harpy, harrow, harry, hash, hassle, hawk, haze, heat/ed, heckle, higgle, hiss, holler, honk, hoot, hound, howl, hue; rag, rail, rake, ram, rankle, rap, rat, rate, rattle, raw, razz, rib, rile, riot, rise, rock, roil, rot, rouse, rub, rude, ruffle, rut, wriggle, writhe, wry
The louse is low, mean and despicable: black, blah, bleak, blight, blot, blue, clash, cold, fault, filth, flat, flounce, foul, glib, glitz, gloat, gloom, glop, glum, hell, ill, lack, lame, last, lazy, left, lemon, lie, litter, loco, louse, low, lurk, pill, plague, plight, pulp, schlock, skulk, slack, slag, slime, slop, slough, slow, sludge, slum, slump, slush, stale, vile
The mite is tiny: crumb, dim, dime, germ, gleam, margin, meager, mean, measly, meek, mellow, mere, mil, mild, mini, minnow, minor, minute, mite, moment, monad, moot, morsel, mote, mundane, prim, slim, small; aught, bit, bite, blunt, byte, cent, chit, dit, dot, draft, faint, gaunt, jot, just, mist, moot, mote, part, pint, point, rest, scant, short, skit, slight, soft, spot, sprite, sprout, squat, squint, stint, strait, stunt, tad, taint, taste, teeny, teensy, tender, terse, tinge, tiny, thrift, tip, tittle, toots, touch, toy, trifle, trinket, trite, twinkle, twig, twist, waist, want, whit
The spider spins a web: spat, spatter, speck, speckle, spew, spigot, spill, spit, spittle, splash, splat, splatter, splay, splotch, splutter, spot, spout, spray, spring, sprinkle, spume, spurt, sputter, squirt
And wasps are wiley and wicked.

Hey, you! Oyster up! Scallop up! I mean, clam up!

Close: caulk, claim, clam, clamp, clap, clasp, cleat, clench, clinch, cling, clink, clip, clog, cloister, closet, clot, clutch, couple, quash, quell, quench, quiet
Mute: calm, clam, dumb, hem, maunder, mime, mince, monk, muffle, mum, mumble, mummy, mumps, murmur, mute, mutter

The Remainder

* bat, gnat, rat - Brats! Drat! But a cat is where it's at, chat, fat, mat, scat... because a cat is cool.
* Why the Teddy bear rather than the teddy hamster? A teddy panda? - care, share, there, there
* A beaver is busier than a mouse, isn't it? A bee is busier than a fly?
* And they called the car a jaguar, because that /J/ is jazzy: jammin', jargon, jazz, jibe, jingle, jive talk
* The lamb is mild: low, lull, meek, mellow, melt, mensch, mercy, mild, modest, mouse/y, move, mull, muse, muse, music
* The lark is light: ball, clown, droll, gale, glad, glee, laugh, lift, light, lilt, limerick, smile, thrill, zeal; brisk, perk, quick, spark, spunk, wink; card, charm, chirp, corn, mirth, perk, pert, spark, sport, warm
* Maggots and magpies live in the unhappy /m//g/ combination: gaum, gimmick, glom, gloom, glum, grim, grimace, grime, grumble, gum, morgue, mug, muggy, smog, smug, smuggle
* Mammoth: maelstrom, main, major, make, mammoth, many, marathon, mark, marvel, mass, master, matter, mature, maxi, mayhem, meat, mecca, medal, melee, mellow, mile, mint, miser, mob, model, molto, moment, money, monger, monster, more, most, mound, mount, mountain, much, mushroom, must, myriad, ream, swarm, swim, teem, tome
* Maverick combines /v/, /m/ and /r/: margin, move, ravel, ramble, roam, rove, vary, veer
* Quiet as mouse: maunder, mime, mince, monk, muffle, mum, mumble, mummy, mumps, murmur, mute, mutter, rest, peace, (silent), soft, still
* A parrot copies: pair, par, peer, per, portrait, portray, spare
* Poodle: pedigree, pride, proud, prude
* A rabbit is fast: race, raid, rain, ramble, range, ravel, reach, rip, roam, rocket, rollick, romp, rove, run, rush
* The rotten roach, raven, rodent, rook and rat: bear, boar, brat, brute, churl, horde, orc, crook, rabble, rake, rascal, rat, ring, riot, rip, roach, rogue, rot, roué, rout, rowdy, rubble, shark, shrew, tramp, troll, wretch
* The sting of the scorpion, spider, wasp: serve, slam, slap, slaughter, slay, slice, sling, slog, slug, smack, smash, smite, smush, snap, snipe, soccer, sock, spank, spar, spear, spike, squash, squelch, squish, stab, stamp, step, stick, stake, sting, stomp, stone, strap, strike, stroke, stub, stun, swat, sweep, swipe
* Sheep are sheltered more than cows (keep the sheep): chaperon, shelter, shepherd, sheriff, shield, shut
* A shrewish woman: charlatan, schlep, schlimazel, schmuck, schnook, shark, shiksa, shit, shoo, shout, shriek, shrew, shrill, shrew
* Shrimp: short, shrimp, shrink, shrivel
* The slow /sl/, sloth, slug, snail: settle, slack, slake, sleep, slog, slop, sloth, sloven, slow, slug, slump, snail, sneak, stall, steal, stealth
* Turkeys and squirrels are relative newcomers, but their sound comes from: bird, churl, dirt, germ, irk, jerk, lurch, murk, scourge, scurvy, serpent, shirk, slur, smirch, smirk, spurn, squirm, squirt, turn, twerp, vermin, vulture, worm
* Stork to start: scratch, set, slate, spout, sprout, spurt, stage, stake, start, startle, stir, strike....
* The swan! is suave: soiree, suave, suede, suite, swagger, swank, sway, sweep, swim... and noble like the lion
* Put a tiger in your tank!: growl, grumble, grunt, tartar, terror, titan, trigger, troll, tycoon, tyrant
* Tortoise, turtle: starch, stare, starve, store, sturdy, tarry
* Wasp, weasel, wolf, worm: wanton, weasel, wench, witch
* Whale: wad, ware, water, wave, wax, way, weal, wealth, weight, well, whale, whopper, wicked, wide, wild, wonder, work, world, worth

