Cat Talk

CAT TALK

Mildred Moelk’s studies provided some basis for what many cat-owned people have always believed. Cats can talk. In The Cat: A Complete Authoritative Compendium of Information About Domestic Cats (1977), Muriel Beadle shares the results of Moelk’s research:

The cats’ repertory of sounds includes nine consonants (f as in “fun,” g as in “go,” h as in “halt,” m and n as in “men,” another n sound as in “rung,” r and t as in “rat” and w as in “we”); five vowel sounds (a as in “father,” in “hat” and in “comma,” e as in “let,” and i as in “machine”); two diphthongs (as in the French auf and eux); and an umlaut (as in the German uber). To these an a:ou sound is added. It begins as an a “a” while the mouth is open but ends as “ou” as the mouth is gradually closed.

Moelk adds that most cats “speak” by murmuring, by varying their intonation levels, and by trilling. The voice of one cat can further be distinguished from another by the differences in their normal initial vowel sounds, while mood or desires can be interpreted by the increase or decrease in tension of those sounds. A cat’s “mumbles,” Moelk declares, can become any of a thousand words.

No matter. All cat people are aware that cats are perfectly capable of making their meaning clear, even among the densest of us.

Cat vocalizations develop gradually. A kitten’s vocal ability is limited to purrs and meows that vary only in shrillness and intensity. But, as the kitten grows up, it learns one meow to greet humans, another meow to warn off other cats and blah, blah, blah. Some cats even chirp at birds.

Then there’s the ample supply of growls, spits, hisses, screams and caterwauling, not to mention nonverbal communication.

The purr, however, is what calms us and soothes our sorrows. “Cats make you feel that all is right with the world,” says Weissenberger. “When they purr, all is right with their world. They want to share that with you.”

Article Courtesy of Pet Life Magazine