the.com/meow
a sound cats invented almost exclusively to manipulate humans, never each other
means the characteristic vocal sound a cat makes, or an imitation of it.
from An imitative word — what linguists call onomatopoeia — formed to echo the sound itself, like 'moo' or 'baa.' English earlier had 'mew' (recorded since at least the 16th century), with 'meow' a later variant; nearly every language reaches for a similar shape, from French 'miaou' to Japanese 'nyaa,' each ear hearing the same small noise slightly differently.
- adult cats
- rarely meow at other cats, only at people
- manipulation
- some meows mimic a human baby's cry frequency
- dialects
- cats tailor meows to their specific owner
- kitten origin
- started as a call to mother cats
- silent meow
- the open-mouth no-sound version melts humans hardest
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