Cows Have Accents

[Guest guest]

LONDON - Cows have regional accents, a group of British farmers

claims, and phonetics experts say the idea is not as far-fetched as

it sounds.

 

Lloyd Green, from southwest England, was one of a group of farmers

who first noticed the phenomenon.

 

"I spend a lot of time with my Friesians, and they definitely moo

with a Somerset drawl," he said, referring to the breed of dairy cow

he owns.

 

"I've spoken to the other farmers in the West Country group and they

have noticed a similar development in their own herds.

 

"I think 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."

 

Birds, too?

Dom Lane, spokesman for a group called the West Country Farmhouse

Cheesemakers to which Green belongs, said it contacted John Wells,

Professor of Phonetics at University College London, who said that a

similar phenomenon had been found in birds.

 

"You find distinct chirping accents in the same species around the

country. This could also be true of cows," Wells said on the group's

Web site (www.farmhousecheesemakers.com).

 

According to Lane, accents among cows probably develop in a similar

way as among humans, and resulted from spending time with farmers

with differing accents.

 

"Apparently the biggest influence on accents is peer groups — on

children in the playground, for example," he said. "Herds are quite

tight-knit communities and don't tend to leave the area."

 

He added that more scientific research was needed to prove what was

just an anecdotal theory at this stage.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14503285

[Guest guest]

Vrndavan Parker <vrnparker > posted:

>

> . . . Cows have regional accents . . .

> http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14503285

 

Yes, cows and other animals do speak

in different accents. I too have

observed this.

 

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi

Om Shanti