Squawk is an onomatopoeic word describing a loud, harsh cry or screech, typically associated with birds, but also used informally to denote a noisy complaint or protest. The term has various specialized meanings across biological, technical, and other contexts.In aviation, a squawk refers to a four-digit code (ranging from 0000 to 7777 in octal) that pilots enter into an aircraft's transponder to allow air traffic control (ATC) to identify and track the aircraft on radar.[1] These codes, assigned by ATC, provide unique identification for flights in controlled airspace. The aviation usage originated during World War II from the British Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system, code-named "Parrot," where pilots were instructed to "squawk your parrot" to activate the transponder.[2]For detailed explanations of squawk in general language, biology, other technical applications, and media, see the relevant sections below.
Etymology
Origin
The word "squawk" originated as an onomatopoeic term in English, mimicking harsh, abrupt, and discordant sounds such as those produced by alarmed birds or human cries.[3][4] This imitative formation likely drew influence from similar-sounding words in other languages, including the dialectal Italian "squacco," referring to the squacco heron (Ardea ralloides), a bird known for its raucous calls.[3][5]The earliest recorded use of "squawk" appears in 1821, in the British poet John Clare's work The Village Minstrel, where it describes noisy rural disturbances: "Cow-boy's whoops, and squawking brawls / To urge the straggling heifers back."[4] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this instance marks the verb's first attestation, initially denoting a loud, hoarse cry or screech.[4] The term's emergence in early 19th-century literature reflects a broader pattern of English adopting expressive, sound-based words to capture auditory phenomena in everyday and natural settings.[6]While no direct precursors for "squawk" appear in 18th-century English texts, its onomatopoeic roots align with contemporaneous imitative verbs like "quawk," used around the same period to describe the calls of rooks or crows.[7] This foundational usage laid the groundwork for the word's later extensions into verbal complaints, though such developments occurred post-1821.[3]
Evolution and Related Words
The word "squawk" first appeared in 1821 as an onomatopoeic verb describing the loud, harsh cry of birds or other animals, such as in John Clare's Village Minstrel, where it evokes rural sounds like "cow-boy's whoops, and squawking brawls."[4] During the 19th century, its application broadened beyond animal vocalizations to encompass human exclamations and discordant noises from objects, as in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1859 The Minister's Wooing, which notes a door that "squawks like a cat."[4] By the 1870s, American slang extended it to human behavior, including complaining or protesting vehemently, with an early instance in J. G. Holland's 1875 Sevenoaks.[4] This figurative sense proliferated in 20th-century literature to depict vocal protests or grievances, exemplified by W. R. Burnett's 1929 Little Caesar, where a character "squawked" in confession or objection.[4]Closely related English words share onomatopoeic qualities tied to harsh vocalizations. "Squall" denotes a prolonged, raucous cry, originating from Old Norse skvala ("to shout" or "squeal") in the late 17th century and often applied to sudden bursts of noise or wind accompanied by cries.[8] "Shriek" describes a sharp, high-pitched scream, derived from Old Norse skrækja around 1200, emphasizing piercing intensity in expressions of fear or pain.[9] "Caw," more specifically evoking the guttural call of crows or ravens, arose in the 1580s as a direct phonetic imitation of the sound.[10] Among derivations, "squawker"—first attested in 1874—refers to anything that produces a squawking noise, including early mechanical devices like sirens or speakers.[11]"Squawk" exemplifies the Indo-European pattern of imitative words for animal-like sounds, with parallels in other languages. In German, "quaken" means to croak or quack, stemming from Proto-Germanic echoic roots akin to Old Church Slavonic kwakati and entering English via related forms like "quack" in the 14th century. French "craquer," meaning to crackle or snap with a harsh noise, derives from Middle Dutch kraken (to crack), an onomatopoeic term for abrupt sounds that traces to Proto-Indo-European *ger- ("to cry hoarsely").[12] These cognates underscore how Indo-European languages commonly develop vocabulary through phonetic mimicry of vocal or percussive noises.[3]
General Meanings
As a Verb
