Cats and the English language

[Kirsten]

Now this might sound a bit strange, but I found out that my cats react more positive to the sound of the English language than to German.

I'm often speaking English with them, because for example after posting on internet message boards or long telephone calls with English-speaking friends, it's sometimes hard to switch back into "German mode". LOL

And I've found out the babies love it! :) They especially love words such as "kitty", "baby" or "treat", all this sweet talking-stuff. :)

Actually I think the sound of the German language is often too hard for kitty ears. :)

Kirsten

[jenluckenbach]

That's pretty incredible!!!! I guess the word TREAT does cross the language barrier........hee hee

[catnapper]

Well I guess those girls are just practicing their bi-lingual skills!

[Kirsten]

Well, since both of them have American boyfriends now, they probably have some deep interest in learning their language! ;)

Kirsten

[Pam]

Originally posted by Kirsten
They especially love words such as "kitty", "baby" or "treat",
Kirsten

How do you say these words in German?

[bisi.cat]

Originally posted by Pam
How do you say these words in German?

Maybe I might jump in here with a translation?!
It's "Mieze" for "Kitty"
and "Leckerchen" for "treat"...but "baby" is the same, though we would pronounce it a wee different usually...

Nellie likes both languages German and English, but I think there are more lovely nicknames and words for pets in the English Language...like "Sweet Patootie" or "Wittle Face" or something like that and I love to give Nellie "Smoochies" instead of "Küsschen"...

Kirsten, do you think we are a little strange?! Hahaha...;) :D

[catmandu]

One of the funnier stories in Whats Michael , is where Japanese Cat Sitters cant get an American Cat to use the Litter Box , because he doesnt speak Japanese , and they quite cant get him to understandjust where they want him to go. If you are not familiar with Whats Michael , it is an excellent Japanese comic strip , about an Orange Tabby , Michael , and is excellent.

[sirrahbed]

This is slightly related but made me think of something so funny! We lived in Germany for three years - Missy was actually born there - and I can remember one of my older boys wanting to know how cats and dogs spoke German!! :D :D Guess they figured it would come out sounding differently??:D Like, how does a German kitty say "Meow"??

[Barbara]

Filou and Tigris don't hear much English but of course they love sweet talk:D
But some things like "Sweetieboy" and "Temptations" they understand very well:D

BTW for the German speaking: In this household, treats are "Katzenbonbons" and a cat can easily be called "Zaubermaus":D So you see we are crazy in any language.

[RedHedd]

A long time ago I read somewhere or heard somewhere that cats like "EEE" sounds and that they were more apt to respond to names or words with EEE sounds in them or higher-pitched sounds. I don't know where I heard/read this but it does seem to prove true.

[Randy_K]

Interesting thought. German does have a little sharpness to it than English or French doesn’t have. Our cats respond well to softly talking to them when they are snuggling. They seem to purr louder when they are being talked to.

[Pam]

Originally posted by bisi.cat

Nellie likes both languages German and English,


I think Trevor and Nellie broke the language barrier on the kitty cruise. Head bumpies and mutual grooming need no words, just maybe a full moon to set the stage! ;)

(By the way, thanks for the translation!)

[Kirsten]

Kirsten, do you think we are a little strange?! Hahaha...

Ha ha ha!!! :D We probably are! I remember when I had my mother and her fiancé here for breakfast, Lily jumped onto the table and I told her "Get down!" LOL You should have seen their faces, because they don't speak English and they probably thought I've lost my mind now. But I swear it's a fact that Lily is much more reacting to a "get down" than to the German equivalent, "runter da." That sounds too rude, I guess. :)

sirrahbed, the German version of "meow" is "miau", pronounciation is more or less the same. That's so funny your boy has asked you that, but I heard that for example birds of the same breed are "speaking" different dialects when living in different areas, so why not cats? :)
Where in Germany did you live btw? Just curious. :)


RedHedd, you're right, I heard the same about the eee-sound. This is one of the reasons why pets love baby talk, and why there should be an eee-sound in their name. The English language has a lot of these sounds also.

