I wonder if Miqo'te can purr

I've been stirring on this for a while and the official group on G+ has also expressed interest. Does anyone know if the devs even thought about it at all?

Would be neat to know if it was left to the players or if they just never thought of it, in which case, I vote that they can.

There are some NPCs that speak in "prrs" One near Fall Gourd Float and another one during the Amaal Jaa qubeat tribe quest.

Otherwise, who knows, might be a localization thing. Still, it's within the game that some (seeker) miqo'te purr in their speech

From a lore perspective? I am inclined to say, 'yes' to an extent...

Although a miqo'te character has never been outright depicted purring exactly like a cat as far as I'm aware, there have been situations where their dialogue has their 'r's rolled in an exaggerated manner (as Myahele mentioned above), which would be the closest to a purr you will get (this trait was also shared with their mithra cousins in FFXI). Having said that, this only seems to be depicted in text dialogue - none of the miqo'te npcs with actual spoken dialogue (like Y'shtola) seem to have this speech pattern.

In particular, the Seekers of the Sun seem to be ironically very refined when they're depicted speaking, from the aforementioned Sharlayan Archon to the nameless Sunseeker kittygirl in 'Derplander's' party in the original 1.0 opening movie (the one who says she would sell her own father "if the coin was good") - because of this, although I'm not entirely sure, it seems this appears to be more of a Moonkeeper trait and not a Sunseeker trait. But one of the Loremasters would probably be able to clarify this.

Really, if you're wanting to depict your miqo'te character purring like a cat, go ahead! :D As it is, I actually have it in my character's story that Enki actually does purr, but only in certain private situations (that only her wife hears... umm.. I think I said too much!). ;) Anyway, the way the game depicts the spoken races way of speaking, I think there is plenty of scope to have a cat like purr and still fit the lore. ;)

To add on to what Enkidoh said, the instances in which we see Miqo'te rolling r's in a _purring_ fashion also is on NPCs that one would say are more "wild" or "feral."

From this, I'd say that it's merely a genetic speech impediment that may go away once the miqo'te enters civilization and separates from the wild kin by leaning proper speech.

It's also worth noting that the NPC near Fallgoard Float (Miah Molkot) also has a speech impediment in which she meows when she says "me," and even tries to correct herself, but that may just be the localizers having some fun with the character.

I have an emote that goes: Grey F'urr purrs at <target>. I don't use it often; usually only when someone /pets me. For some reason its taken a few people by surprise.

I wager that younger Miqo'te as well as ones with less formal education likly have it as a verbal tick simmilar to bow some young children IRL add or lose syllables in speach and some people in poorer areas has unique speach patterns. (Like jive back in the day)



While with older/more educated Miqo'te don't normally use it unless they are intentionally exagerating their speach.

Science to the rescue!

Despite many humans associating purring with cats, it's actually something a variety of mammals can do. In fact, humans can sort of emulate the sound and the process by doing what is casually called a voiceless "German trill," which is a trill of the tongue in the back of your throat, rather than the front, which is what you see in Spanish. If you don't know what it is, the easiest way to do it is to gurgle without water, without your voice attached.

I only use the human comparison because cat purring requires a similar exhale; it lets you feel the vibration giving you an idea of how it works, just know that purring takes place in the vocal chords, rather than your throat. Cats and other mammals that truly purr require specialized vocal cords and it's likely something instinctual, not learned like human speech or the songs of oscine songbirds (which, by the way, actually learn their "languages" using the same part of the brain, super neat).

I'm not sure if, with those specialized vocal cords, they would be able to make the same range of sounds as the other Spoken races. I honestly don't think SE put that much though into it.

I actually think the more cat-like Mithra would have been likely candidates for purring, the Miqos in XIV lost a lot of the more cat-like traits from XI and are more straight up catgirls. If you were to ask my opinion, I don't think they can. I agree that it's probably a very juvenile thing to do, if possible at all, since I believe that purring in itself is considered a trait for sociality and the connection between mother and infant.

tl;dr
As far as I'm aware, there actually haven't been a lot of terribly in-depth studies on the biological mechanics of purring. Even if there has been, it's a fantasy game. There's only so much you can realistically apply to it.

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Originally Posted by greyfurr

I have an emote that goes: Grey F'urr purrs at <target>. I don't use it often; usually only when someone /pets me. For some reason its taken a few people by surprise.

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lol i do the same, exactly the same

I always figured since a lot of the seekers tend to roll their r's I just assumed that meant purring. And when I realize how the male miqo'te /joy looked I couldn't help myself and also made a purr emote using that. Ear wiggles and purrs? Yes please. Even if one day someone comes and says "no they don't" I'm still going to imagine miqo'tes can purr.

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Originally Posted by Ronove

I always figured since a lot of the seekers tend to roll their r's I just assumed that meant purring.

