The Secret Language Of Cats. Susanne Schötz
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1. Sounds produced with an open mouth
a. The Purr: A very low-pitched, sustained, relatively quiet, regular sound produced during both inhalation and exhalation: [↑hːr-̃ ↑rː̃h-↓hːr-̃ ↑rː̃h] or [↓hːʀ̃ː-↑ʀ̃ːh-↓hːʀː̃-↑ʀ̃ːh]. A cat purrs when it is content, hungry, stressed, in pain, as well as when it gives birth or is dying. Purring probably indicates something more like “I am no threat,” “please leave everything as it is,” or “keep on doing what you are doing,” than “I am content.” Mother cats and their young often communicate with purring, probably because it is a quiet sound that is hard for other predators to detect. Purring is also common among some large wild cats—one of the best known is the cheetah named Caine. Many cats can simultaneously purr and trill or meow.
b. The Trill (Chirr, Chirrup, Grunt, Murmur, Coo): A relatively short and often soft sound that is frequently rolled softly on the tongue. Trilling sounds somewhere between a purr and a meow, almost like a voiced rolled r (although sometimes a little harsh): mrrrh, mmmrrrt or brrh, which can be written in phonetic script as [mrː̃ h], [mːʀ̃ːut] or [bʀ̃ː]. A trill is used during friendly approach and greeting, when playing, and sometimes as an acknowledgment or confirmation (which might be interpreted as “yes, got it” or “thanks”). A trill can be varied in pitch and trilling, and has the following subcategories:
i. The Chirrup (Chirr): A more high- pitched trill, often with a tonal rise at the end of the sound.
ii. The Grunt (Murmur): A shorter and more low-pitched trill, often with level or falling tone.
iii. The Murmur (Coo): A soft nasal sound without any trilling or rolling r-sound, which sounds more like a soft [m] or murmuring sound.
It is not unusual for a trill to turn into a meow, thus producing a more complex sound: brrriu [brĩuw], brrmiau [bʀ̃ːmiau] or mrrriau [mhrː̃iauw]. Purring and trilling can also occur together.
2. Sounds made while the mouth is first opening and then closing
a. The Meow Sounds: This is one of the sounds used most frequently with us humans. It has a great number of different meanings and phonetic subcategories. Meowing mostly takes place with an opening mouth that then closes. I have identified the following subcategories based on their phonetic characteristics.
i. The Mew: A very high-pitched meow, often with the vowels [i] , [ɪ] and [e] , some times followed by a [u], i.e. [me], [wi] or [mIu]. Kittens often use this sound to get their mother’s help or attention. Adult cats may mew when they need the attention or help of their humans.
ii. The Squeak: A raspy, nasal, high-pitched and often short mew-like call, often with the vowels [ɛ] or [æ]. A squeak often ends with an open mouth: [wæ], [mɛ] or [ɛu]. Squeaks are often friendly requests for attention.
iii. The Moan: A somewhat dark (with acoustically low resonances) meow, often with the vowels [o] or [u]: i.e. [mou] or [wuæu]. A moan is often used by a cat that is either anxious, stressed or demanding something.
iv. The Meow (Miaow): A sound which often includes a combination of multiple vowels that often, but not always, produces the characteristic [iau] sequence, i.e. the typical meow sound. Meows are often directed at humans in order to gain their attention, and may sound like [miau], [ɛau] or [wαːʊ].
v. The Trill-Meow (Murmur-Meow): A combination of a trill and a meow sound. Often with a rising tone, which may sound like [mʀ̃hŋau] or [whrː̃ au].
b. The Howl (Yowl, Moan, Anger Wail): A long and often repeated sequence of extended vowel sounds, usually produced by gradually opening the mouth wider and closing it again. A howl may consist of a combination of vowels and semivowels, such as [ɪ], [ɨ], [ɤ] or [j], or [aʊ], [ɛʊ], [ɑʊ], [ɔɪ], or [ɑɔ], i.e. [awɔɪɛʊː], [jɪɨɛɑʊw] or [ɪːaʊaʊaʊaʊawawaw] with a rising and falling melody. It is used as a warning signal in aggressive and defensive (agonistic) situations, and is often merged or combined with growling in long sequences with slowly varying melody and loudness.
c. The Mating Call (Mating Cry): A long sequence of meow-like sounds, trill-meows and/or howls produced with an opening and then closing mouth by both female and male cats. The sound sometimes sounds a bit like a human child weeping and crying. Perhaps that is why humans often react instantly to this sound.
3. Sounds that are produced with an open tense mouth are often associated with offensive or defensive aggression, but also with sounds directed at prey
a. The Growl (Snarl): A guttural, harsh, very low- pitched, regularly pulse-modulated sound of usually long length (duration) produced with the mouth slightly open during a slow, steady exhalation. A growl often sounds like a very deep and trilling r: [ɡʀː], [ʀː], or a creaky [ɹ̰ ː] or [ʌ̰ ː]. Growling is used to signal danger or to warn or scare off an enemy, and is often combined, with howling and hissing.
b. The Hiss and The Spit (the more intense variant): A voiceless fricative (noisy) sound often produced with an open mouth with a raised upper lip, visible teeth and an arched tongue, with a hard exhalation. A hiss is often a warning and deterrent sound, but may also be an involuntary reaction to when a cat is surprised by an (apparent) enemy. The cat changes position with a startle and breath is forced rapidly through the slightly open mouth before stopping suddenly: [fːhː], [çː], [ʃː] or [ʂː]. Spitting is more explosive, sometimes with a k- or t-like sound at the beginning of the sound: i.e. [͡ʈʂː], [k͡ h͜͜͜ ː] or [k͡ ʃː], and sometimes a little saliva is even expectorated.
c. The Snarl (Scream, Cry, Pain Shriek): A very loud, harsh and often high-pitched sound produced just before or during active fighting, often with [a], [æ], [au] or [ɛʊ] vowel qualities. A snarl is sometimes used as a final warning, but injured or sick cats may cry when they are in pain.
d. The Chirp and The Chatter (Prey-Directed Sounds): Sounds that are sometimes produced around prey (birds, rodents, insects). A hunting instinct where the cat attempts to imitate the calls of the prey or the killing bite, for example when a bird or an insect catches the attention of the cat. There seem to be several subcategories based on their phonetic characteristics.
i. The Chatter (Cackle, Teeth Chattering): A voiceless, very rapid, stuttering or clicking sequence of sounds produced with the jaws juddering, which produce a crackling k-consonant: [k̟ = k̟ = k̟ = k̟ = k̟ = k̟ = ] or [k k k k k k].
ii. The Chirp: A voiced, short call, said to be mimicking the chirp of a bird or rodent. The pitch is often monotone or falls toward the end: [ʔə]. It is generally repeated in sequences [ʔɛʔɛʔɛ]. Softer, weaker variants have also been observed like soft tweets without any clear initial [ʔ] and with varying vowel quality, for example [wi] or [ɦɛu]. There are also variations where a soft chirp or tweet is prolonged, so that it almost sounds like a tweedle or warble, and with rapid changes in the pitch or melody. These variations are often combined with tremor or quavering: for example [ʔəɛəɥə].
Now, having already read my descriptions of the most important cat sounds, there is no point in reading any farther, or is there? Well, in the chapters ahead I would like to explain a little bit more about the most important cat sounds and above all else, I would like to discuss some of the situations or contexts where they typically occur.
CAT FOR BEGINNERS
There are a whole lot of cats in the world—there are 95.6 million cats kept as pets in the United States, 10 million in Canada, 10 million in the United Kingdom, 3 million in Australia, and 1.5 million in New Zealand as