How to Say "Meow Meow" in Japanese

ニャーニャー

nyaa nyaa

The phrase for "meow meow" in Japanese is ニャーニャー (nyaa nyaa).

This phrase is used to represent the sound that a cat makes. There are several informal variations used to mimic cat sounds, such as にゃ or ニャン.

Which one should you use?

The phrase can be written in katakana as ニャーニャー or in hiragana as にゃーにゃー.

nyaa nyaa

In Japanese, the sound of a cat's meow にゃー is used as a pun for the number 'two' に (ni) in certain contexts, especially in wordplay and riddles.
In Japanese pop culture, particularly in anime, a character might end their sentences with the particle にゃ (nya) to indicate they are acting like a cat, a linguistic trait known as 'role language'.
Japanese has a specific term 猫語 (nekogo) which literally means 'cat language' to describe the stylized way cats speak in fiction and manga.

「ワンワンッ！」「ニャーニャー！」「コケコッコー！」と、動物たちが一斉に鳴き始めた。
The various animals started going, "Woof, woof!" and "Meow, meow!" and "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
This sentence is useful for seeing how ニャーニャー is used alongside other animal sounds.
Tatoeba #762153 by arihato, translation #1528278 by marshmallowcat
猫がニャーニャー鳴いています。
Neko ga nya-nya- naite imasu.
The cat is meowing.
あの子猫はニャーニャーうるさいね。
Ano koneko wa nya-nya- urusai ne.
That kitten is meowing loudly, isn't it?

Ren and Himari are watching a stray cat in a park.

蓮 Ren

あそこに猫がいるよ。
Asoko ni neko ga iru yo.
There is a cat over there.
陽葵 Himari

本当だ！ニャーニャー鳴いてる。
Honto da! Nya-nya- naite iru.
You're right! It's meowing.
蓮 Ren

お腹が空いているのかな？
Onaka ga suite iru no kana?
I wonder if it's hungry?
陽葵 Himari

何かあげたいね。
Nani ka agetai ne.
I want to give it something.

Sources

⭐Share⭐ to appreciate human effort 🙏