We must investigate the origin of language for Dutch. Now we have come to that man can speak because we have vocal cords. Animals don’t have this, but how do they produce sound? How then is it that a dog can bark or a bird can whistle or a parrot can “speak”?
Answer
Dear Lisa,
Birds do indeed have no vocal cords, they produce sound through their syrinx, which is a bird’s speech organ. Dogs and other mammals do have vocal cords. Apparently you have been misinformed about the latter. You can also find more about this in the archive “Can birds ever become hoarse?”.
So, just like humans, animals can communicate through sounds, even if they don’t really do that with words as we know them. People do not only use their vocal cords to speak, but tongue and lips are also of great importance.
Regards,
Kristof
Answered by
Vet Kristof Baert
Wildlife Management and Invasive Species Rodent control: brown rat, muskrat and coypu Wildlife diseases
Rue des Clinic 25 1070 Brussels
http://www.inbo.be
.