The Cats

[Nekusagi]

So I realized something last week about the speech habits of Pokemon on the anime...

While most Pokemon say their names when they talk, the cat ones have the distinction of speaking normal cat. Ever since the St.Anne episode, Persian have always said either "nyo" or "mrow" (oddly, in the dub, it's only Giovanni's Persian that "mrows" for some reason), and if I recall properly, in every episode after Go West Young Meowth, the nonspeaking Meowth have all said "nya", with the exception of Gordon's (and you really can't say the Meowth were saying their name in those incidents either, as it was more a cutesy "meow". Skitty, Delcatty, and Glameow all have their variations on "nya" as well.
Similarly, all the dog-based Pokemon communicate in growls, yips, and whimpers.
Which begs the question: why are Cat Pokemon incapable of saying their names? The only reason I can imagine is that people actually keep these animals as pets, and it would be pretty disconcerting to see, say, Persian, open its mouth and say "persian". But I find it fascinating nonetheless.

 

[Crax]

Tyson's Meowth said its name continously. No growls there.

 

[Grave-E]

Skitty utters the 'ne' part of 'Eneco', and I'm fairly sure it's said 'Ene' on rare occassions. And Glameow has said it's full name (Nyaruma) once or twice. One particular occasion that comes to mind being when it launched it's coiled Iron Tail at Aipom during Hikari's first contest.
I was under the impression Persian always said 'Pernya' or something along those lines, mostly in it's Johto appearances. I know they retooled that voice at some point in the show ala. Hasubrero, but I can’t remember which point that took off from.

As for the dogs, I always though most, if all of them just stuck to certain syllables of their name (at least the one’s that keep their Japanese voices), like Poochyena's 'Che!' for example? I know Mightyena just blurts out ’Graena’ constantly, same with most Houndoom with their growly ’Hellgar’s.

 

[Dual]

I was always under the impression that instead of Pokemon saying their names, they were instead named after their unique cries, and any Pokemon who doesn't have a unique cry is named something that seemed appropriate.

Meaning Pikachu doesn't say Pikachu because it's its name, but rather Pikachu is named Pikachu because it says Pikachu.

 

[Te-em]

I was always under the impression that instead of Pokemon saying their names, they were instead named after their unique cries, and any Pokemon who doesn't have a unique cry is named something that seemed appropriate.

Meaning Pikachu doesn't say Pikachu because it's its name, but rather Pikachu is named Pikachu because it says Pikachu.

Yes, I think so, too. Pokemon are named after their cries and "words" they say. So 'dane' in Fushigidane does not have to do with the Pokemon's seed (tane), but that the Pokemon says 'dane'. If they would have named it after the seed on its back it would have been Fushigitane, but the name was changed to fit its cry.

When the Pokemon were named in the real world, the cries came after the names, so this is just how it could be in the Pokemon world.

 

[Kthleen]

If they would have named it after the seed on its back it would have been Fushigitane

Actually, there's this thing called rendaku, which is when, in Japanese, the beginning sound of the second of two words that have been put together changes.

It's the same reason "hito" (person) turns to "bito" in "yumemibito" ("dream-seeing person," that is, dreamer) and "tsuki" (moon) turns to "zuki" in "mikazuki" (crescent moon), and for that matter, why "saru" (monkey, ape) turns to "zaru" in Okorizaru and Hikozaru and--you've probably guessed it by now--"tane" (seed) turns to "dane" in Fushigidane.

Zhen Lin talks about it here and here.

 

[Nekusagi]

I was under the impression Persian always said 'Pernya' or something along those lines, mostly in it's Johto appearances. I know they retooled that voice at some point in the show ala. Hasubrero, but I can’t remember which point that took off from.

In Dues and Dont's and Mewtwo Returns, he clearly says "mrow". Although that may be a dub thing. Either way, I like the "mrow" much better (mostly because that's how he talks in my fanfiction.)


But hey, Charizard just growls, as well. So it's not a big deal or anything.

 

[Argy]

In the Mikaruge episode, Nyarth went to talk to Mikaruge. He couldn't reveal to Satoshi-tachi who he was by speaking human language, so he spoke in Nyarth language, which was basically "Nya nya nya nya nya nya."

 

[Perxio]

In the Mikaruge episode, Nyarth went to talk to Mikaruge. He couldn't reveal to Satoshi-tachi who he was by speaking human language, so he spoke in Nyarth language, which was basically "Nya nya nya nya nya nya."

Wow, he does? I can't believe he didn't just throw on a pair of sunglasses and a jacket at the most. It seems that no matter what he wears he can get buy the twerps, despite being...well, clearly a meowth dressed up in crap.

I wish they had done that before.

[/semi-offtopic]

 

[Netto-kun]

Wow, he does? I can't believe he didn't just throw on a pair of sunglasses and a jacket at the most. It seems that no matter what he wears he can get buy the twerps, despite being...well, clearly a meowth dressed up in crap.

I wish they had done that before.

[/semi-offtopic]

In that episode, he is dressed as a Sneasel, instead of using a disguise like Jessie or James.