And like Randy_K has said, there is some sharpness in the German language, also, many words are longer.

"Treat" for example can also be translated as "Leckerli" or "Belohnung", and "kitty" as "Kätzchen".

Kirsten

[CatDad]

I hadn't thought about cats prefering one over the other but I guess it does make sense.

I have probably never thought about it because I am so language deprived that I think I am lucky that I can speak English.:eek:

Kristen, have you tried to speak to a cat in english that has not every heard it before? I wonder if the reaction would be differnet then your two that have grown up with both. Just a thought.:)

Interesting topic though, thanks.

[Kirsten]

Originally posted by CatDad


Kristen, have you tried to speak to a cat in english that has not every heard it before? I wonder if the reaction would be differnet then your two that have grown up with both. Just a thought.:)


Not yet, but next week I will care for my parents' cat and dog, I'll try to find out, but they love me anyway! :D

Kirsten

[NoahsMommy]

That is interesting...I never thought about that.

I've been trying to teach Micah to be bilingual. I turned to him one night before bed and said "Vous les vu cache avec moi c'est soir?" (Did I spell that right? I only took three years of french in high school and that was seven years ago!)

So, now, he knows when I say that, to run to the bedroom! :) hee hee

[Edwina's Secretary]

respond to names or words with EEE sounds in them

At least I did something right with the names!

[halliecat]

Not sure about what language cats like best! The only thing I do know is all my cats respond to the "food" language best (Can openers, refrigerator doors opening, someone in the kitchen);)

[Kirsten]

Originally posted by NoahsMommy
That is interesting...I never thought about that.

I've been trying to teach Micah to be bilingual. I turned to him one night before bed and said "Vous les vu cache avec moi c'est soir?" (Did I spell that right? I only took three years of french in high school and that was seven years ago!)

So, now, he knows when I say that, to run to the bedroom! :) hee hee

I think it's "voulez vous coucher avec moi", but I could be wrong, it's ages ago that I had French!
However, did it work? :)

Speaking about food: my cats favorite word ever is a German one, "essen" - means "eating" or just "food". :)

Kirsten

[Randy_K]

"Voulez vous coucher avec moi" translates into English (literally) as "Please lie down with me".

[Randy_K]

Mango likes to visit a neighbor down the hall. All I have to do is ask him, "Do you want to go to Sherry's?" and he runs to the door and, when let into the hall, runs to her door. He also knows "bug" and "birdie" and, since he and Peaches ("ee" sound there!) both really love shrimp, he knows "shrimp" too. Because he such a little glutton, he knows and responds to his alternate name "Porcellino" which is Italian for "little pig". No matter what, he always comes running if we call "Mango!"

[Felicia's Mom]

Interesting thread. I hadn't thought about it before.

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by Kirsten
sirrahbed, Where in Germany did you live btw? Just curious. :)



Hi Kirsten - we lived in Zweibruecken - Missy was born at Landstuhl :)

[bisi.cat]

Kirsten,
have you ever tried to talk elvish to them?!
Nellie loves when I read the elvish passages from LotR aloud to her...she's fond of poems anyway, but I think it's the soft pronounciation which is so appealing to cats...

Our neighbor's dog loves it when i tell her "Goooooooood girrrrrl"...but on the other hand I often call Nellie "Feines Määäädchen", which she likes just the same...;)

This is really an interesting thread and our cats seem to be all little Shakespeares with their fondness for wonderful words...lol...

[Barbara]

Debbie: Zweibruecken - do you know that I'm originally from Saarbruecken? But I moved away in 1979.

