LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.17 (07) [E/LS]

Wed Aug 17 18:04:23 UTC 2005

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>
Subject: LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.16 (03) [E]

Mark,

you wrote:
> The Lowlands twist is that his dog speaks Lowlands Dogish. ;)

Man-  seeker ne no dat Regelwaarks van dennen leidigen 'Saß' ;-)!

Wou!

Greutens/Regards

Johannes "Jonny" Meibohm

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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: "Interspecies communication" [E]

> From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
> Subject: LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.15 (06) [E]
>
> Jonny wrote:
> > Why did this tricky animal recognize him to be a postman??? I know her 
> > to
> be
> > very intelligent- but this time there must have been going on any weird
> > thing, any communication and signs (and this could be seen as kind of
> > connection back to linguism...;-)) I do not understand but jealously

I think you should bear in mind that dogs may not recognise what seem to be 
us to be the obvious cues - ie the uniform - and so other cues that we don't 
really notice are more obvious to the dog.

> But- isn't it fascinating, to have just a short look into an e.g. dog's
> 'face' and to know wether it's friendly or aggressive? Or to see any 
> archaic
> animal as a warane or crocodile and to feel its momentary mood?
>
> Always then I am consciencly about my own and personal originating from 
> the
> same process of evolution as all other living beings on our planet- a 
> member
> of this universe, not less, not more.

I don't know about this. Fear and aggression in chimpanzees looks like a 
happy grin to humans who aren't trained in interpreting a chimp's mood - and 
those are our closest relatives.

I wouldn't want to try to interpret a crocodile's perpetual friendly grin as 
just what it looks like either - all you need to know is that if it looks at 
you askance, then it's about to snap!

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Interspecies communication
>
> All right, so the language connection is clear here.  But where's the
> Lowlands twist?

Well, you're speaking their languages, but what do they understand of ours?

I don't go along with this idea that cats, dogs &c "understand every word 
you say", but they do seem to respond to something when you talk to them 
directly (and don't even get me started on the "What's that, Skip?" 
phenomenon!).

Dogs at least seem to understand your general mood when you speak to them - 
I think they can tell from tone, volume, and rhythm. They seem to respond 
well to a tone of urgency in the voice, but I think that this is just that 
if you say something briefly and quickly, they realise they're being told to 
do something, especially if you keep repeating it.

I've found that animals that respond to spoken language will respond to sign 
language just the same. Thus if you're in a traffic queue and there's a dog 
in the back of the car in front, you can't speak to it but you can cheer it 
up by signing to it. I know a deaf woman who tells me she signs to her pet 
hens and gets much the same response as anyone speaking to them might.

Dogs can also be trained to learn a number of signed commands just the same 
as they can be trained to recognise spoken commands.

The Lowlands twist #1: When speaking to an animal I feel uncomfortable 
speaking English - I always use Scots. Since the actual content is 
unimportant I might as well just use the language that's most natural to me.

The Lowlands twist #2: The Story of Vallteacher at
http://sandyfleming.org/vallteacher/vallteacher.htm

I put this up a long time ago to experiment with CSS layouts for presenting 
texts, so results might vary in different browsers. It still holds up in 
Firefox except for the title being out of place! It's in typical "Zummerzet" 
or English West Country dialect, with notes and glossary.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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From: heather rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
Subject: LL-L "Interspecies communication" 2005.08.16 (03) [E]

Message text written by INTERNET:lowlands-l at LOWLANDS-L.NET
>> bob  your head when you approach. <

This works with garden birds too.

I have had a similar conversation with a family of robins this year. I have
been providing meal worms on a daily basis : so Dad robin sits on the
nearest tree and calls me with a really bullying, chidding note: it sounds
a bit like " Where are you? You're late!"

I put the mealworms on the bird table and stand still 2 feet away: he flies
down to the edge and bobs at me. I bob back. Sometimes one bob is enough
and he takes a mealworm. Sometimes we go through an elaborate series of
bobs before he feels happy enough to feed.

I shall not be continuing next year as the sole fledgling from this nest
joined Dad and was fed regularly on the near by apple tree. It then plucked
up courage and jo0ined Dad on the bird table. Next thing I knew when I was
weeding nearby was the same fledgling less than 6 inches from me eagerly
waiting for a treat. It followed me around all that morning...............
and then was never seen again. I have a horrible feeling that the trust I
had built up in the robins led to his being caught by one of our cats.

I'll feed worms again because they love them but I'll bob from a distance.

Heather

PS Monty Roberts horse language works brilliantly too. Even on my wayward
28 year old never-backed ex-brood mare.

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Interspecies communication

Sandy, I love the layout of _The Story of Vallteacher_!

Heather, even though the person you quoted above was 
INTERNET:lowlands-l at LOWLANDS-L.NET rather than I, and even though this may 
turn out to be one of the scariest things you've heard in a long time, I 
feel compelled to share with you that I think you and are are birds of a 
feather -- obviously no pun intended.

Yes, it works with lots of kinds of birds, also with the American robin 
(_Turdus migratorius_).  I've befriended a few of those.  They bring friends 
whenever I dig and expose earthworms, and when I leave for work in the 
morning they call, "Dig! Dig! Dig!"

Cheers!
Reinhard/Ron

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