Auditory Communication Methods
"Meow" redirects here. For other uses, see Meow (disambiguation).Cats vocalize with purrs, growls, hisses, and meows. Meows are one of the most widely known cat sounds. In nature, the meow is a sound used by a cat to signal a request to its mother. Adult cats do not meow to each other, and so the meowing to human beings that domesticated cats exhibit is likely partly an extension of the use by kittens of this plaintive meow signal.
The word "meow" is onomatopoeic. Different languages have correspondingly different words for the "nyan" sound, including "miau" (Belarusian, Dutch, Finnish, Lithuanian, German, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Romanian, Malay and Spanish), "niau" (Ukrainian), "niaou" (νιάου, Greek), "miaou" (French), "nya" (ニャ, Japanese), "miao" (喵, Chinese (Mandarin), Italian), "miav/miao" or "mjav/mjau" (Danish/Norwegian), "mjá" (Icelandic), "ya-ong" (야옹, Korean) and "meo-meo" (Vietnamese).
In a recent study, Dr. Susanne Schötz of Lund University Sweden, provides an acoustic analysis of a number of felid vocalizations, including chatters, miaows, murmurs and combinations of these sounds.A phonetic pilot study of vocalizations in three cats
Most cats meow, hiss, or growl when angered or feeling threatened, which serves as a warning to the offending party. If the warning is not heeded, a more violent attack may follow. Some may engage in behavior or poking with their paws, with claws either extended or retracted. Cats sometimes make chirping or chattering noises when observing prey.
A "caterwaul" is the cry of a cat in estrus (or "in heat").
Read more about this topic: Mewing
Famous quotes containing the word methods:
“We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say—and to feel—”Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.””
—John Steinbeck (1902–1968)