Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Dog vs. human language 
Name: Michelle Conte
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Why can't dogs talk like humans?


Replies:
In very simple terms, they aren't made for it. In order to produce any kind of vocal sound, we not only need a set of vocal chords (or vibratory organs of some sort), we also need an air pipe and cranium shaped to deliver the vibrations in the right way -- you actually use your own head as a sort of sounding plate for several primary sounds (non-percussive) Dogs don't have the right shaped heads for the job, as well as the inability to vocalize many of the percussive sounds which make up a good percentage of our languages due to a differently shaped mouth. However, all things considered, we'd be ill-equipped to call meetings over long distances by simply howling, like dogs and their kin are wont to do in the wild.

--Wordsworth


Click here to return to the Biology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory