How to teach a cat to talk? Rules for teaching animals human speech

Despite the similarity in the structure of vital organs and systems, humans are significantly different from animals. First of all, this concerns intelligence and the presence of developed speech. And although mammals do not have the necessary anatomical tools, some of them can be trained to imitate simple words. Representatives of the cat family including. The article is devoted to how to teach a cat to speak and how to get him to practice.

How to teach a cat to talk

From gestures to words

Speech refers to the way people communicate using complex linguistic structures. An obligatory moment of its formation is human society. For a child to learn to speak, he needs to be around talking people.

Scientists still disagree about the origins of language. According to one of the leading versions, words arose during the period when ancestors picked up the first tool. The palms, which were the main communication tool, were occupied, and people had to invent a new method of communication.

Labor turned out to be the trigger for speech development

Anatomical background

A speech apparatus is required for intelligible articulation. When pronouncing words, the diaphragm, larynx, lungs, nasal cavity, bronchi, epiglottis, trachea, small uvula, pharynx, palate, lower jaw, teeth, tongue and velum are involved.

The following organs play a major role in articulate speech:

1. Diaphragm. During the conversation, you need to supply air to the ligaments in portions, which helps to separate words into syllables. Otherwise, an inarticulate scream will come out of your mouth. This is possible thanks to the muscular septum.
2. Larynx. In humans it is lower than in apes. This position of the organ makes it possible to clearly pronounce sounds used in phonetics.

In addition, a wide spinal canal is needed, through which impulses will flow from the brain to the respiratory organs. The more spacious it is, the more neurons capable of receiving information.

In children under 3 years of age, the larynx is located high, just like in chimpanzees. Then it lowers, which allows the baby to fully master the sound side of speech.

Structure of the larynx

Theories about how cats understand their owners

If an animal hears something, it usually turns one or both “locators” in the direction of the sound source.

• A “recorder” of ultrasonic waves that is located in cats’ ears. This is an oblong ridge on its edge. Having heard sound vibrations, the “locator” turns in the direction from which they originate.
• Study of tissues of the cat's body. Nerve cells are located along the inner edge of the iris, which narrows or dilates the pupil. Their function is similar to that of the cells of the auditory organ.
• Theory about magical abilities. Experienced cat lovers claim that cats, having telepathy, carry out commands issued by the owner mentally, and not out loud. There are also cases where cats foreshadowed events.

Opinions of famous people

After much observation, Gerald Durrell began to believe that these animals have fairly high intelligence.

• Soviet-era author and animal lover Igor Akimushkin. He expressed the suspicion that cats and dogs, as highly organized mammals, use a second signaling system. They tend to perceive abstract concepts and accumulate knowledge. Their emotional language is similar to reflexive human reactions, such as laughter, screaming in pain, tears.
• Writer and naturalist from England Gerald Durrell. After making observations, he also came to the conclusion that animals are intelligent creatures.

Animals receive an emotional message by perceiving the energetic meaning of a word along the length of the sound wave.

Why don't animals talk?

Representatives of the fauna cannot maintain a conversation for several reasons. In addition to the fact that they do not have such a need, there are also physiological obstacles:

1. Pronouncing words clearly requires a well-functioning organ system. In mammals it is not provided.
2. The ability to speak and understand language is formed as a person develops logical and associative thinking skills. Animals do not have such talents.

One of the important human qualities is the ability to invent new terms. In the communicative practice of animals, this occurs only among especially gifted monkeys who use sign language.

The tail is the most important way to transmit information

Features of communication in the animal world

There are many nonverbal communication methods in the animal kingdom. Each species speaks its own language, which is a simple system of signals.

Table 1. Signal system

There are also less common methods of communication - the bioelectromagnetic fields of the Nile elephant, high-frequency signals in dolphins, echolocation in bats.

Elephants communicate with each other using infrasound signaling

How cats understand humans

Scientists have repeatedly argued that the cat, due to its nature, cannot be considered a completely domesticated species. It's more of a companion animal.

American biologist John Bralshaw conducted several interesting experiments, studying the system of communication between animals among themselves and with humans. During them, he clearly determined that if domestic cats can react not only to the spoken words themselves, but also listen to intonation, then wild animals are unable to make out it.

However, experiments with lions and tigers have shown that with persistent training they quickly begin to understand the meaning of certain commands and words.

Many cat owners know how their pets react to messages about a trip to the veterinarian. They immediately run away, hide and demonstrate in every possible way their reluctance to leave the house and go to the clinic. And, conversely, a cat begins to purr when addressed with affectionate speech.

One of the smartest cat breeds is the Abyssinian.

It is surprising that a cat brought as an adult from another country, for example, Japan, does not understand its new owners for quite a long time. This means that everything is important in communication - the meaning of words, intonation, and gestures.

Scientists note that felines never meow. Animals have enough pheromones and gestures to communicate with each other. Cats have developed this tool specifically for communicating with humans.

By the way, read the article about the 32 smartest cat breeds on our portal.

Animal sounds

Evolving, each species invented its own sound signals. Some of them are understandable to all representatives of the animal world. For example, in many languages, hissing means dissatisfaction, and a trumpet call means a call for mating. But in most cases, the sound code is understood exclusively by related species. For example, the meaning of a horse's neighing is clear to another horse, but does not carry a semantic load for a cat.

Sound arsenal:

• frog - 6;
• chicken - 13;
• cat - 16;
• rooster - 15;
• dolphin - 32;
• fox - 36;
• monkey - 40;
• tit - 90;
• raven - 300.

These numbers do not mean the number of letters, but the number of sound combinations used by animals.

Even the fish are not silent. According to recent research, they use sound signals to transmit information, and also sneeze, cough and wheeze.

In some species, such as vervet monkeys, phonetic signals have a wide associative range. For many predators they have an individual sound code. The alarm call that announces the approach of an eagle is different from that of a leopard.

Vervet monkeys are quite inventive in their use of sound signals.

What animals imitate human speech?

Science knows of many cases of successful imitation of human speech by representatives of the animal kingdom. Birds turned out to be the most trainable.

Animals that can imitate human speech:

1. Feathered. Some species of parrots can remember and pronounce about a thousand words. Crows show good results. They are considered even more talented than exotic cockatiels.
2. Monkey. Due to their physiology, they can pronounce 5 vowel sounds. However, in imitation of speech they are significantly inferior to birds. So far, the trainers have only managed to achieve an imitation of the speech of a one-year-old child.
3. Dolphins and seals. Particularly gifted individuals can imitate simple words and even small phrases while exhaling.
4. Elephants. In a zoo in South Korea lives Kosik, who can clearly pronounce 5 words.
5. Cats. These furry creatures can do more than just meow. Masi from Azerbaijan gained worldwide fame for learning to pronounce more than 10 words.

Dolphins can speak short phrases

Imitating human speech and communicating are different concepts. The exception is the parrot Alex. As part of Dr. Irene Pepperberg's research, he showed the ability to perform basic analysis and logical reasoning using simple verbal structures.

Features of cat hearing

Representatives of any cat species have extremely developed hearing. The cat's ear detects a range of sounds at frequencies that are inaccessible to humans and many species of mammals.

It has been experimentally established that a cat is able to remember more than a hundred words that it heard from its owner. For example, they know perfectly well several variations of their name, they understand when they are called to eat or play.

Moreover, pets are able to select and bring certain items; they remember more than 20 names. The main thing is to work hard with them and motivate them properly. Because the main thing here is the cat’s desire to carry out this or that command. And good relations with the owner are very important in this case, because it will never be possible to force a pet, such is the cat’s nature. By the way, you can read an article about how to train cats on our portal.

How to teach a cat to talk

Social animals are considered much more talkative than solitary ones. Although felines do not live in communities, they can still be taught a few human words.

Cats have an extensive gallery of sounds

Feline sonic baggage

The communication arsenal of cats is quite diverse. When pets want to express any emotion, they use the following techniques:

• meow;
• purring;
• snort;
• nagging;
• squealing;
• hiss;
• teeth chattering;
• grunt;
• howl.

Depending on the emotional state, they can increase or decrease the intensity of the signal.

Meowing is considered the most characteristic way for cats to communicate with people.

Table 2. Key messages

Undomesticated cats do not meow in their natural habitat. Only kittens are endowed with this ability.

Decoding cat language

There are 16 leading vocal signals in the cat language, among which the letters “M”, “Ш”, “G”, “В”, “Н”, “Р”, “Х” and “В” are clearly distinguishable. Animals pronounce them with different intonations both when inhaling and exhaling.

