# animal foot / human foot



## ThomasK

Can you refer to *animal feet *in your language, something like the lower part of the foot containing the claws* or the hooves*?  _(*I am not really interested in those words here)

Background: I almost got messed up while exploring the _*leg *_words. I found there is another thread dating back to 2006, where the translation of _*leg and foot *_were explored - and where the distinction between the two caused some problems as well. So, I wondered: we humans have feet (the lowest part of the leg, the one with the toes ;-)), but do animals have anything like that ? _

IN Dutch: 
we seem only able to refer to the whole thing only, to the _*poot *(leg) _of any animal (including the hooves and claws) --- and of course to hooves and claws separately, but let's only focus on the concept  (...) 'animal foot', I  suggest.


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## ThomasK

I have found some answers, I think, in the other thread. 

Maroseika wrote with regard to Russian: 



> Russian words are:
> нога (noga) - leg
> ножка (nozhka) - dimin. of leg
> *лапа (lapa) - paw
> *лапка (lapka) - dimin. of paw (...)
> 
> Many animals and birds also have legs. But extremities of some animals are also called *paws *- mostly those who have well developed hands (cats, dogs, rabbits, foxes and many others).



Bibax notes that Czech does not distinguish between leg and foot. I suppose that holds true of animals as well. The funny thing for me is that we'd say that the bear is standing on his hindlegs/ _achterpoten_, not hindfeet (_na zadních _*nohách, I believe). *

If I understand well, Greek only has one word for the whole thing, i.e., _*πόδι/πόδια*_.

I am not so sure at all what Swedish *tassar *refers to specifically: leg and foot, I suppose, but I am not sure at all...

German: *Pfote *are indeed the feet of (animal) legs/ *Beine.*


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## DearPrudence

In *French*,

*humans *have: *un pied* (_a foot_)
*animals *have:* une patte* (_a paw_). But "patte" is also used to mean "_a leg_".

Also, colloquially we can use "paw" for humans: see all the expressions here:
*tu es toujours dans mes pattes* you are always getting under my feet;
*marcher à quatre pattes* [_enfant, adulte_] to walk on all fours;
[_bébé_] to crawl;
*traîner la patte* to limp;
*en avoir plein les pattes* to be dead on one's feet (_familier_);

But it can also refers to hands:
eg:_ "Ôte tes sales pattes de là !"_ (hands off)

Hmm, so yes, that can be confusing


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## apmoy70

ThomasK said:


> ...
> If I understand well, Greek only has one word for the whole thing, i.e., _*πόδι/πόδια*_.
> ...


Yes, you understand well. We don't make distinction between animal and human _foot_. Animals, birds, insects, all have _*πόδι/πόδια*_.
In fact we don't distinguish between leg and foot either.


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## ThomasK

And you never have any problem, when telling about parts of the body that have (been) broken ? ;-)


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## DearPrudence

ThomasK said:


> And you never have any problem, when telling about parts of the body that have (been) broken ? ;-)


If you're talking about French people owning animals, we just show the vet where exactly the animal hurt itself, that's all  (anyway, a leg can be quite long so you need to show where exactly) (& the vet will probably see it himself, it's his job! )


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## ThomasK

Aaaaarrrhhh, I was about to refer to the vet, and realized that would have been too simple, whereas: when I tell someone on the phone, that I broke my X, there is a big difference between leg and foot. I wonder if one is not inclined to invent a word in order to distinguish between the two rightaway ... ;-)


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## Rallino

I find it really fascinating that some languages don't really distinguish leg from foot. Another such language would be Japanese, with the word: *ashi* (足).

In Turkish:

Human leg = *bacak*  /ba'dʒak/   [from Persian pāça پاچه]
Human foot = *ayak* /a'jak/  [from Old Turkic hadak]

Animal leg = *bacak *(For chicken, rooster and ducks we use *but* /but/)
Animal foot = we can use *ayak*, but depending on the animal there are other words as well:
--> pati /pa'ti/ = paw
--> pençe /pæn'tʃe/ = claw
--> toynak /toj'nak/ = hoof


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## ThomasK

Please explain the difference betwee _pati _and _ayak_, Rallino. Our _poot _is just the leg mainly. I do see the distinction leg vs. claw and hoof, but what is a _pati _?


