Do Animals Have Accents?

Linguistics, the scientific study of various components that make up a language is an extremely fascinating field. Human communication has largely been dependent on some form of language - sign language, primitive noises, or the vast array of languages that span the globe today. Most of us would have been exposed to accents, be it a lazy drawl, sharp enunciations, or smooth vowels. But did you know that they aren’t unique to us? Some animals have been found to have regional dialects or accents.

So how do animals learn? One of the multiple ways of learning in animals is observational learning or social learning. This kind of learning occurs through close observation of a “demonstrator” followed by “imitation” of the demonstrated behavior.

Communication in animals largely has a genetic basis, making it an innate characteristic, and regional accents can only develop in those species that learn their vocalizations from others. Avid bird-watchers would immediately know the bird by its call - individual members of the same songbird species sing different songs based on their hometown. White-crowned sparrows, which are spread across the United States, use around seven different sounds, but different populations combine these in different ways. They seem to learn this specific pattern in the first three months of their lives by listening to the adults.

Dolphins, bats, fish, and hummingbirds have also shown regional accents. Noise pollution in the ocean can prevent marine organisms from hearing mating calls, thus stopping them from breeding. Sperm whales communicate using a series of ‘codas’ which are a pattern of clicks. Scientists of the Dominica Sperm Whale Project have discovered that Caribbean sperm whales have a different pattern than those from the Pacific. These sounds may identify individuals or social groups - rather like first and last names. They allow whales to reinforce their culture and bond with family members - both imperative in the vast ocean. In fact, language specialists opine that even different herds of cows have different moos. The accent could be influenced by their immediate peer groups.

On the islands of Hawaii, around four new species of crickets of the genus Laupala appear every million years - expedited evolution. Researchers hypothesize that the male mating calls could be the reason, and female preference for different songs has pushed the group to continually diverge. The existence of these regional variations in the language is perhaps proof of the effect of sound on evolution, pushing the same species so far apart that they might not even recognise each other as potential mates. Sound affects not just mating, but also competition for prey, as seen in the European bat genus Myotis, which avoid over-competition by each species having a slightly different echolocation signal.

Hence, we can safely say that humans aren’t special in their ability to adopt accents. Certain animals do learn communication skills from their surroundings, changing their sounds over time, all melding into a harmonious symphony of nature. Talking wildlife isn’t new to the worlds of Disney and Pixar, but this might just be the premise of the next animated blockbuster - accented animals.