LANGUAGE SURVEY TIME (all languages!)
where do you consider yourself to be from (be as specific as you’re comfortable with), what is your main language, and how do you spell the noise a cat makes
Replies
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Middlesex, English, Miaow.
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NY (Adirondacks) from 0 to 26, Tidewater Virginia since 1997. My mother tongue is American English, but I also speak relatively fluent French and my written English skews 18th century. It’s “meow,” unless we’re talking about a specific cat and something like “mau” is closer to their pronunciation.
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Iceland/ Icelandic/ mjá/ but the noun is mjálm and the verb is mjálma.
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UK; English; cats mew, but if you’re transcribing the generic sound of a mew I would spell that meow
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South East England, meow.
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New Zealand, English, Miaow.
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southern US, English, meow but if i had to spell it phonetically? me-yaow
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North Yorkshire, England. English. Miaow, mrrp, mrrow.
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Midlands, UK: English - either meow or miaow :)
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London, English, miaow.
(Except on 16th June, when it is Mkgnao!, Mrkgnao!, or Mrkgrnao!, according to taste.)
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Northern California
I mainly speak English, but am fairly fluent in Lawyer, Tech, AvGeek, and Nerd too
Meow
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Upper Midwest US - cats say meow (kittens might mew). Angry cats might yowl (but I think that's a description rather than the sound they make)
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NYC/NJ with a bit of TX mixed in.
meow
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California, USA (Los Angeles area)
Meow
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American South (Georgia), English, meow
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I’m from Kent in the UK, my main language is English, and I spell it differently depending on how long/loud the cat sound is: meouw>meow>mew
NB autocorrect hated the first one, it took me three goes to get it to show my spelling.
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Perth, WA English Miaow
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West Virginia, English, Meow.
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London English Miaow
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Indiana; English; my particular cat says “murrrpp” but other cats say meeooww
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The southern Netherlands, Dutch, miauw
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Sweden Swedish Mjau 😺
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Alaska, English, 'meow,' but also 'mew' and 'miao' are comfortably within my experience :)
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if i'm naming the sound, i write meow. if i'm transliterating from cat to english, i write miaou.
i am a delicate flower of the US South. my main language is english; my secondary languages are latin, french & german.
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Midwest US / English / meow or mrow
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Poland / Polish / miau
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Central Queensland, Australia, English, meow.
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Edmonton, AB, Canada. Meow.
When I read it in French, it's Miao.
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Texas and meow. And when I hear the cat make a sound I hear "meow." I wonder if other people who have different words hear the car say that instead.
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Halifax, NS, Canada: meow, as read, though I don't think it captures the sound that well. Also merp/murp and SSSSSSS. One of our cats (maybe with a hearing issue) clearly said "armp".
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meow
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Ipswich in the East of England, English, Meow
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Norway, South-East (Sandefjord if you want to check the map), my main language is norwegian: mjau
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Brighton, England. English Miaou! 😺
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New England, USA
English
Meow (but 'miaou' is a close second)
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Pennsylvania; English; meow/sometimes mew (for small sounds!)
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Southern England/UK English/meow
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Hertfordshire (SE England) via 30 years in SW London, British English and meow.
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Sydney, Australia. I’d use and expect meow, but have also seen miaow occasionally.
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West London, English, miaow
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Brought up in Cheshire, lived south of Oxford for last 30 years. English. “Meow”.
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Italy, Italian, miao.
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British mongrel (London/west of Scotland/NW England): English first language: miaow (miaoooooooow)
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UK Mew
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I‘m from Northern Germany, have been living in Bavaria for almost 40 years now, my main language is German and I spell that ‚miau‘. Which is the official German spelling AFAIK and there is no other. This said, when I write in English it‘s ‚meow‘. These days my spelling is pretty American.
