1) whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, 2) donkey drivers’ interjection to tell their beast to move forward or stop

[Theseus]

"Whoa" is an interjection, used to express surprise, amazement, or as a command to someone or something to stop or slow down. When repeated, as in "whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," it emphasises in a conversation the need for one party to halt an action or conversation or to justify something controversial that has been said . It's similar to saying "hold on a minute" or "wait a second".
How would this repeated interjection be expressed in Greek? Στοπ, στοπ, στοπ, στοπ? ουάου, ουάου, ουάαυ, ουάου? Ώου, ώου, ώου? Ώπα κτλ.? As an extension of this interjection, what expression might Greek muleteers or donkey drivers ( οναρήδες?) , like the fabled Greek Marathon runner, Spyridon Lois of Marousi, tell their animals to move forward (English ‘gee up’/ ‘giddy-up) or stop (English ‘whoa!).

 

[m_a_a_]

Slow your horses, Theseus, cos I don't know how to command them myself…

What I'm insinuating is that I'm probably better off skipping the last part of your question…

Ώπα! definitely comed to mind, along with a few other options such as:
(για) κάτσε λίγο,
κάτσε (κάτσε)
(για) στάσου
μπάστα
μισό
περίμενε

Just to get the thread rolling…

 

[daeman]

Όπα to stop, ντε / ντέι to go are the most common (found in all dictionaries) interjections for beasts of burden, although there are other less common variations which I'm sure other Lexilogists will readily supply.

Muleteers are called μουλαράδες colloquially, or ημιονηγοί formally. For donkeys, they are formally called ονηγοί (or οναγοί, an ancient Greek word "revived", let's say since it doesn't actually live outside of formal texts) or ονηλάτες. For the life of me I can't remember now any colloquial word for them, if we do have one.

 

[cougr]

For the life of me I can't remember now any colloquial word for them, if we do have one.

γαϊδουράς, γαϊδουριάρης (at least from my χωριό).

When repeated, as in "whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," it emphasises in a conversation the need for one party to halt an action or conversation or to justify something controversial that has been said

The only thing I can think of at the moment is perhaps "όπα", with the appropriate vocal inflection.

 

[Theseus]

Thnks to ‘Man and cougr for the technical terms for muleteers and donkey and the various interjections they use. And of course, we mustn’t forget cougr’s article from sarant’s researches:
“Λεξιλόγιο του αγωγιάτη:
«ντε λαξο ντε»: Προχώρα, «ντε βέσα ντε»: Πήγαινε μέσα, «λα λα»: Ελα κοντά, «λα έξω»: Έλα έξω, «ντε βίσο ντε»: Πήγαινε πίσω...”
Thanks also to both of the above for the various terms for ‘donkey drivers. BTW, I loved the Wikipedia web-page on Spyridon Louis, donkey driver, water-carrier and extraordinary marathon runner in the Olympics of 1896.

 

[cougr]

Muleteers are called μουλαράδες colloquially, or ημιονηγοί formally

A bit of word trivia

Ημιονηγός: from ημίονος, the formal synonym of "mule" and which literally means "half donkey" + άγω, meaning "to lead".

 

[SBE]

Εγώ πάντως δεν έχω ακούσει καμία από τις φράσεις του αγωγιάτη, ξέρω οτι κάνουν πρρρρρρρρ όταν θέλουν να αλλάξει κατεύθυνση ή κίνηση το ζώο.

 

[cougr]

Προφανώς δεν είσαι Σαντορινιά. Οι εν λόγω φράσεις είναι από την τοπική διάλεκτο της Σαντορίνης.

 

[Theseus]

Thanks to all for their further comment. I also failed to thank m_a_a for the list of terms for whoa. Apologies!