As a verb, "squawk" primarily means to utter a loud, harsh, abrupt cry or scream, often associated with sudden alarm or distress.[6] This usage applies to both animals and humans, such as a bird squawking in response to a predator or a person squawking in surprise during an argument.[13] For instance, parrots or chickens are commonly described as squawking when agitated.[14]In an informal sense, "squawk" refers to complaining or protesting loudly and vehemently about something perceived as unfair or objectionable.[6] An example is opponents squawking about a controversial policy decision, emphasizing the noisy and persistent nature of the objection.[6] This connotation highlights emotional intensity rather than a literal sound.[14]Grammatically, "squawk" functions mainly as an intransitive verb, not requiring a direct object, though it can be transitive in contexts where it means to utter or produce the sound explicitly.[13] The past tense and past participle are "squawked," with the simple present third-person singular form "squawks."[6] Its phonetic pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet is /skwɔːk/ in Received Pronunciation and /skwɔk/ in General American English.[5]
As a Noun
In linguistics and everyday usage, a squawk is defined as a loud, harsh, or discordant cry, often abrupt and resembling the vocalization of a bird, or as a raucous complaint or protest expressed vocally.[15] This noun form emphasizes the sound itself as an audible event, distinct from the action of producing it.[13]Common examples illustrate its application: the sudden squawk of a parrot echoing through a room, startling listeners, or a customer's loud squawk of indignation over an unexpected bill that draws attention in a restaurant.[16][15] In literature and casual speech, it evokes a sense of irritation or surprise, such as a character's squawk of protest during an argument.[17]The sensory profile of a squawk typically involves a high-pitched, raspy quality due to its harsh tonal structure, making it piercing and attention-grabbing.[15] In human speech contexts, this manifests as a brief outburst, akin to a sharp yelp or exclamation that conveys urgency or annoyance.
Biological Contexts
In Birds
In ornithology, a squawk refers to a short, harsh, broadbandvocalization produced by birds, typically signaling alarm, aggression, or discomfort, and distinguished from elaborate songs or gentler chirps by its simple acoustic structure and abrupt delivery.[18] These calls are common across various avian taxa, serving as rapid communicative tools in dynamic environments.For instance, in parrots like the Cape Parrot (Poicephalus robustus), squawks exhibit durations of approximately 0.16 seconds, with lower frequency limits around 0.7 kHz, upper limits up to 3.8 kHz, and prominent harmonics emphasizing bands at 1.5-2.4 kHz.[19]Herons display species-specific variations, such as harmonic structures in day-herons and night-herons with fundamental frequencies starting at 0.5 kHz or higher and peak-energy frequencies up to 1 kHz or more.[20] In corvids like the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), alarm squawks (often termed caws) feature harsh, low-frequency profiles around 1.3-1.9 kHz and durations of 0.15-0.55 seconds.[21]Functionally, squawks play key roles in territorial defense, where they assert dominance or deter intruders, and in predator warnings, enabling flock members to coordinate evasive actions swiftly.[22] They also occur in aggressive contexts, such as disputes over resources.[23] Evolutionarily, these vocalizations enhance group communication and survival by conveying urgency through shared acoustic cues recognizable across species, reflecting adaptations in syringeal morphology and environmental pressures.[20]
In Human Physiology
In human physiology, a squawk refers to an abnormal adventitious respiratory sound characterized as a short, inspiratory wheeze or squeak, often with a musical quality, heard during auscultation of the lungs.[24] These sounds typically last between 50 and 400 milliseconds and are associated with conditions involving pulmonary fibrosis, such as extrinsic allergic alveolitis, interstitial lung disease, and pneumonia.[25] Unlike longer continuous wheezes, squawks are brief and may be accompanied by crackles, aiding in the identification of underlying airway pathology.[26]The acoustic waveform of a squawk displays a sinusoidal pattern indicative of its musical component, featuring rapid onset and offset that distinguishes it from other adventitious sounds.[24] This pattern arises primarily during inspiration and is audible through a stethoscope over the lung fields, often in the mid-to-late phase.[27] First described in the early 1980s in relation to fibrotic lung disorders like bird fancier's lung and farmer's lung, squawks were noted for their higher frequency and shorter duration compared to similar sounds in other fibroses.[26]Squawks are caused by mechanisms such as the sudden opening of narrowed or temporarily closed small airways due to inflammation, fibrosis, or secretions, leading to turbulent airflow and vibration of airway walls.[28] In diagnostic auscultation, they play a key role in assessing restrictive lung diseases, differing from rhonchi—which are longer, lower-pitched, and often expiratory—by their brevity and inspiratory timing, and from stridor, a harsher upper-airway sound, by originating in the lower airways.[24] Their presence can signal the need for further evaluation of infectious or hypersensitivity-related pneumonias.[29]