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Northern California, English but I learned from polyglots so I find lil discrepancies here and there, meow (maybe mew on occasion) and purr
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NW England, English, the noise is miaow but the verb is meow
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South Africa, English, meow
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Cats make a lot of noises, most very hard to spell. But as a New Yorker in her 40s, “meow”. I have a reasonable ability in two other languages and can pronounce the sound in both, but just realized - after over 20 years - that I don’t know how to spell it in either one.
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From Worcester, but lived longer in Reading so kinda consider myself to be from both (my accent appears to be from neither)
English
Meow
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London via northern France and Dublin - meow
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Minnesota, USA. English. I'd call the onomatopoeia "meow" but I'm terms of writing how it actually sounds might use meow, mrrow, or mew for different meows. For a purr, either purr or just prrr. 🤔 Miaow feels British to me?
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Central Finland, Finnish: both "miau" and "mau" have been used.
Someone needs to tell my Bengal cat Carisma, since the sounds she makes are more like KRÄÄÄÄHHHHHH RIEKS RÄÄÄH.
Or her kid, Mort, who goes "piip ääähhh piip".
Lobsang sounds like a pigeon with her "kurrrr purr mäh mäh" noises.
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Pacific Northwest US, and cats make a variety of noises.
Mrow, mrrp?, mrowwwww are the most common
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Northern California. English. Meow.
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Texas, English (US version) meow
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NE USA, "meow" "mew" or "mrow" depending on the sound (Also one of my cats says "mrrp" but she is weird)
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Edinburgh, Scotland English "Meow" (but I consider "Miaow" also correct if a bit archaic)
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Midwest US English I’d spell it meow but when we converse with our cats it’s probably more of a “mroow”
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North Wales, I think naturally I go for “miaow” but when I stare it for too long it seems like too many vowels…
Meow, maybe? Seems a bit short. Depends on the cat I suppose 😺
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Turkiye, Turkish, miyav
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Northeast US English Meow
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norway (east side of oslo), norwegian, mjau
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Sweden, Swedish and "mjau"! When using a verb we say the cat "jamar".
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I am from Detroit but spent a significant portion of my life (over 25%) living in North Carolina and Louisiana, and I spell it as meow. However, because I have taken French lessons, I will also accept miaou as a valid spelling.
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New England, USA. English. As a term for general cat vocalizing, “meow.”
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Sweden Mjau
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Detroit, MI! English. "meow"
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South London / UK English Typically, 'meow'. Sometimes the more plaintive version for shits and giggles would be 'mrowl?'. Or if imitating the sound my old Siamese actually made: 'ungow'
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piedmont of North Carolina (raised by WNC dad and ENC mom) -- American English -- meow
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Essex, UK; although lived in Brum for 14 years. English is my only language
Cats go "meow".
Unless they're hissing at you for no damned good reason...
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- Scotland (Fife, but the family are from around Glasgow and Inverclyde).
- English (Scottish Standard English).
- “Miaow”.
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Northeast United States, English, and "meow." I may be influenced by the cat food brand called "meow mix." I think I would write "meow," but I would be struggling with whether it's more correct to write "meow" or "miaow."
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Meow from Toronto
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English NW Midlands (Liverpool then Manchester), then 40+ years in Oxford which is now home.
Fairly old-fashioned RP English (I still say "whilst" un-ironically) with a really irritating nasal drone that I can't get rid of.
Miaow (noun/onomatopoeia), mew or mewl (verb).
May one ask why?
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Sheffield but parents are from London, English, meow
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NL 🇳🇱 Nederlands miauw
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London, English, miaow.
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I’m from the central coast of California, my main language is English, and I spell the noise a cat makes as a meow, but also use mew to describe a younger cat’s noise or a specific type of meow.
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North Kent, UK. English. Meow. (Though miaow is also acceptable.) And purr, obvs.
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US, English, meow or mrreow (though it may be miau if it's a French one)
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Belgium, Dutch, miauw
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Great lakes area, English, meow.
