Made the sharp, loud sound a dog makes, or spoke harshly and roughly.
From Old Norse 'barka.' Onomatopoeia in origin—the word imitates the actual sound. Extended metaphorically to harsh human speech.
Dogs actually modulate their barks differently for different situations—they have a 'friendly' bark and a 'threat' bark with different frequencies, so barking is sophisticated communication, not just noise.
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