Can Cats Talk?

by Sarah Hartwell
View Biography

To the uninitiated, and probably to Lewis Carroll, 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. Jean Craighead George attempted to categorize these according to the cat's age, gender and situation:-

Kittens

Mew (high pitched and thin) - a polite plea for help
MEW! (loud and frantic) - an urgent plea for help

Adult cats:

mew - plea for attention
mew (soundless) - a very polite plea for attention (this is Paul Gallico's "Silent Miaow" which is probably a sound pitched too high for human ears)
meow - emphatic plea for attention
MEOW! - a command!
mee-o-ow (with falling cadence) - protest or whine
MEE-o-ow (shrill whine) - stronger protest
MYUP! (short, sharp, single note) - righteous indignation
MEOW! Meow! (repeated) - panicky call for help
mier-r-r-ow (chirrup with liting cadence) - friendly greeting

Tomcats:

RR-YOWWW-EEOW-RR-YOW-OR - caterwaul
merrow - challenge to another male
meriow - courting call to female

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