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Wyoming, US. Usually 'meow'. unless they're mad and it's more of a mmmeorrrowwww
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I’m from the mid Atlantic coast in the US, I speak English, meow
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South-East England, English and Meow
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Edinburgh, Scotland - English with heavy Scottish accent
The last one's tricky because his name is Louie XIV so it's normally something like "L'état, c'est moi!". Especially when he wants food.
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Southern Ontario 🇨🇦, English, meow
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Edinburgh (English mum and educated Embra accent), English with the usual colloquialisms; meow.
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From Los Angeles, main language is US English and I spell it meow
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Southern middle of North Carolina; English; meow
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Edinburgh. Scots is myaw. Although I would say miaow.
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Leeds, Yorkshire, UK English Meow
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UK, English, meow.
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Southern England, English. "Miaow." But local vocal tortie is also very fond of "brrrrup" (absolute minimum of four Rs necessary).
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France / French / miaou
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-Middlesex (officially Surrey, but I didn’t know that til I was an adult) -British English -miaow or meow
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Nova Scotia, Canada; English; meow
(but I'm thinking about switching after seeing miaow in the headline this morning - way better)
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South East England, English, meow
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Ohio river valley area, US; English; meow
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French, from France, and "miaou" (verb : "miauler")
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Uk midlands English
Miaow. They also mew but that's a different noise i think. More kitten-y
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South-west Germany, German, "miau" is the noise (the verb would be "miauen")
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The Netherlands, Dutch, miauw
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London/South East England English Miaow
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Southern USA, English, meow. But I speak German and it's miau
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South East England, Miaow
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Coventry, West Midlands. I’d default to meow but miaow is also an option
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Tidewater Virginia; English; meow.
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Sheffield, UK, English and I prefer ‘miaow’ because it feels more insistent than ‘meow’, like the cat opening its mouth wide and demanding to be fed. My cat-obsessed daughter spells it ‘meow’ though.
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Los Angeles, CA, English, meow
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Coastal Galicia (although I’ve been living in the UK for the past 12 years), English/Spanish, meow/miau.
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Northern Irish/ English/ Miaow
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Gtr Manchester. English. Meow.
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East Coast Australia, Australian English, and I'd write meow as the stereotypical noise, also mrrrp and mew
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Wisconsin, English, meow. 😻
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PEI/Ontario, Canada English meow
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South of England; english; meow
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USA - IL & MI, English, meow
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North East England, English and miaow. Also I would love to know if making the pss pss pss sound to attract a cat's attention is universal?
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West Midlands (England, UK), English (mild Black Country accent on a base of more "neutral" British English), Meow.
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Canada: Ontario, more recently Maritimes. Mostly meow, but also mew (kittens), mrrp (chirp when they’re saying hi), and mrrow (when it’s slightly more demanding).
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Mid-Atlantic US, English, meow
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Midwest US, English, meow
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Central NJ, USA English Mrow
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West Yorkshire, English, miaow
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Denver, Colorado. English. I also taught kids ages 0-6 for years so those books probably solidified it as meow.
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I am from Magdeburg in Germany and cats say Miau <3
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multiple parts of the midwest/east coast USA, English...
generic cat noise is meow. though i had one that said "meh" all the time
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Cheshire cats (English english) say Meeow.
Also I love that you've now made the internet meow at you. Oh fuck it turns out I spell it differently as a verb.
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Dublin / English / Mrkgnao!
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- Ohio (USA)
- English (Americanese)
- Yawn
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NW Illinois. Spent most of my life living in that area. Recently moved to the NE US. Meow. :)
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East Coast US, English and meow (I am loving reading all the responses!)
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Southeast Pennsylvania, English, 'meow' for vocalization and 'purr' for the happy vibrating sound.
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Dublin, English, meamhlach
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Southeastern England, English, Miaow.
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NW England, English, meow
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North West Wales, first language Welsh. Miaw
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NH, USA - usually meow but not all cats do the full-throated thing. So sometimes it's mrrip or mrap.
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Canadian (Southern Ontario) English. The official thing is "meow" but really cats make lots of noises with spelling at the writer's discretion.
