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November 22, 2005
DO CATS HAVE LANGUAGE?
Have you ever wondered what your Cat is trying to tell you? Many believe the simple "miaow" is an all-purpose word. Most cat-owners, however, are aware that there are a whole variety of miaows that differ in pitch, rhythm, volume, tone and pronunciation.
There is more to felinese than the simple miaow though. In 1944, Mildred Moelk made a detailed study of cat vocabulary and found sixteen meaningful sounds, which included consonants and vowels. She divided cat-sounds into three groups:-
~murmurs made with the mouth closed
~vowel sounds made with the mouth closing as in "iao"
~sounds made with the mouth held open.
Although these may not be used in grammatical sentences, one definition of language is "any means, vocal or other, of expressing or communicating feeling or thought" (Webster's Dictionary). Observant owners will notice the following sounds which cats make to communicate their state of mind (this list is not exhaustive, since cats will improvise):
Caterwaul - cat wants sex!
Chatter - excitement, frustration e.g. when prey is out of reach or escapes
Chirrup - friendly greeting sound, a cross between a meow and a purr!
Cough-bark - alarm signal (rare in pet cats)
Growl - threat, challenge, warns others to go away
Hiss (with or without spit) - threat, fear, warns others to back off
Meow - general-purpose attention seeking sound used by adult cats to communicate with owners or with kittens
Mew (of kittens) - distress, hunger, cold (to attract mother's attention)
Purr - contentment, relaxation, also to comfort itself if in pain (cats in extremis may purr); a loud purr invites close contact or attention
Scream - fear, pain, anger, distress
Squawk - surprise, shock
Yowl - a threat, offensive or defensive, but also used in a modified form by some cats seeking attention when owner is out of sight
Idiosyncratic sounds - a sound which a particular cat uses in a particular context.
Read the complete article
Posted by sue at November 22, 2005 09:52 AM