Posted on 08/24/2006 4:58:08 PM PDT by blam
Cows also 'have regional accents'
Cows moo with a regional twang
Cow moo recordings(Click on site to hear)
Cows have regional accents like humans, language specialists have suggested. They decided to examine the issue after dairy farmers noticed their cows had slightly different moos, depending on which herd they came from.
John Wells, Professor of Phonetics at the University of London, said regional twangs had been seen before in birds.
The farmers in Somerset who noticed the phenomenon said it may have been the result of the close bond between them and their animals.
Farmer Lloyd Green, from Glastonbury, said: "I spend a lot of time with my ones and they definitely moo with a Somerset drawl.
"I've spoken to the other farmers in the West Country group and they have noticed a similar development in their own herds.
"It works the same as with dogs - the closer a farmer's bond is with his animals, the easier it is for them to pick up his accent."
Peer pressure
Prof Wells felt the accents could result from their contemporaries.
He said: "This phenomenon is well attested in birds. You find distinct chirping accents in the same species around the country.
"This could also be true of cows.
"In small populations such as herds you would encounter identifiable dialectical variations which are most affected by the immediate peer group."
Dr Jeanine Treffers-Daller, reader in linguistics at the University of the West of England in Bristol, agreed that the accent could be influenced by relatives.
She said: "When we are learning to speak, we adopt a local variety of language spoken by our parents, so the same could be said about the variation in the West Country cow moo."
So does a Jersey Cow moo with a Joisey accent?
Never thought about cows.
I need more time with my funding/ oh no cows as well...
Some cows are more interested in what goes on than others. Some are downright inquisitive. Some are easily bored and would rather chew their cud. A good cow is a smooth, if wide and leasurely ride.
In Oklahoma they add the phantom R Mooooor, kind of like we add the phantom r to wash.
We will fight for bovine freedom and hold our large heads high.
We will run free with the buffalo or die.
Somebody please tell me we didn't pay for this study.
It could be that Farmer Green has just been spending way too much time with the cows.
"Some cows are more interested in what goes on than others. Some are downright inquisitive. Some are easily bored and would rather chew their cud. A good cow is a smooth, if wide and leisurely ride."
Are you really talking about cows, or are you musing about something else entirely.
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/cowswithguns.php I have that bookmarked. Love it.
German dog rolls its r's, rrrrrrrrrroof rrrrrrrrrroof
http://www.cowabduction.com
Cow tse tung!
That'd be Meeeeeeeeeewwwwwww.
Californians don't HAVE an accent: WE moo like the reporters on tv.
"^!
was this funded by their government?
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