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Cambridge via Johannesburg by accident, English albeit with more swearing than my accent would indicate, and miaow.
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South Wiltshire, United Kingdom, English.
Miaow!
(Also, not that you asked, I would spell the Cat Activation Sound as "brrrrrrt" - the number of letters r can vary but you et the gist. I love seeing how other folk spell that one.)
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Maryland, English, meow
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London, UK, miaow.
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New Orleans, American English, Meow (though our two elder cats now both make quite loud not-exactly-a-meow noises, because they're a bit deaf and have to up the volume to hear themselves)
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Upper American South, English, meow
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Scotland / English / meow
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American English and ‘mrow’
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Grew up in High Wycombe but lived 30 years on and off in Brighton.
MEOW
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Midlands, Ireland, English speaking: Meow.
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Great Lakes US English and “meow”
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Brittany, French, miaou (FR)/meow (EN)
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I am from Eastern Pennsylvania, English is my native language, and a cat meows.
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East midlands/east anglia/Cambridgeshire fens area. Miaow.
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Born and raised in Puerto Rico, but consider myself dual native speaker of English and Spanish. In my Puerto Rican Spanish: miau. In American English: meow.
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Ohio USA, and the standard noise is "meow" (but if I'm commenting on a video it's just as likely to be something like "oh he YELL")
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boston with a heavy gloss of uk/aus on top. but boston first.
English
mrreoow
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Southern England, and meow. But also myap and mrrp for different tones. Meow is the plaintive cry; myap is more demanding, and mrrp is a greeting.
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northeastern US, specifically exurbs of Philadelphia PA; English; “meow” in general but I often transcribe the various things my cat says as “mrrrp” or “mrrrar” or “mrowm”
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Connecticut, English, meow
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Berkshire, England, miaow (miaowwww and variations thereon for emphasis)
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Central southern England, miaow
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England and Wales, English Meow, prupp, woowr, fst or head butt depending on what he wants
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Toronto, Ontario. English. Meow.
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England. I'd say miaow. But Ozzy definitely says "wraow".
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Mexico City, (Mexican) Spanish, miau.
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Northeast US / English / meow
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Sydney, Australia. English Meow.
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from Albuquerque, English, meow.
but reading these replies I remembered there’s a bellringing composition I learned as the “barnyard quarter”: moo moo moo miowww (m - make, i - in, o - out, w - wrong). Too specific too explain it all in one skeet!
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English, South, Meow
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From Michigan. Although my childhood was spent in India, I spent a Fulbright in Indonesia, and I’ve been all over Europe. English, French, Indonesian, smatterings of others. Dutch wasn’t hard.
MrrrroOOOw is what our Maine Coons say.
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Northern NSW. Australia.
Meow, but kittens say mew.
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I am Swedish, my main language is Swedish and mjau.
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Lincoln, UK. English. Miaow
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Ireland via Germany, thus meow for the English (adult) brain and miau for the German (kid) brain. I was 11 when I moved.
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Canada, English, meow
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I’m Parisian, speaking mostly French, and it’s miaou even if that has never been said by a cat and it sounds a lot closer to meow
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N England (Lincs./Yorks.), English, meow mostly. Kittens or cats wanting fed particularly insistently will mew.
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Northern California. English (main language) with Tagalog, Cebuano, Spanish, Franglais/Jèrriais at home*. Meow.
*First four are what you’ll hear in my US home; as for the UK home, then English, yelling in German and Dutch, polite dinner conversation in French, some banter and craic in Irish. 🇪🇺
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United Kingdom English Meow
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Oxford/Cambridge corridor, English and these days miaow, but quite possibly meow when I was younger
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Dayton OH, English, meow
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Hull, UK. Meow.
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East Coast US, English, "meow"
🐈
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Australian English
Definitely 'meow.' Haven't really seen other spellings in use.
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Mid-Atlantic US, English, Meow or Mrrow depending on the feline state of mind.
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London UK, spoke polish until I was 5 but now just English, and meow