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Short version:
Trilling for the use of every r in a word is very much a fantasy. Hence, they aren't purring. If any purring is done at all, it's likely not done while speaking, since purring is very breathy; from what I can tell it's essentially just breathing out while flapping the vocal chords. And, as I stated above, assuming purring is possible, it would require modified vocal chords, in which case I'm not sure if the same range of sounds would be possible at all, as it would modify more than "r."

Longer version:
Trilling is absolutely not the same as purring. Trilling is the vibration of your tongue, purring is vibration in your vocal chords. You can trill without your voice, you cannot purr without your voice. Though to my knowledge, trilling without your voice is much easier for those who come from a language without native trilling, like English, and in some cases impossible for those who have trilled their entire lives. When I taught myself trilling, I actually didn't realize I had to put my voice into it until later.

I understand purring can be seen as cute, but since the thread is asking if it's possible, I'm taking a realistic look at it, mechanically. The use of trilling to feign purring while speaking is pretty much just a way for humans to try to emulate cat sounds while not being grounded in any basis of linguistics. For example, trilling is produced completely differently than r in English - and I believe Eorzean is supposed to represent English. Trilling/rolled rs in the "Spanish/Russian" sense are released through an exhale and the vibration of the tongue against the roof of your mouth; the "German/French trills" are the vibration of the tongue against your throat. A normal r in English/Eorzean does not have that repeated vibration and isn't even pronounced with the tongue in the same position. They don't even vibrate the vocal chords in the same way.

Look at these two r sounds and pay attention to your breaths and the position of your tongue:
Try saying Rabbit.
Then try saying butter.
For those who don't trill, the easiest comparison I can make repeating a "tt" sound or "dd" sounds over and over again, like ladderladderladderladder until it sort of merges together.

It's completely different.

Somewhat unrelated, but of interest: Given how imperative the movement and positioning of the tongue is for speaking, if Miqos and Mithra had cat tongue anatomy, I am almost positive they wouldn't be able to speak normally. A cat's tongue has papillae, which would divert the air over it differently. Just food for thought.

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Originally Posted by CyrilLucifer

Somewhat unrelated, but of interest: Given how imperative the movement and positioning of the tongue is for speaking, if Miqos and Mithra had cat tongue anatomy, I am almost positive they wouldn't be able to speak normally. A cat's tongue has papillae, which would divert the air over it differently. Just food for thought.

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It'll make kissing a miqo'te a somewhat *ahem* rough experience. ;)

As for everything else, fie on you! It's magical world. Catgirls can purr, even if they're just faking it. Don't you dare take that moe away from my fantasy!

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Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

It'll make kissing a miqo'te a somewhat *ahem* rough experience. ;)

As for everything else, fie on you! It's magical world. Catgirls can purr, even if they're just faking it. Don't you dare take that moe away from my fantasy!

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Hey, the OP asked if it was possible. I don't believe it is and so I was defending my opinion as to why. If you want to use the "it's a fantasy world," I'm totally using that same reasoning to cuddle my non-existent Lahabrea minion. Or maybe just Lahabrea.

His evil laughter makes him totally moe, in his own way. He's just yandere for me, that's all.

^ Lemme throw you a couple of screaming comely mandragora to complete your yandere fantasies. >.>

I'm sure you won't mind, since vegetables aren't supposed to have vocal chords to scream with in the first place. <.<

I never really thought about it until recently when I noticed a lot of the NPC Miqo'te rolling "R"s. And I figured, why the heck not. Assuming that one needs to vibrate one's "airpipes" to create a purr, I did consider the fact of changing the way speech sounds due to it. But if you do not try to purr when speaking, I should think that it doesn't affect speech much. I notice IRL cats can't "speak" and purr at the same time, and they cannot eat and purr at the same time (I've had several that will try), so if they do not speak, I would think thta the ability for purr wuold not affect speech to much. Anmd on the thing with having cat-like tongues, they would have no use for them. Could you imagine a Miqo'te trying to lick them selves clean in an effort to groom? I certainly can't (but I had fun and a good laugh trying to imagine it).

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Originally Posted by nothing_cool

I never really thought about it until recently when I noticed a lot of the NPC Miqo'te rolling "R"s. And I figured, why the heck not. Assuming that one needs to vibrate one's "airpipes" to create a purr, I did consider the fact of changing the way speech sounds due to it. But if you do not try to purr when speaking, I should think that it doesn't affect speech much. I notice IRL cats can't "speak" and purr at the same time, and they cannot eat and purr at the same time (I've had several that will try), so if they do not speak, I would think thta the ability for purr wuold not affect speech to much. Anmd on the thing with having cat-like tongues, they would have no use for them. Could you imagine a Miqo'te trying to lick them selves clean in an effort to groom? I certainly can't (but I had fun and a good laugh trying to imagine it).

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The papillae part was a joke. It did amuse me though, hence why I mentioned it.