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## Rallino

Dogs', cats', bunnies' and - I believe -  hamsters' feet can be called _pati_ or _ayak_.

For instance this is called _pati vermek_ (lit. to give paw).


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## ThomasK

Yes, we call that _pootje (geven) _too. So it could be because those animals are closer to humans, are domesticated as (house) pets?


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## Rallino

Yep, I have the same feeling.  But is _pootje_ children language only? Because in Turkish, _pati_ is used by vets as well.


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## ThomasK

Interesting: you could say so, but I think it is mainly affective, not just children's language. In a technical context you'd say poot. And come to think of it: an animal's foot is often difficult to distinguish from the leg: foot and leg have grown together, I think --- but I am not a biologist!


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## apmoy70

ThomasK said:


> And you never have any problem, when telling about parts of the body that have (been) broken ? ;-)


We just say "I broke my foot". And the answer to the question "which part of it" becomes rather scientific: 
A/ «Κνήμη» ('knimi, _f._); Classical feminine noun «κνήμη» ('knēmē)--> _shin-bone, tibia_ (PIE base *konemo-, _shin bone_)
B/ «Μηρός» (mi'ros, _m._); Classical masculine noun «μηρός» (mē'rŏs)--> _thigh-bone, membrum_ (PIE base *mems-ro, _limb_)
Rallino just reminded me that we have a name for the unguis, hoof of the ungulate animals: «Οπλή» (op'li, _f._); Classical feminine noun «ὁπλὴ» (hŏp'lē)--> _hoof_ with obscure etymology (the animals are called «οπληφόρα» /opli'fora/ lit. _hoof-bearers_)


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## catlady60

DearPrudence said:


> In *French*,
> 
> *humans *have: *un pied* (_a foot_)
> *animals *have:* une patte* (_a paw_). But "patte" is also used to mean "_a leg_".
> 
> Also, colloquially we can use "paw" for humans: see all the expressions here:
> *tu es toujours dans mes pattes* you are always getting under my feet;
> *marcher à quatre pattes* [_enfant, adulte_] to walk on all fours;
> [_bébé_] to crawl;
> *traîner la patte* to limp;
> *en avoir plein les pattes* to be dead on one's feet (_familier_);
> 
> But it can also refers to hands:
> eg:_ "Ôte tes sales pattes de là !"_ (hands off)
> 
> Hmm, so yes, that can be confusing


English has pretty much the same words:
Humans have *a foot*.
Animals have a *paw*, or more precisely, the *hind paw*, which corresponds to the human foot.  Unlike French, most English speakers don't use "paw" to mean "leg." 

Like French, English speakers use "paw" colloquially in reference to humans.  For instance:
*Get your paws off that! *_(hands off)
Quit digging your* paws* into me, man! 

_


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## ThomasK

I am not sure I quite understand: are you implying that front legs (???) are not often called 'paws' ?


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## bibax

> I find it really fascinating that some languages don't really distinguish leg from foot.


I always wondered why to distinguish _leg_ from _foot_. The Czech *noha* (and generally Slavic *noga*, I believe) is the whole extremity which has several parts, of course (thigh, knee, shin, ankle, instep, sole, etc.).

In most contexts we do not need the distinction _feet/leg_, for example:

Celý den jsem stál *na nohou*. (Note the preserved dual number *nohou*)

which means

I stood *on my feet* all day long.
as well as
I stood *on my legs* all day long.


> And come to think of it: an animal's foot is often difficult to distinguish from the leg: foot and leg have grown together, I think --- but I am not a biologist!


As for animals, English is arbitrary: the beetle has six legs (and no feet), the snail has one foot (and no leg). And the lower part of the horse leg is formed by the toes.

In Czech the animals including beetles and snails (as well as the tables and mushrooms) have *nohy*.