Technical Applications
Aviation Transponders
In aviation, "squawk" refers to the directive given by air traffic control (ATC) to a pilot to set a specific four-digit code on the aircraft's transponder, enabling radar identification and tracking. This command, such as "squawk 1234," instructs the pilot to enter the code into the transponder system, which then transmits it in response to ground-based interrogations.[30][31]Squawk codes range from 0000 to 7777 in octal notation (using digits 0-7), providing 4096 possible combinations for unique aircraft identification within controlled airspace. Special codes are internationally standardized, including 7700 for general emergencies, which alerts ATC to prioritize the aircraft, and 7600 for radio communication failure, indicating the need for non-verbal coordination. These codes are assigned by ATC based on operational needs, such as departure, en route, or arrival procedures.[32][1]Technically, the process relies on Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR), where ground radar stations interrogate the aircraft's transponder using Mode A for the identity code or Mode C for pressure altitude data. Upon interrogation, the transponder replies with a signal containing the set code, which radar displays as a labeled target for ATC to monitor position, altitude, and identity. This cooperative system enhances situational awareness and separation in busy airspace.[31][33]The widespread adoption of squawk codes in civil aviation followed the post-1950s implementation of SSR systems, building on WWII IFF technology for peacetime air traffic management. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standardized these practices in Annex 10, Volume IV, ensuring global interoperability for transponder operations and code assignments.[34][35]
Financial Communications
In financial trading, a squawk box, also known as a hoot-n-holler system, refers to an open-circuit intercom speaker setup used on trading floors to deliver real-time audio broadcasts of market updates, analyst recommendations, and urgent news to brokers and traders.[36] These systems enable hands-free, continuous communication, allowing participants to stay informed without interrupting their workflow, such as by announcing block trades or stock price movements.[37] The name evokes the loud, insistent vocalizations of birds, reflecting the system's role in rapidly "squawking" critical information across a trading room.[38]Squawk boxes became popular in the 1980s on Wall Street amid the growth of institutional trading and the need for instantaneous coordination among brokers handling large-volume orders.[39] Prior to digital alternatives, these analog devices were essential in noisy exchange environments, where traders relied on them for one-way announcements like earnings reports or economic data releases that could influence market directions.[36] By the late 20th century, they had become a staple in investment banks and brokerages, facilitating the broadcast of institutional buy/sell orders to attract counterparties and ensure efficient execution of large trades.[40]Functionally, squawk boxes operate as dedicated audio channels, often configured for one-way feeds from analysts to trading desks or as intercoms for interactive discussions, delivering filtered alerts on events like corporate announcements or macroeconomic indicators.[41] Prominent examples include audio squawk services that provide stock-specific alerts, such as those integrated into trading platforms for real-time notifications on price changes or news headlines.[42] Brokers use these to relay instant updates, enabling traders to react swiftly to opportunities like earnings surprises without sifting through text-based feeds.[37]In the modern era, squawk systems have transitioned from physical hardware to digital formats leveraging Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and cloud-based platforms, particularly since the 2000s, which support remote access and reduce reliance on on-site boxes.[41] By the 2020s, integration with mobile apps and software solutions has further evolved these tools, allowing traders to receive audio alerts via desktops or smartphones, thereby accommodating hybrid work models post-COVID while maintaining the speed of traditional broadcasts.[41] This shift has made squawk functionality more scalable and cost-effective for global firms, though legacy systems persist in high-volume trading environments.[43]