I think the cats respond to the sound more than to the words. Filou definitely loves it if you whisper sweet words in his ear:D

[Kirsten]

Ah, thanks for letting me know, Debbie. Never been there before, it's a few hundred kilometers away from me. Did you have a good time there?

bisi.cat, that's an interesting thought, never watched the cats during the "elvish moments" so far. Unfortunately, my Elvish isn't very good, I'm still learning! ;)

Kirsten

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by Barbara
Debbie: Zweibruecken - do you know that I'm originally from Saarbruecken? But I moved away in 1979.


You are in a much prettier area now I am sure. We would take the train into the "big city" of Saarbruecken to go shopping, etc, or drive in on Sundays just to walk around. Our favorite weekend getaway was to Erding - north of Munich, where we would stay at a military billet and take the train into Munich for the day. My husband went there pretty often on business and I would come along with the kids and stay there. Erding itself was also such a charming little town. We would walk around and enjoy it, kids would play in the park, - there was a little place we visited - above the road in an old building, where they would serve different wines in little cups. I sometimes wonder if these places are still there! We had great times there! This was back in 81-84.

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by Kirsten
Ah, thanks for letting me know, Debbie. Never been there before, it's a few hundred kilometers away from me. Did you have a good time there?

Kirsten

Nothing much to miss at Zwei itself- the Rosengarten and Fasanerie was pretty - but the location allowed us to travel to France, Netherlands, etc. I totally loved being in Germany though. We got out on weekends and went into the smaller villages and just took it all in. My middle son was bilingual and I regret that we did not keep him that way. Since Missy was born there, the last years, I was pretty much stuck close to home and so we had a cleaning lady come in. She did not clean though! She took care of Missy so I could get out, cooked for me and she taught me how to bake!! Then, I would drive her home to save her busfare and she would fix us wonderful lunches:-) and have our family over for dinners and streetfairs. During my pregancy, since Missy was born in August, I was always telling everyone how "heiss" I was - she quickly corrected me on THAT one!! "ich bin warm "...nicht HEISS!!:D

[Barbara]

Debbie I am following your traces because now I am 6 km away from Erding:D

It's really much prettier here but as the heavy industry in Sarrland has died in the last 20 years it's much cleaner and greener there too. In Zweibruecken there is now a factory outlet that is evry American- I love it and every timne we go to see my parents we go there to shope some cheap Adidas stuff;)

The place you describe in Erding with the wine is nothing I know now but there are other nice places around here -little ponds where you can go swimming and gorgeous beergardens with big chestnut trees :)

[catcrazylady]

Hey Sirrahbed we were in Germany at the same time! I was there from 1983 to 1987! Our time crossed over briefly anyway. I was in Hanau which wasn't too terribly far from Frankfort. I loved my time in Germany!! We traveled to so many places and had such wonderful experiences. I would'nt trade those three years for anything!!

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by catcrazylady
Hey Sirrahbed we were in Germany at the same time! I was there from 1983 to 1987!
OOps, I think we were there 83-86 now that i think of it - Missy was born in 84.... weren't ya Missy? Maybe *I* should be CCL:D Emphasis on the middle "C":eek: I miss the good beer and the brand of coffee we would get in the gold brick....YUM ..Jakob's Kroenung maybe???...and the italian eis ...and the schnecken rolls.....and the broetchen.....and the fresh meats marinated in the red herbs...and the rolladen....chocolate eggs with a toy in the middle.....and stollen with marzipan in the middle and....and...and...all FOOD ;)

[Kirsten]

So you like our food, sirrahbed? ;) Yeah, Jacob's Kroenung is still available here! :D
Have to admit I ate too much of these Kinder Ueberraschungseier lately (chocolate eggs with a surprise in the middle) , because some had little Lord of the Ring-figures inside and I wanted them all - but I'm never really lucky in things like that, so I only got Bilbo and Éomer - but I wanted Aragorn and Gollum so badly! LOL :D



Funny, I was still very young when you and catcrazylady have been in Germany! :D

Just in case anyone is interested in what it's looking like where I'm living:

city of Hann. Muenden (http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/mypics/420568/display/1019382)

Landscape near Hann. Muenden in the fall (http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/mypics/420568/display/973878)

Big Christmas Candle of Hann. Muenden (http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/mypics/420568/display/910486)

St. Blasius church in Hann. Muenden (http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/mypics/420568/display/894235)

Hann. Muenden is more or less in the middle of Germany, about 150 km north from Frankfurt.

