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A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones in terms of their
A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones in terms of their sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
, and what is heard can vary from being chattered to calls, murmurs, and whispers. Adult cats rarely meow to each other. Thus, an adult cat meowing to human beings is generally considered a post-domestication extension of meowing by kittens: a call for attention. Felines usually communicate with each other via their shared sense of smell, yet with people they often make verbal cues around behavior, such as having a specific sound indicate a desire to go outside.
A mew is a high-pitched meow often produced by kittens. It is apparently used to solicit attention from the kitten's mother, and adult cats may use it as well. The mew is similar to what is described in ''Brown et al. 1978'' as an isolation call. By around three to four weeks of age kittens do not mew when at least one littermate is present, and at four to five months of age kittens stop mewing altogether.
Background and biological details
A cat's meow can be assertive, plaintive, friendly, bold, welcoming, attention-soliciting, demanding, or complaining. It can even be silent, where the cat opens its mouth but does not vocalize. Just as humans may verbalize exhaustively when they are happy, so can cats. According to '' The Purrington Post'', a chatty cat is likely happy too. Meowing fundamentally evolves as a learned behavior. Formerly feral cats meow much less often than felines accustomed to human interaction their entire lives. Particularly attached cats will meow in an imitative and reflective fashion in response tohuman communication
Human communication, or anthroposemiotics, is a field of study dedicated to understanding how humans Communication, communicate. Humans' ability to communicate with one another would not be possible without an understanding of what we are refere ...
that involves a back-and-forth process between the two beings, which can involve mutual emotional connection.
Etymology
InAmerican English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
, the spelling ''meow'' was first used in 1842. Before that, the word could be spelled ''miaow'', ''miau'', or ''meaw''. Of any variant, the earliest attestation of a cat's cry in Early Modern English
Early Modern English (sometimes abbreviated EModEFor example, or EMnE) or Early New English (ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transit ...
is from the 1630s.
See also
*Cat communication
Cats communicate for a variety of reasons, including to show happiness, express anger, solicit attention, and observe potential prey. Additionally, they collaborate, play, and share resources. When cats communicate with humans, they do so to get ...
* Cross-linguistic onomatopoeias ยง Mammal sounds
* Devocalization
* Felinology
* List of animal sounds
References
External links
* * * {{Authority control Animal sounds Cat behavior Onomatopoeia