Do we have adverbs that express the sounds of dogs or babies, for example, can we say "the dog barks bow-gow" and "The baby cries wah-wah"?

Question

Do we have adverbs that express the sounds of dogs or babies?

If we don't, then can we invent them?

For example, can we say "the dog barks bow-gow" and "The baby cries wah-wah"?

Answer 1

We say bow-wow in English. It's one of those standard expressions imitating the sounds of animals (which are different in every language!), but we usually use them with says.

The dog barks, or says bow-wow.

The cat mews, or says meow.

The cow lows, or says moo...and so on.

Answer 2

I don't see any adverbs in the examples you give.

For example, can we say "the dog barks bow-gow" and "The baby cries wah-wah"?

Sounds of animals like a cat's "meow" are often verbs themselves. For example, you might say "the cat meowed". In your examples though, you are using a verb, followed by a sound. "The dog barks bow-wow" is like saying "The man said yes" - there are no adverbs.

An adverb modifies another verb, for example "The dog barked loudly". That doesn't mean the dog said the word "loudly"! But in your examples, the sound is actually an imitation of what the dog, or the baby 'said'.

Assuming then that you don't mean adverb, and you are just looking for a sound which you could use as a noun or a verb - there are already generally accepted sounds for most animals (moo, woof, miaow, etc). Making up your own might cause misunderstanding as a verb, but as a noun, or a quotation the context should make it clear. For example, if you wrote "The dog snarled "rrrrRRRRRRrrrr", readers would imagine the sound. And of course, some animals make different noises - dogs might be said to "bark", "snarl", or "growl" etc.