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## ThomasK

Often there is some ambiguity of course: we stand on our feet, but that presupposes legs, I suppose; so in that sense the distinction seems unnecessary indeed. It does sound weird though for us to say that we kick the ball with our legs, but then I assume there is a distinction of course. But I don't think anyone has something else than 'football' in his language. 

_(I won't be asking about that but we could explore bums, thighs, etc., and find more strange differences between languages.)_


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## catlady60

ThomasK said:


> I am not sure I quite understand: are you implying that front legs (???) are not often called 'paws' ?


In English, an animal's front legs are known as paws, but humans have hands attached to their arms.


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## Outsider

DearPrudence said:


> In *French*,
> 
> *humans *have: *un pied* (_a foot_)
> *animals *have:* une patte* (_a paw_). But "patte" is also used to mean "_a leg_".
> 
> Also, colloquially we can use "paw" for humans: see all the expressions here:
> *tu es toujours dans mes pattes* you are always getting under my feet;
> *marcher à quatre pattes* [_enfant, adulte_] to walk on all fours;
> [_bébé_] to crawl;
> *traîner la patte* to limp;
> *en avoir plein les pattes* to be dead on one's feet (_familier_);
> 
> But it can also refers to hands:
> eg:_ "Ôte tes sales pattes de là !"_ (hands off)
> 
> Hmm, so yes, that can be confusing


Pretty much the same as in Portuguese: _perna_ (leg; DearPrudence forgot about *jambe* in French), _pé_ (foot; mostly for humans), _pata_ (paw, either at front or at the back; normally for animal limbs but sometimes used jocularly for humans, including human hands).


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## DearPrudence

Outsider said:


> Pretty much the same as in Portuguese: _perna_ (leg; DearPrudence forgot about *jambe* in French)


I didn't "forget" about "jambe", I just mentioned it in the other thread about "leg" *Legs (of ...)*. Here it's supposed to be about "foot"


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## mataripis

In Tagalog Foot is PAA and leg is BINTI'. barefoot= YAPAK  , by foot= lakad, Feet(measurement)= Talampakan. In HUman and animals Feet is "Paa" in Tagalog.


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## Tjahzi

ThomasK said:


> I am not so sure at all what Swedish *tassar *refers to specifically: leg and foot, I suppose, but I am not sure at all...



_Tass_ (the singular) does indeed mean _paw_. That is, the foot exclusively.


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## Akitlosz

In Hungarian:

Human and animal:

foot = láb
leg = láb or lábszár (lábszár meaning stem of foot)

There is no difference between human and animal.

animal:

paw = mancs


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## ThomasK

What is the distinction between 'paw' and 'leg' /...for you then, except that it is typical of animals ?


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## Akitlosz

A paw have always claws too.

Cats, dogs, bears, foxes and so on have paws only.

Humans, horses, sheeps, elephants and so on do not have paws.


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## ThomasK

That is so amazing, how these things can differ (slightly and more) ! ;-)


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## bibax

Hungarian and Czech are quite similar in this respect.

*láb, noha* (= leg/foot) is a generic term used for any kind of legs/feet;

*mancs, tlapa* (= paw) is a special term used mostly for legs/feet of the predatory mammals and rodents;

However the kitten has no *tlapa* but a cute *tlapička* (dim.).


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## Nizo

In Esperanto, we make no distinction between human and animal feet:  the word for foot/paw is *piedo*.  We do, however, distinguish between the foot/paw and the leg.  The word *kruro* is used for leg (technically, the part between the knee and the foot).  *Gambo* can be used to refer to the entire lower appendage, including the leg and the foot; it's also used humorously.

I'd be interested, additionally, in learning whether the same words for leg and foot in other languages are also used for tables and such.  They are used this way in Esperanto.  A table may have four *kruroj* and each may have a *piedo*​ touching the floor.


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## Adlu

Albanian:

*Kë**mba - *human & animal leg
*Shputa - *human foot
*Putra - *animal foot


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## Adlu

A table in Albanian can have four "*kë**mbë*", but we do not say that each of them has a "*paw/piedo*" touching the floor.


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