Kirsten

[catcrazylady]

I miss the (can't remember the proper term in German anymore) Christmas Kris Kringle market. I remember we used to go into town and there would people doing the most beautiful chalk art on the cobblestones. There would be booths set up selling fun and beautiful things. They would have a carriage go by with Kris Kringle riding in it and all the kids would be chasing it and having a good old time. It would be so cold but you could buy Gluewein (PLEASE forgive my spelling!!). It tasted like NyQuil but one shot of that you were warm for the rest of the night!!
I miss the food too!! It was wonderful! I can't remember exactly where we were when we went to this small restaurant and I had the most wonderful potatoe dumplings!! They spoke hardly any english so I didn't get much further than that. I didn't learn the name of it and I was never able to find it again. I have never forgotten them!!
The only thing I can say that I don't miss is the crazy Autoban!! We had a little Volkswagon Bug and I thought we would get run over everytime we got on that thing!!!
Germany is a BEAUTIFUL country and I enjoyed all my time there.

[Kirsten]

Ah, you mean the Christkindl-markets? :) Yes, some cities have really nice ones! :) And Glühwein, yes! :D Personally I don't like it, but I don't like alcohol anyway, especially not when it's hot, but many people here love Glühwein.

Try to describe that potatoe-meal to me, maybe I can find out what it was. :)

I agree, the Autobahn can be crazy sometimes. Had to drive there to get to work for a couple of years, and almost every day there was some scary incident! :eek:

Kirsten

[catcrazylady]

Kirsten it is beautiful where you live!!! Your pictures show just how beautiful the towns or villages are. You would drive along the beautiful countryside and there would be scenes like those in your photos, and then just more beautiful countryside until the next town.

I will try to describe the potatoe dumplings. I remember each dumpling was small. They were kind of rounded and obviously rolled in the palm of the hand. I think they were deep fried and seved with melted butter. They were so good!!!

Oh and Kirsten thank you so much for correcting my horrible German spelling!! Please forgive my abuse of your language and spelling!!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/biggrin.gif

[Kirsten]

Oh yes, it's a very beautiful landscape here, pretty rural actually. And the town where I'm living is very old, more than 800 years! :) It's fun to imagine how life here must have been during the Middle Ages! :)

Kirsten

[Randy_K]

Kristen, in the 1200s life was pretty difficult (and short!) for everyone but the rich and even they didn’t live that long. There was a huge gap between the landowners and the peasants who worked the land – definitely no middle or lower classes. What are simple illnesses these days meant certain death back then. Armies attacked castles with stone-throwing trebuchets (the standard siege machine for 800 years until 1350-ish) and arrows. Being a soldier meant having regular meals every day – not guaranteed to the peasants - but a relatively short life. Even so, it was a really good deal. In a few more years the Bubonic Plague swept Europe killing a third of the population (about 25 million). I’m happy where I am…

[bisi.cat]

Sure live was tough in the Middle Ages, but it's fun to visit all the castles over here in Germany...there are several at our place and we love to visit them again and again, there's so much love put in the details, you can see complete sceneries and paintings and armors and everything and it just feels grand to stand on a castle and watch over the widespread open country, you just know you're standing were many people all through the ages have stood before...
There's even a famous open air museum quite close to us, it's very interesting to see the houses of people from the Middle Ages...it's not a time I would have loved to live, but I think a safe look back in time is wonderful and educational...

Catcrazy lady, I love dumplings, too, but I've never heard of such tiny ones in our area...were they stuffed or were they served as a starter?!
Did you have gravy with them or just butter sauce?!