Butterfly Gazette
by John Robert (Háj) Ross

This note is dedicated to Emmon Bach,
~ who first noticed that almost all languages
make up their own word for this beautiful creation.

Below are the words in forty-two languages spoken on several of the worlds continents

Arabic: farasha

Armenian (Eastern): titer, titernig

Armenian (Western): titernig

Basque - dialect 1: mitxeleta, dialect 2: txalapitxi

Cape Verdean Criolu: gorgoleta

Czech: mot'yl

Danish: sommerfugl

Dutch: vlinder

Finnish: perhonen

French: papillon

German: Schmetterling

Greek: petalou'da

Hebrew: parpar

Hopi: poli, hoolona (the "l" is a lambda), ho?kona

Hungarian: lepke

Italian: farfalla

Japanese: choochoo

Kitchangana phapharati (a Bantu language of Mozambique)

Korean: nabi

Kwara'e: bebe [accent aigu (from SW to Northeast) over the first e] (a language of the Pacific)

Lan: fuf (another language on the same island as Kwara'e)

Lao: maingkabula

Malay: kupukupu/ramarama

Mandarin: huudye

Miskito: pihlpul (a language of Nicaragua)

Navajo: k'aalogii [accent aigu over the o]

Norwegian: sommerfugl

Papago: hohokmal (a language of the SW USA)

Persian: parvanah [accent aigu over the a before nah], bid (also means moth)

Polish: motyl

Portuguese: borboleta

Rumanian: fluture

Russian: bbochka

Serbo-Croatian: leptir

Spanish: mariposa

Swahili: kipepeo

Swedish: fjaril [accent aigu over the a]

Tshiluba (Zaire): bulubulu

Turkish: kelebek

Ulwa: kubalamhlamh (a language of Nicaragua)

Vietnamese: bayboum

Now the Chinese have a different idea about the animals altogether. I asked the waitress, Ping, at dinner last night to translate the names of the animals for me. (The constraints of the Web rarely allow me to mark the tone.):

Pig: Gallant and noble? Friends will remain at your side? Pronouned 'tsu'.
Dog: Generous and loyal? The ability to work well with others? Pronounced 'gou'.
Rooster: Seeking wisdom and truth? A pioneering spirit? Pronounced 'gong ji'.
Monkey: Persuasive and intelligent? Strive to excel? Pronouned 'hou tsi'.
Goat: Aesthetic and stylish?????? Enjoy being a private person? Pronouned 'yáng'.
Horse: Physically attractive and popular, likes the company of others? Pronouned 'ma'.
Rat: Ambitious and sincere? Can be generous with your financial resources? Pronouned 'syu'.
Buffalo: A leader. Bright and cheerful? Pronouned 'niú'.
Tiger: Forthright and sensitive? Possesses great courage. Pronouned 'hú'.
Rabbit: Talented and affectionate. A seeker of tranquility? Pronouned 'tu'.
Dragon: Robust and passionate? Life filled with complexity? Pronouned 'lóng'.
Snake: Strong willed, intense. Displays great wisdom... Hey! Just like English for once! But then, it's pronounced 'syé'.

Margo's Magical Letter Page