Swedish scientists set to study whether cats have accents

The accent study is part of a wider look into how humans and cats communicate with each other

A cat at a show in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)

Swedish scientists are about to start investigating whether cats have accents.

Susanne Schötz, a phoenetics researcher from Lund University, is collecting samples of sounds made by cats from Lund, in Sweden's far south, and Stockholm, almost 400 miles to the north.

By analysing the melodies and tones of cat vocalisations, she hopes to find out whether they vary based on where the cats live.

It's part of a wider study looking at how cats and humans interact with each other, which could lead to a better understanding of what different cat noises mean.

The research project will take the form of two studies - in one, the "melody" of cat noises will be analysed, to find if the patterns appear in different cat breeds, or during different emotional states.

The second will involve playing human voices through speakers in the cats' homes and filming their reactions.

Speaking to National Geographic, Schötz asked: "Do they prefer to be spoken to like small children, or do they prefer to be spoken to as an adult? And can they recognise a familiar voice based on intonation and speaking style?"

"Maybe certain breeds will use certain melodies, or cats living in countries where human speech has certain melodic patterns will vocalise different. If we can find that cats adopt these melodies, we may be able to help cat owners interpret these signals better."