this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023
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[–] CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Something I once read is that different cats don't seem to use exactly the same noise to mean the same thing, ie, one cat might use a certain sort of meow to show that it is hungry, but another cat might use a similar meow to show that they want attention. Further, that wild cats usually stop making many such noises after they grow up, but domestic ones keep using them to communicate with people. If this is true, then the cat noises don't really represent a cat language as such since each individual cat would have it's own different set of vocabulary it develops in an attempt to get humans to understand it, being forced to resort to being all dramatic and acting like a kitten to get their message across because humans are sometimes too clueless to understand their body language.

[–] Daeraxa@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I've got two cats who are sisters and they indeed have very different meows, not just sound but how they use them. One has a very distinct greeting meow literally only reserved for when she hasn't seen me in a few hours that is isn't in any way replicated by her sister.

[–] ASeriesOfPoorChoices@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

OP doesn't know what the word "jargon" means.

[–] Facelikeapotato@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, nonsense would've been a better word. Or word salad, it doesn't get said enough.

[–] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I think you were looking for "gibberish."

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Or they’ve only heard jargon from outside their expertise.

[–] Hackerman_uwu@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I mean. Is the word “jargon” jargon for people who are into linguistics?

[–] iqwertyasdf@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cats just meow to get our attention. Fun fact do you know that meowing is them mimicking the sounds of a baby?

[–] venoft@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Not a human baby (how could they, most cats have never seen a human baby), but as a kitten they meow to their parents to get food etc. So we're their parents now and I guess they never really grew up and became independent.

[–] dragonflyteaparty@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Cats meow in the same register that human babies cry. They aren't saying that cats are specifically trying to cry like a human baby, but that cats as a species have grown over thousands of years to meow in the same pitches as human babies.

[–] joel_feila@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Well adult cats raised around humans figure out what meows work the best and that is one that sounds like baby

[–] Lexica@yiffit.net 0 points 1 year ago

Wait.. you guys can't understand your cats?