It's fun to know how many of you have lived here, but I guess most of you have travelled the South, maybe you should come again and visit the Sauerland?! Plenty of forests, hills and lakes and castles of course...
:D :D :D

[Kirsten]

Yes, I know life was hard (and short) in the Middle Ages, but I love to read about it. Books like "The pillars of the Earth" are my all-time-favorites, it's really fascinating.

And I love to visit these medival markets! :)

bisi.cat, have you have been at Hanstein Castle near Witzenhausen? It's so great there, one of my favorite places! :)

Kirsten

[bisi.cat]

No I haven't been there, but thanks for telling me...I always look forward to seeing new castles...
There are two castles very close to my hometown, one is Burg Altena, wonderfully situated on top of a hill and you can overlook the whole city of Altena...the way up to the castle is so small and you can only walk up the hill...the other castle is Hohenlimburg, which isn't very popular in our area...everytime I'll go there, there are usually only few visitors and that's fun, because you can watch the whole exhibition on your own...

[Killearn Kitties]

Kirsten, these photographs are beautiful. It certainly looks a lovely place. I love the advent candle. Does it get smaller every day until Christmas Day?

I was trying to find Menden on a map to find out where it was. I didn't find it, but I did discover that there was a cat show there last month! Were you there?

[sqwelch]

Kirsten

Your photos are brilliant, I've never lived in Germany but my Uncle lives in Nuremburg and I've visited it twice now. I was most impressed by the old buildings Nuremburg has, they are so beautiful. And of course you Germans are much like myself and do appreciate fine food and of course beers (there are sooooo many!!)

June

[Barbara]

June, people here say that the Bavarians are the Scots of Germany! And we are only one and a half hour of Nuremberg, so if you ever are in the area, let's have a beer together:D

[catnapper]

Ok, all of you living/lived in Germany... I am getting jealous! I have German in me (about 40% Irish and 40%German.. throw in some Scott and American Indian!) I want to come and see those beautiful house with all the red clay (I'm assuming) roofs! I want to try all of the glorious food! I'll take your word on the beer - I am allergic to alcohol! I want to stand on stone floors that are hndreds of years old! It all sounds so romantic and bautiful!

[bisi.cat]

I think my hometown needs some touristic support (lol)...here are a few pictures on the web, you can enlarge them by clicking on the thumbnails:
http://wolfgang-kissmer.bei.t-online.de/pe2web.htm

It's a variety of ancient buildings and homes...my aunt is living in one of the tiny timbered houses (picture No.26)...it's wonderful there...

Catnapper whenever you'll come over, please plan to visit here, I would be delighted to show you our city and our lovely restaurants and pubs...;) :D

[Barbara]

Bisi, Menden is much nicer than I expected.;) I spent my 10 years in Guetersloh (guess with what company) and I imagined it a little like that.
But, there I have been living in a timbered "kotten".

Catnapper, unfortunately Menden is more than 400 km (250 miles) from here but Munich has an airport ;)

[Killearn Kitties]

More lovely pictures! I love the house your aunt is living in Sabine. It looks lovely.

I've only been in Germany twice. I spent a summer in Esslingen am Neckar staying with German friends, many years ago. Also our German department at school used to do an exchange visit with a school in Kassel. Their students came to Scotland first and then we went there a few months later. I haven't been to Kassel since, although I seem to have heard the name a lot in the news lately!

Neither of these places seem very close to any of you living there.

