What is talking?
Talking is using words in order to express a meaning.
What is a word?
A word is a sound, or combination of sounds assigned to a particular thing.

Having set that out I will state that in my opinion, animals can and do talk. Just because they do not talk in such a complicated way as we do does not mean they

are not talking.

Take birds, for example. Birds sing. Some birds have songs that are beautifully melodic and musical. Take the British robin for example. He isn’t just singing because at last winter is over and it’s a nice sunny day, so he feels happy. No, he’s saying to all other male blackbirds ‘I’m here and this is my patch, so stay away.’
At the same time, he’s advertising to all female robins that he is a good catch.

Songbirds emit up to 20 different sounds that tell of fear, hunger or alarm an

d warnings to fledgelings. (The Free Dictionary.com)

OK, so perhaps that is communicating and not talking. After all, we communicate an awful lot without saying a word, so let’s look a little deeper.

Anyone who had a cat or a dog can usually catch on pretty quickly what their various sounds mean. One meow for ‘I’m hungry’, and a different one for ‘Let me out, I need a pee.’ If your cat always makes the same sound for the same thing, is that not what a word is?

I have no idea what all the sounds made by Herring gulls mean, but they have such a wide variety that I would like to find out if they use them for particular things. I do know that young herring gulls make a little squeaking noise to beg for food from their parents. Is this a ‘word’ meaning ‘food’ or ‘I’m hungry’? It’s not used at any other time as far as I am aware.

What made me think of this was something I was reading in a book called ‘Proust and the Squid’ about how we learn to read. It told of monkeys that when danger was spotted, used a particular call for a leopard and a different one for an eagle, the two main predators. They had also combined the two to mean ‘get out of here fast.’
If the sounds are made exclusively for those things, and as I read it, they are, then are they not ‘words’?

An article in ‘Dr Goodword’s Office’ on ‘Can Chimpanzees Speak’ (Alphadictionary.com) decides they cannot. It states that chimpanzees that learned to sign cannot form complex sentences. they would say ‘Give John Banana’ or, ‘Car hit man.’ The writer states that these are not truly speech because there are no morphemes (-ing, -ed, at, I, she etc). I hesitate to disagree with the writer, but I am going to anyway. The chimpanzee is communicating its desires or information using, in this case, signs and not sounds, but I would say it’s talking.
Just because an animal can’t make the same sounds that we do, does that mean it can’t talk? That would be like saying the French can’t talk because they don’t use the same sounds that we do for specific things. (‘chien’ for ‘dog’, ‘livre’ for ‘book’.)

OK, I’ll admit that animals can’t hold conversations in the way we understand them, nor express complex ideas, but they do talk to each other using ‘words’ and we are being rather superior in thinking they can’t talk. Dr Goodword’s Office seems to have the definition of speech as a rather complex achievement, involving sentence structure and all parts of speech.

Your cat ‘tells’ you what she wants by her meow. The pygmy sloth ‘tells’ all around he’s feeling randy by a particular call. (I heard that one on the Radio 4 the other day.) The young herring gull ‘tells’ its parent it wants food by squeaking. If these sounds are used specifically for that particular thing, then it fits the definition I made above of what a word is.

I think it all depends on your definition of talking, and there may be a difference in speech and talk. Perhaps animals can talk, but what they say is not speech.

My conclusion? Animals can talk (but your cat will never make a speech).

Photo post by @KawaneeHamilton.

Source: 8 laws of Foreshadowing (shared from Writer’s circle)

A Happy New Year to all who follow my blog and all who are just visiting.

Hi everyone.

This month has 5 Tuesdays in it and so we have an extra blog. I have decided to do an interview with Mabryl, Carthinal’s mentor in The Wolf Pack for this extra Tuesday. Those of you who are reading my installments will know who he is.

Mabryl Interview

I encountered Mabryl one day as I was walking through Bluehaven. I had heard of his adoption of the promising young mage, Carthinal and I decided to ask him a few questions for the local newssheet, The Bluehaven Herald. Here is the result of my interview.

Me: How did you come to meet with Carthinal?

Mabryl: He was part of a feral gang of children when I met him. In fact, I think he was their leader. I spotted him first watching a young mage in the market place. He was obviously looking for someone’s pocket to pick in the crowd watching the mage when he suddenly stopped and seemed quite taken by the display.

Me: I didn’t know mages gave public displays of magic.

Mabryl: It’s not usual, but sometimes if an apprentice fails the test, they will become entertainers using what little they know. It impresses the public and does no harm.

Me: Why did you take an interest in Carthinal?

Mabryl: I didn’t at the time. It was only later that I saw his potential. As I rounded a corner I spotted him in an alley. He didn’t see me, and I noticed that he was trying to copy the movements and sounds of the simple spells the mage had done. I stood watching him for a bit, not expecting anything to happen, when suddenly a flame rose from his finger. It was only fleeting, but it told me that the boy was exceptional. Very few can master anything without considerable training, and yet here was a boy who had only watched a performance yet had managed to twist the mana to make a very small, short lived flame.

Me: What did you do?

Mabryl: I approached the boy carefully; he was one of the criminal classes after all. I spoke quietly and told him I would like to train him in magic as he obviously had some talent. He backed away, believing that I was trying to capture him for the guard, swore most foully, and told me to go and leave him alone. Of course, I couldn’t leave such a talent, but to try to force him would be counterproductive and so I left him there and went on my way.

Me: When did you meet him again?

Mabryl: I sought him out after that. He was still very suspicious. Eventually I decided to let his curiosity work for me. He still tried to get the little cantrip right, but couldn’t get more than the fleeting flame I’d already seen. I told him I’d train him if he came to my house.

After a few weeks, he came and stood outside. I bided my time and didn’t approach him, but opened the door for him to enter if he wished. It was like trying to capture a shy and wild animal. However, eventually he came in and asked me to teach him.

Me: Was he a difficult pupil?
Mabryl: Difficult isn’t in it. He was wild and found the discipline necessary for the practice of magic almost beyond him. He wanted to learn everything at once too. First of all, before any magic could be learned, he had to learn to control himself. We both found that a difficult task.

Me: How long did it take to tame him?

Mabryl: I’m not sure I have, even now. He still has his temper. He’s also still too fond of the girls. He’s so attractive that they find it hard to resist him. I’ve tried to instil some sense of right and wrong in him, but I’m not sure how far it’s penetrated. I’ve told him he shouldn’t toy with the feelings of young girls though. I only hope it’s penetrated somewhat.

Me: You had high hopes for him at first. Do you still feel the same?

Mabryl: Yes I do. He must learn to control himself more, of course if he is to become as great a mage as he is capable. He has an instinct with the mana. He’s one of the rare few who can actually see it when he is weaving it.

Me: I believe you have adopted him.

Mabryl: Yes. I’ve never married and have no heirs. I’ve grown very fond of Carthinal. In spite of his faults he’s a very personable young man with plenty of charisma. He’ll inherit everything I have when Kalhera calls me and I leave this life.

Me: Thank you.

Mabryl: It was my pleasure.