04-06-2011, 04:07 PM
Gotta agree with Kiri here.
I think maybe it has to do with the sounds an animal can emit.
Cats, birds, and animals that have a wide range of vocalizations would be able to learn High Speech easier than say, a goat or mouse, which are two examples of animals with a low range of sounds they can make. It all depends on the vocal cords' ability to produce and mimic noises of other animals.
Think of how a baby learns to speak;
They hear a sound and they mimic it. This continues with various other sounds and eventually they grasp a concept of what a particular sound means. High pitched noises are related to excitement, just like low-pitched but loud noises are related generally to anger. That's the first thing they learn. Next is the sounds a certain word makes.
Let's pretend a growl in a certain punctuation means something like 'back off'. Sort of 'grrRh.'
In low speech, this sound would mean nothing to say a bird or deer, unless facial expressions and body language are present and viewable. A new born calf wouldn't understand that a growl would mean something bad, simply because they've never heard it before. Match it with the expression in say, eyes or face, and they'll understand it perfectly, because the same movements in the muscles are present if their own parent is upset. In animals, it's also related to ear movement.
Eventually, that calf might be able to mimic the sound in its own way, and understand what it means through trial and error. This leads to that low-speech speaking calf to learn at least a 'word' of high-speech. It won't be perfect, but it gets the point across.
Much like someone who doesn't understand or speak english would use various terms they've learned and their own knowledge of vocal patterns to make 'back off' into something aggressive or unhappy.
It's all in the vocalizations an animal can make.
Did that make any sense? :/ I was rambling.
I think maybe it has to do with the sounds an animal can emit.
Cats, birds, and animals that have a wide range of vocalizations would be able to learn High Speech easier than say, a goat or mouse, which are two examples of animals with a low range of sounds they can make. It all depends on the vocal cords' ability to produce and mimic noises of other animals.
Think of how a baby learns to speak;
They hear a sound and they mimic it. This continues with various other sounds and eventually they grasp a concept of what a particular sound means. High pitched noises are related to excitement, just like low-pitched but loud noises are related generally to anger. That's the first thing they learn. Next is the sounds a certain word makes.
Let's pretend a growl in a certain punctuation means something like 'back off'. Sort of 'grrRh.'
In low speech, this sound would mean nothing to say a bird or deer, unless facial expressions and body language are present and viewable. A new born calf wouldn't understand that a growl would mean something bad, simply because they've never heard it before. Match it with the expression in say, eyes or face, and they'll understand it perfectly, because the same movements in the muscles are present if their own parent is upset. In animals, it's also related to ear movement.
Eventually, that calf might be able to mimic the sound in its own way, and understand what it means through trial and error. This leads to that low-speech speaking calf to learn at least a 'word' of high-speech. It won't be perfect, but it gets the point across.
Much like someone who doesn't understand or speak english would use various terms they've learned and their own knowledge of vocal patterns to make 'back off' into something aggressive or unhappy.
It's all in the vocalizations an animal can make.
Did that make any sense? :/ I was rambling.