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There is more to felinese that 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.
The exact meanings of all of these sounds may
be modified or emphasized by facial expression,
tone/volume, body language and context
(paralanguage). In his dealings with Scottish
Wildcats, Mike Tomkies noted that the wildcats
would greet him with a loud spitting "PAAAH"
accompanied by a foot-stamp. I have received the
same greeting from feral cats. The meaning
("*** off!") is unmistakable and only a
fool (or a cat-worker intent on packing pussy off
for neutering) ignores it. Some cats may use some
of these cat-sounds in different ways when
communicating with humans and only our familiarity
with our own pets tells us that a certain type of
growl is a play noise and not warning of imminent
attack.
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