Re: CHAT: Using cats for practice

Oh dear, this was meant to be a daft posting (with a practical point to
make). Looks like I'd better explain myself...

On the subject of conversation with cats, I wrote:

> * It is essentially one-sided,
Diana responded:

> don't be too sure of that.  i defer to sally's expert opinion.
Okay... I've been offlist for most of this year, so there may have been
discussions that didn't reach me, but I assume this is Sally Caves. IIRC,
we had an interesting onlist chat about the subject of feline vocalization
(and their other methods of communication) some while ago, and we agree on
much. I've tried before to work out my cats' vocabularies. The "essentially
one-sided" comment, now I think about it, reflects my own limited
understanding of what they're trying to tell me. I'm *positive* that
there's loads of detail in what they say that goes way over my head. :) The
conversation's one-sided because of *me* (although, dare I say it, the cat
probably misses most of the detail in what I say to her).

> please don't confuse "ambiguous" for "subtle"  or "highly metaphorical,
in a
> slippery sort of way"
Quite correct, Diana... although, of course, being the dim non-feline I am,
I misinterpret that which is, in fact, subtle as being unclear. Shame
really. If only I could understand properly...


Carlos added:

> I would disagree at some extent... most cats I've meet including my own
> little son, are either asking for food, marking me as territory, looking
at
> my fingers for a surprising attact or asleep.  Not very receptive to make
a
> one-sided dialog.  (I guess my girlfriend is having the same problem
speaking
> to me... )
Point taken, but it depends on the cat. It seems as if the more you speak
to your cat, the more s/he will communicate in return, and the relationship
grows. One of my cats (by which I mean, of course, one of the cats which
has chosen to tolerate my company) is either asleep on shelves or off out,
so we don't talk much; the other, however, prefers to hang around, sitting
on my lap or keyboard or snuggling up to another member of the family, and
she talks all the time, looking directly at you and positively encouraging
communication.

Sorry, I've rambled on there a bit (hence the topic tag). I still think
it's useful to talk to the cat, when practising a conlang.

James

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ James Campbell            + Zeugma: http://www.zeugma.force9.co.uk    +
+ james@zeugma.force9.co.uk + Jameld: http://www.zeugma.force9.co.uk/zm +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++