Zodiac animal signs 犬 Why not 狗 ?

[Chunn]

And what is the different of these two "dogs"?

I have never use 犬 when I talk to Chinese people.

[florazheng]

犬：usually, it is used in literal and some set words , such as 警犬 it is weird to say警狗

狗：is more oral

[Jim]

Yep, you see 犬 in compounds like 猎犬 = hunting dog

Bit like we have 'dog' and 'hound' in English I say

[Chunn]

Many thanks.

Just got another question about zodiac signs. what should the 羊 in the zodiac signs which come after the horse be? the Sheep or the Goat?

I found both in English text on the internet.

[Claw]

Just got another question about zodiac signs. what should the 羊 in the zodiac signs which come after the horse be? the Sheep or the Goat?

The answer is both... Here's a site that gives an good explanation: http://www.cjvlang.com/Spicks/sheepgoat.html

[Jim]

Either is correct AFAIK, and I think that's close to the biological truth too - they're pretty close realtives. In colloquial usage you can distinguish by saying for 山羊 goat or 绵羊 for sheep. I notice nobody translates it as 'Year of the Cock' any more

[Claw]

I notice nobody translates it as 'Year of the Cock' any more

Cock is 雞 (鸡), not 羊.

[Jim]

...I knew that! I was moving our discussion on to other amibigous year-names. I have never knowingly confused a sheep for a chicken in my life (well, there was this one time...)

[Claw]

Okay, just making sure... you just referred to "it" while still talking about 羊.