Cats can make 16 sounds

The main reasons that prompt a pet to enter into a dialogue with its owner are boredom, hunger, fear, pain, a request to open the door and the joy of meeting.

Table 3. Sound combinations

Considering the sounds available in the arsenal of furry pets and the manner of their pronunciation, you can try to teach them simple words. It is desirable that they contain sibilant consonants and the letter “M”.

Compared to cats, cats are considered more trainable.

General training rules

Not all cats can imitate human speech. The learning process is long and requires maximum endurance and patience on the part of the owner. Before you begin training, you should familiarize yourself with the following rules:

1. It is better to train males. Females are less amenable to training.
2. You can only train kittens up to 1 year old. It is useless to train adults.
3. Before each lesson, it is necessary to isolate your pet from other animals and eliminate any irritating or distracting factors.
4. Lessons should be held on a full, but not full, stomach.
5. Spend at least 6 months studying one word. It must be repeated every time before feeding. It is desirable that it be associated with food, such as “meat”.
6. Do not exhaust your pets with long training sessions. Cats are stubborn creatures and will never learn under force. If imitating human speech is not interesting, they will never learn to speak.

A hungry cat finds it difficult to concentrate on learning

It is important to listen to what sounds the animal makes most often. If it’s “meow,” it’s advisable to start learning the word “meat,” if it’s “murrr,” then perhaps the cat will learn to pronounce “eat.”

What treat should you give during training?

Cat language

To understand how to teach a cat to talk, you need to study the language of furry pets. After all, they are capable of more than just meowing. Zoologists identify about 16 different cat sounds. Just a few of them can be cited:

1. Purring. This sound is an expression of pleasure. The cat also purrs when greeting its owner or communicating with its cubs.
2. Screams. Animals make such sounds when they are in heat and ready to mate.
3. Snorting, rumbling, hissing. These sounds are a manifestation of aggression.

How to teach a cat to speak like a human? When teaching speech, it is necessary to rely on the sounds that your pet most often makes. Through long training, you can transform meowing and purring into sounds that resemble words. So, for example, “meow” can be converted into “meat”, and “mur” - into “eat”. It is necessary to identify sounds in your pet’s speech that are similar to human words and work on their pronunciation.

Sometimes you can hear cats making sounds on their own that are very similar to human speech. The owner should be alarmed if this happens involuntarily and is not the result of training. This usually indicates fear or extreme dissatisfaction of the animal. An example of such sounds can be heard in the video below.

Step-by-step instruction

The most famous talking cat in the world is the Azerbaijani Masi. He is able to pronounce several dozen words both in Russian and in his “native” language. The pet's vocabulary includes such etiquette expressions as “thank you” and “goodbye.”

Table 4. Teaching a cat to talk

Meowing with a cat should be gradually replaced by pronouncing the necessary word

Before you start training, you need to arm yourself with patience and be confident that the pet living next to you is unique. Without these components it is impossible to achieve success in such a complex process.

Sign language

There is another theory. According to scientists, the only thing a cat understands when communicating with a person is sign language.

Indeed, before sitting on the owner’s lap, many pets look into his eyes and wait for an approving nod or pat.

According to skeptics, representatives of the feline species do not experience sincere affection for humans, like dogs. They only allow themselves to be loved and served.

But many true admirers of this pet will say with confidence that the cat is only pretending that she is indifferent to the condition of the people in the house. She's just good at hiding her feelings. And as soon as a baby starts crying, the animal is the first to be in alarm next to him.

Outward coldness and emotionlessness are qualities that have developed in cats over thousands of years. They help representatives of the cat species survive in the wild. After all, cats are predators, and they have no opportunity to show their weaknesses and affections to the enemy. In the jungle it is survival of the fittest.

When communicating with humans, pets have learned to use many other mechanisms. They purr, meow, rub against their owner’s arms and legs, look pleadingly into the eyes, carry slippers, and keep children busy with games.

By moving its tail, a cat shows that it is irritated or scared. A hiss or growl warns her to be left alone. Sometimes the pet touches the owner with its paw and even releases its claws when its appeal and requests are ignored.

Even if a cat attacks a person's hand, there is an explanation for this. American scientists have found that with excessive caresses provided by the owner to the pet, the latter experiences a large release of the hormone cortisol into the blood. The animal experiences severe stress and irritation.

It’s safe to say that the cat understands the owner’s speech perfectly; the main thing is for the person to learn to hear the pet.