[Sirrahsim]

I just love this thread:) I wish that I remembered living there, but I was just a baby at that time:( I hope to go visit there some day. I know that I can catch a plane from here with relative ease to go visit Germany. My hunny's father lives at Ramstein (sp?) SO who knows, maybe we'll get a chance to go out there sometime before we leave Japan. I've heard about how beautiful Germany is and I SOOO can't wait till I get my chance to go and see it as an adult. My husband and I were considering trying to get stationed there next, but at that point we'll probably be wanting to start our family so I would want to be a little closer to home and my Mommy! This thread is so fun, I hope it continues:):)

[Barbara]

Kassel is quite near to where Kirsten lives:D

[Killearn Kitties]

Yes, I've just discovered that! Kirsten PM'd me. I'm still trying to reply to her - desperately trying to remember all those names of places we were taken. I was still at school and that wasn't yesterday! In fact, I seem to remember that Germany was hosting the World Cup at the time, which kind of dates the trip!! :D

[sqwelch]

Originally posted by Barbara
June, people here say that the Bavarians are the Scots of Germany! And we are only one and a half hour of Nuremberg, so if you ever are in the area, let's have a beer together:D

That would be lovely Barbara, hopefully one day I'll take you up on that !!!

[Kirsten]

So funny, so many of you have connections to Germany in some way! :)I'll go and try to find some more photos again, I once had a website with pictures of my hometown...

However, here are two pics I've taken at Hanstein Caste, black and white ones, but the castle is really cool, about 1,000 years old. And there is a great medival restaurant nearby:

http://home.t-online.de/home/0554132997-0005/photo42.jpg http://home.t-online.de/home/0554132997-0005/photo43.jpg

bisi.cat, the houses of your hometown look beautiful, we also have these timbered houses in our town center, really old buildings. I grew up in one btw. :)

Isn't it strange that so many who are visiting Germany go to Bavaria? That's why I was so surprised when I read that Killearn Kitties have been to Kassel once. :) Well, I think I remember when the World Cup was in Germany, that's been the year when my sister was born. :)

Kirsten

[Randy_K]

My mother was born in Oldenberg which used to be on the border near East Germany. Her family emigrated to the USA when she was only one year old so she has only the memories of the old country from her older brothers and sisters. She is now 80 and now wants to visit Germany. She even has gotten a passport so I know she's serious! It has been said that about 40% of the population of the USA has some bloodline connection to Germany.

[Edwina's Secretary]

At the end of the Revolutionary War there was discussion about whether English or German would become the official language of the new United States of America.(Hebrew was discussed as well.) In the end of course, no official language was designated!

[Randy_K]

Quite so on the language issue. There was quite a mix of languages to deal with. German (Hessian) soldiers fought for the British during the Revolutionary War under a contract created by a treaty between Germany and England. England brought over 29,000 Hessians to the colonies and about 12,000 decided to stay as the war's end. On the other side, France provided 26,000 soldiers and sailors to the Revolutionary forces some of whom decided to stay as well. If you include all the other immigrants, like the Dutch speaking Amish for example, it became quite a difficult task to decide on one or more "official" languages.

[Barbara]

It's a very interesting question to think about how world history would have developed of a decision had been taken: e.g. Hebrew which is very difficult to learn for people from other language groups like the English, French or German:confused:

[Kirsten]

Originally posted by Edwina's Secretary
At the end of the Revolutionary War there was discussion about whether English or German would become the official language of the new United States of America.(Hebrew was discussed as well.) In the end of course, no official language was designated!

Oh, I didn't know that, it's interesting!

Randi_K, I think it's great that your mother has these plans. She probably wants to learn something about her roots. :)

Kirsten

[catnapper]

Originally posted by Edwina's Secretary
At the end of the Revolutionary War there was discussion about whether English or German would become the official language of the new United States of America.(Hebrew was discussed as well.) In the end of course, no official language was designated!
Why doesn't the US have a designated language? It starting to cause a lot of problems. Not to start a debate, but here in Reading, there are as many people speaking Spanish as there are English. A lot of the english speaking people resent the spanish and actually tell people "You are in America! Speak English!" It a big issue here. My neighbor was the one who successfully got Spanish on the voting ballots last election (that one hit the national news) People are passionate about both sides and I can see points of view on both sides (yep, I'm wishy-washy here):D