Other Uses
Computing
Squawk is a Java Micro Edition (Java ME) virtual machine designed for resource-constrained embedded systems and small devices, developed by Sun Microsystems in the early 2000s. Primarily written in Java, it enables the execution of Java applications directly on bare metal without an underlying operating system, targeting platforms with limited memory and processing power such as wireless sensors.[44]The project originated around 2002–2003 with an initial version for smart cards, evolving into a more robust implementation by 2005 for broader embedded use. Squawk 1.0 was released in 2006, supporting Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) 1.0, followed by version 1.1 supporting CLDC 1.1 with enhancements for debugging and authentication. It was later open-sourced under the GNU General Public License version 2.0, with source code made available through Sun's developer networks, facilitating community contributions and prototyping on devices like the Sun Small Programmable Object Technology (Sun SPOT) sensors.[44][45]Key features of Squawk include its interpreter-based execution model, which eschews just-in-time (JIT) compilation in favor of ahead-of-time optimization through a tool called the Suite Creator. This tool converts standard Java class files into compact, platform-specific Squawk bytecodes, incorporating optimizations such as inlining, constant folding, and propagation to minimize runtime overhead and memory usage. It supports J2ME profiles like CLDC and MIDP 1.0, enabling development of applications for Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile-like environments, while its "isolate" mechanism allows multiple applications to run concurrently as reified objects with shared immutable state and supports application migration between devices.[44][46]Advantages of Squawk stem from its self-hosted design, where much of the VM is implemented in Java, enhancing portability across architectures like ARM processors—porting to a new platform such as the ARM9 in Sun SPOT took approximately two weeks. This contrasts with traditional JVMs by reducing the need for low-level C code, simplifying maintenance, debugging, and authentication while achieving a small footprint suitable for devices with as little as 512 KB RAM and 4 MB flash. It was notably applied in prototypes for wireless sensor networks, powering Sun SPOT devices for rapid experimentation in sensing and actuation tasks. Following Oracle's acquisition of Sun in 2010, the Squawk project and Sun SPOT hardware were discontinued around 2011–2012, though the source code remains available and has inspired community forks for embedded systems.[44][45][47]
Media and Entertainment
In the realm of music, the term "squawk" gained prominence through the Welsh hard rock band Budgie's 1972 album Squawk, their second studio release on MCA Records, which featured energetic tracks like "Whiskey River" and showcased the band's raw, riff-driven sound.[48] Budgie's music influenced the heavy metal genre, with later acts such as Metallica and Iron Maiden acknowledging the band's proto-metal style as a foundational inspiration for the genre's development in the 1970s and beyond.[49]Television has prominently featured "squawk" in business programming on CNBC, where Squawk Box debuted in 1995 as a flagship pre-market news and interview show, delivering real-time insights into global markets and featuring high-profile guests like business leaders and politicians.[50] Complementing it, Squawk on the Street launched in late 2005, broadcasting live from the New York Stock Exchange floor to cover opening bell action, stock movements, and economic updates during trading hours.[51]Beyond music and news, "squawk" appears as an onomatopoeic representation of harsh bird vocalizations in comics and films, often employed for comedic effect in scenes involving animals or chaotic environments, such as in animated sequences where characters mimic avian distress calls.[52] In video games, it serves as a recurring sound effect for bird-like creatures or alert noises, enhancing immersion in titles with wildlife or fantasy elements without dominating narrative focus.[53]The cultural resonance of "squawk" in these media contexts underscores its evocation of shrill urgency or vocal discord, mirroring the noisy dynamism of financial trading floors in CNBC's programming titles while nodding to the noun's connotation of loud complaint in broader pop culture references.[54]