{"id":5652,"date":"2026-01-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/?p=5652"},"modified":"2026-01-05T20:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T11:42:13","slug":"meowth-and-nyarth-how-languages-shape-pokemon-names","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/?p=5652","title":{"rendered":"Meowth and Nyarth: How Languages Shape Pok\u00e9mon Names"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>You\u2019ve probably heard of <strong>Meowth<\/strong>, the clever, coin-loving cat Pok\u00e9mon.<br>Its name sounds exactly like a cat\u2019s meow\u2014because that\u2019s what it\u2019s based on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In English, <strong>\u201cmeow\u201d<\/strong> is the classic onomatopoeia for a cat\u2019s cry.<br>So Meowth\u2019s name is a perfect example of a <strong>sound-born name<\/strong>:<br>a name created from the <em>sound<\/em> of the creature it represents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But here\u2019s something you might not know&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"425\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_2.png 425w, https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_2-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Meowth Called \u201cMeowth\u201d in Japan?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer is: <strong>No<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Japan, this Pok\u00e9mon is called <strong>Nyarth<\/strong> (\u30cb\u30e3\u30fc\u30b9).<br>Why? Because in Japanese, cats don\u2019t say \u201cmeow\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They say <strong>\u201cnyaa\u201d<\/strong> (\u306b\u3083\u3042).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/001_\u305a\u3093\u3060\u3082\u3093\uff08\u30ce\u30fc\u30de\u30eb\uff09_\u306b\u3083\u3042-\u306b\u3083\u3042.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"swell-block-postLink\">\t\t\t<div class=\"p-blogCard -internal\" data-type=\"type1\" data-onclick=\"clickLink\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"p-blogCard__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"p-blogCard__caption\">\u3042\u308f\u305b\u3066\u8aad\u307f\u305f\u3044<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"p-blogCard__thumb c-postThumb\"><figure class=\"c-postThumb__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/nya_main-300x211.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"c-postThumb__img u-obf-cover\" width=\"320\" height=\"180\"><\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"p-blogCard__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"p-blogCard__title\" href=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/?p=766\">What Sound Do Cats Make in Japanese? Discover the cutest \u201cMeow\u201d You\u2019ve Never Heard This Way<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"p-blogCard__excerpt\">When a cat strolls by and lets out a soft \u201cmeow,\u201d what do the Japanese hear?They hear \u201cNyaa nyaa!\u201d (\u306b\u3083\u3041\u306b\u3083\u3042)\u2014 the adorable sound of a cat\u2019s voice in Jap&#8230;<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s right! \u201c<strong>Nyarth<\/strong>\u201d is based on the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat\u2019s meow,<br>just like \u201c<strong>Meowth<\/strong>\u201d is in English.<br>So it\u2019s the <em>same idea<\/em>, but shaped by <strong>each language\u2019s unique sound world<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Isn\u2019t that fun?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"425\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5659\" srcset=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_3.png 425w, https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_3-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two Cultures, Same Cat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Language<\/th><th>Pok\u00e9mon Name<\/th><th>Cat Sound<\/th><th>Onomatopoeia<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>English<\/td><td>Meowth<\/td><td>Meow<\/td><td>Sound-born name<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Japanese<\/td><td>Nyarth<\/td><td>Nyaa<\/td><td>Sound-born name<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Both names tell the same story\u2014but in different sound languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a great example of how onomatopoeia isn\u2019t just sound\u2014it\u2019s also <strong>culture<\/strong>.<br><br>Even in a global franchise like Pok\u00e9mon, these little differences remain,<br>and that\u2019s part of what makes it so rich and fun to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"425\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_1.png 425w, https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cat_sound_born_1-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<strong>Meowth<\/strong>\u201d and \u201c<strong>Nyarth<\/strong>\u201d may look different,<br>but they\u2019re two sides of the same sound-born coin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you hear <em><strong>meow<\/strong><\/em> or <em><strong>nyaa<\/strong><\/em>,<br>they both carry the soft, clever, and mischievous heart of a cat\u2014<br>and show how languages shape even the names of our favorite characters.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"p-blogParts post_content\" data-partsID=\"5640\">\n<div class=\"swell-block-capbox cap_box is-style-intext\"><div class=\"cap_box_ttl\"><span>More Sound-born Names:<\/span><\/div><div class=\"cap_box_content\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/?cat=31\">\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/bubbles_x300.png\"\n       alt=\"bubbles illustration\"\n       class=\"puni-top-image\"\n       style=\"border-radius: 15px;\">\n<\/a>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"p-blogParts post_content\" data-partsID=\"4919\">\n<div class=\"swell-block-fullWide pc-py-60 sp-py-40 alignfull\" style=\"background-color:#f7f7f7\"><div class=\"swell-block-fullWide__inner l-article\">\n<div class=\"swell-block-capbox cap_box is-style-intext\"><div class=\"cap_box_ttl\"><span>More Sound-based Onomatopoeia:<\/span><\/div><div class=\"cap_box_content\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/?cat=35\">\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/mint_background-x300_sound_enter___.png\"\n       alt=\"illustration for sound-based category\"\n       class=\"puni-top-image\"\n       style=\"border-radius: 15px;\">\n<\/a>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"swell-block-button is-style-btn_normal\"><a href=\"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\" class=\"swell-block-button__link\"><span>Home<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve probably heard of Meowth, the clever, coin-loving cat Pok\u00e9mon.Its name sounds exactly like a cat\u2019s meow\u2014because that\u2019s what it\u2019s based on! In English, \u201cmeow\u201d is the classic onomatopoeia for a cat\u2019s cry.So Meowth\u2019s name is a perfect example of a sound-born name:a name created from the sound of the creature it represents. But here\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"swell_btn_cv_data":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,24,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-_sound-based","category-across-languages","category-sound-born-names"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5652"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5662,"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5652\/revisions\/5662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punipunidictionary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}