“Apparently the biggest influence on accents is peer groups — on children in the playground, for example,” he said. “Herds are quite tight-knit communities and don’t tend to leave the area.”
Steer pressure?
Posts: 212 | From: South Dakota | Registered: Aug 2005
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Lightning bugs also have "accents". The way they blink their lights varies from place to place. But I wonder if in insects this is purely genetic.
Posts: 4922 | From: Kyoto, Japan | Registered: Sep 2005
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Is it that crickets have different accents or they speak different languages? From what I understand, fireflies signal differently and will only mate with those that signal similarly.
I would think that bovines have very few things to communicate and language can differ from herd to herd. I'm not convinced it's truly an accent.
For example, look at a very basic sound humans make to convey something is good to eat. Anglophones say something like Yum Yum or Nyum Nyum. Francophones, for example, say miam miam. If you hear it, you know what they're saying. Is it an accent? And what do those that speak other languages say?
So, if from herd to herd and flock to flock, similar ideas are communicated with a different sound, is it accent or language?
I know, for instance, that I can tell the difference between a cow that needs to be milked, and one that is longing for love and one that is being forced where it doesn't want to go. I imagine I could tell that same difference in any other herd even though the sound might be different.
The one human sound that has intrigued me e'er since I read "Dragons of Eden" is shhhhhh. Regardless of language, it's unmistakably similar, among the languages I've heard, if you want someone to be quiet, particularly if you need them to be quiet out of something that is fearful.
I wonder how those that speak a click language, such as the bushmen, silence others?
Sorry, I'm rambling again.
-------------------- Explore, enjoy and protect the planet --- AAMAH Posts: 8532 | From: Michigan | Registered: Mar 2000
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I find it relatively easy to believe that a species within a certain region would develop a local 'accent' or similar phonetic idiosyncrasies in the sounds they use to communicate with each other. But I have a harder time buying the article's suggestion that the influence is picked up from humans, rather than simply from one another. Those are two different claims entirely.
-------------------- The technical term is narcissism. You can't believe everything is your fault unless you also believe you're all powerful.--House Posts: 2684 | From: Budapest | Registered: Sep 2005
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I've heard that whales have accents from my Audio teacher. Apparently when they released a rescued Orca into a different area it took him a while to pick up the different lingo, but then after a few weeks his songs matched theirs.
posted
Those Holsteins in the commercials -- you know, the one where one cow sets out to go to California during a blizzard -- speak with a pronounced Minnesota accent.
OT, but I once read an unintentionally hilarious academic paper analyzing onomatopoeia in different languages by comparing what cows, pigs, horses, and goats said in different languages. IIRC, an American dog says "bow-wow," whilst a German dog says "Vau!" and a French dog says "Bouf! Le bouf!"
Brad "toque-tique" from Georgia
-------------------- "No hard feelin's and HOPpy New Year!"--Walt Kelly Hear what you're missing: ARTC podcasts! http://artcpodcast.org/ Posts: 7581 | From: Gainesville, Georgia | Registered: Jun 2000
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I've heard of birds (crows, and possibly some others) having dialects before, actually.
-------------------- "Elly: Oops, I'm a damsel in distress now. Better scream girlishly and all… ahem. EEEK!"
Schwarz: Look, there's three ways to do things: the right way, the wrong way, and the Ninja way. Rey: Isn't that the wrong way? Schwarz: Yup, only stealthier. Posts: 546 | From: Pennsylvania | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Brad from Georgia: Those Holsteins in the commercials -- you know, the one where one cow sets out to go to California during a blizzard -- speak with a pronounced Minnesota accent.
and don't forget the Geico gecko, who went from an "ordinary" English accent to a Cockney. (I'm guessing.)
-------------------- "Well, it looks we're on our own ... again."--Rev. Lovejoy Posts: 3572 | From: St. Louis, MO | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Brad from Georgia: Those Holsteins in the commercials -- you know, the one where one cow sets out to go to California during a blizzard -- speak with a pronounced Minnesota accent.
I think that's suppose to be a Wisconsin accent, you know, California cheese's biggest competitor.
-------------------- Explore, enjoy and protect the planet --- AAMAH Posts: 8532 | From: Michigan | Registered: Mar 2000
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Although, if you account for all these animals having different dialects and you are unable to link it to genetic differences this would indicate that all these animals are able to pass on knowledge to their young...
That would be yet another supposedly 'human only' trait that gets flushed down the toliet.
Posts: 411 | From: California | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Ophiuchus: Although, if you account for all these animals having different dialects and you are unable to link it to genetic differences this would indicate that all these animals are able to pass on knowledge to their young...
That would be yet another supposedly 'human only' trait that gets flushed down the toliet.
I think you're confusing knowledge with learned behavior. No one has ever denied that many animals learn behaviors. That is not the same as knowledge: organized information codifying an awareness and understanding.
Posts: 4922 | From: Kyoto, Japan | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Brad from Georgia: OT, but I once read an unintentionally hilarious academic paper analyzing onomatopoeia in different languages by comparing what cows, pigs, horses, and goats said in different languages. IIRC, an American dog says "bow-wow," whilst a German dog says "Vau!" and a French dog says "Bouf! Le bouf!"
A Hungarian friend and I once spent a good 30 minutes doubled over laughing comparing the noises animals make in our native tongues. My favorites:
Interestingly enough, however, Hungarian cows say "MOOOOOOOOOOO!"
-------------------- The technical term is narcissism. You can't believe everything is your fault unless you also believe you're all powerful.--House Posts: 2684 | From: Budapest | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Ganzfeld: This is a fun hijack!
Japanese animals (With English-type phonetics) Pig: boo boo Horse: hee hee Frog: gerogero Cow: moh Dog: wahn wahn Cat: nyan nyan Sheep/goat: may may Rooster: kokekokoh
I wonder why pigs say oink oink, ruff ruff, and boo boo, but roosters all seem to all do a variation of k's and o's? Because to me, roosters seem like they say "Ur-ur-Ur-ur-UUUUUR!"
-------------------- The technical term is narcissism. You can't believe everything is your fault unless you also believe you're all powerful.--House Posts: 2684 | From: Budapest | Registered: Sep 2005
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The rooster one baffles me. That's all I hear too. But then, some of us are more gifted at understanding our animal friends!
Posts: 4922 | From: Kyoto, Japan | Registered: Sep 2005
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-------------------- "No hard feelin's and HOPpy New Year!"--Walt Kelly Hear what you're missing: ARTC podcasts! http://artcpodcast.org/ Posts: 7581 | From: Gainesville, Georgia | Registered: Jun 2000
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There's a database of the world's animal sounds here.
Not too sure how accurate it is, but it's a pretty amusing read.
-------------------- "Are we talking misdemeanor trouble or squeal like a pig trouble?" Posts: 618 | From: Ann Arbor, Michigan | Registered: May 2006
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Oceanic, that was amusing, and the Hungarian section is pretty accurate, perhaps with the exception of cow. My friends say moo, not bú.
Ganz, the rooster section proves the trend. Not one language seems to agree with us.
-------------------- The technical term is narcissism. You can't believe everything is your fault unless you also believe you're all powerful.--House Posts: 2684 | From: Budapest | Registered: Sep 2005
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I wonder why pigs say oink oink, ruff ruff, and boo boo, but roosters all seem to all do a variation of k's and o's? Because to me, roosters seem like they say "Ur-ur-Ur-ur-UUUUUR!"![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