Though you're kinda proving my point here and you don't realize it. Cats can't use the same range of sounds as humans. Biologically, it's impossible, for many reasons, namely because their vocal chords are developed differently; this is the same reason male and female songbirds have very different vocal capabilities. And linguistically, they're not purring on every r, because that's not how either of the English rhotic r sounds work (you don't breathe out with the pressure you need to purr when you use r), nor is that how trilling works (trilling is a completely different sound). They may be able to purr, but they aren't doing it while speaking on every r. That's completely a fantasy that I can't even see working in a fantasy game or novel and is just used to emulate the sound, it's not grounded in linguistic reality.

So the real issue is if they're capable of it while not speaking.

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Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

^ Lemme throw you a couple of screaming comely mandragora to complete your yandere fantasies. >.>

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You know, there is a relatively famous set of XI fanart (XIV uses the same white and black mandy models as XI, so it's essentially the same as something you would see in XIV) with females of the player races and mandies doing, er, lewd things.

Not that I would know. Nope.

One thing I remember reading a while back when someone pointed it out, miqote NPC's will say more rrrr's at end of words but only towards none-miqote races, So I guess as a miqote, you understand what they say but to another race they hear it. Weird but a cool little touch that goes unoticed~

Whatever the case of real world anatomy may be, it's my headcanon that miqo'te absolutely can purr. Heck, my character even growls when she's angry, and can roar like a lioness when she's completely enraged.

You're talking about a world with fire demons, lizard men and an occasional world-shattering catastrophe as part of the weather forecast. I think letting the cat people purr fits right in.

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Originally Posted by CyrilLucifer

I'm not sure if, with those specialized vocal cords, they would be able to make the same range of sounds as the other Spoken races. I honestly don't think SE put that much though into it.

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Originally Posted by Miqo'te Naming Conventions

The extra H's we see in names such as “Bhee,” “Kuzh,” and “Pahsh” represent a slight hissing/spitting sound that is made when the name is pronounced by the cat-like Miqo’te. Many of the other races in Eorzea cannot accurately reproduce this sound, so the H's end up going silent when read (Bee, Kooz, Pash).

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It would seem that, on a biological level though, Miqo'te vocal chords are fundamentally different than most of the other races for them to be able to produce sounds that the others are physically unable to. No different than a human trying to mimic purring but not being able to actually purr.

I think SE has put a lot more thought into it than you realize. :P

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Originally Posted by Velox

It would seem that, on a biological level though, Miqo'te vocal chords are fundamentally different than most of the other races for them to be able to produce sounds that the others are physically unable to. No different than a human trying to mimic purring but not being able to actually purr.

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That doesn't necessarily imply a biological difference between races, because it says "many races" without specification. It implies a difference in accents and manner of speech. You can equally say, by replacing a few words in that sentence:
"Many English speakers cannot accurately reproduce the trilling sound, so they replace it with a r when read."
Or, alternatively:
"Many non-English speakers cannot accurately reproduce the "ing" sound, so the g is going to end up silent when read (In/een instead of ing)." [Note: This is actually an issue, along with some languages and a "th." Alternatively, for a more familiar example, Japanese r/l, they kind of stick with one sound in the middle. Those unfamiliar and just learning the language can't actually hear the difference between "een" and "ing," and some can't pronounce "th" even when they can speak the language perfectly, it ends up more of a "d" sound. This usually happens for non-Germanic and non-romance languages and those who grew up on languages farther from English like, say, Arabic.]

Let me rephrase this, since I'm not sure if I'm getting my point across:
If Miqos are capable of purring, it's because of a change in their vocal chords, which I believe we can agree with because, obviously, humans can't purr and purring occurs in the vocal chords. However, this change would also probably render them incapable of certain other sounds, so they would be incapable of speaking like other Eorzeans. That's how vocal chords work, they are a very precise and finely tuned machine where even the smallest difference can lead to completely different voices and sounds. Even identical twins have different voices.

But we don't see that, we see Miqos speaking pretty much identically to the other races.

If they have put that much thought into linguistics, then they would be quite aware of what I'm saying and it can't just be thrown off as "it's a fantasy game, I can purr if I want to."

This leads me to 2 conclusions:
1. SE really is ignoring anatomy and linguistics because muh fantasy. In which case, they may be capable of purring because it has no basis in reality, in which case asking if they can purr is up to interpretation and the OP of this thread would be pointless, yes?
2. SE is respecting anatomy and attempting to be true to linguistics, in which case they probably can't purr and most definitely wouldn't be purring at the end of a word that ends in r. Or, if they can purr, their speech would sound quite different than a non-Miqo Eorzean, quite possibly rendering them incapable of certain other sounds.

I'd find it more interesting if they actually did have specialized vocal chords that would change their capability of speech compared to the average Eorzean speaker, similar to how a fantasy snake-person with a smaller tongue is generally depicted as making strange, raspy sounds and not just a few extra convenient "cute" sounds. It would add a sort of unique flavor to the very homogenized races this game has. The same goes for the foreign Au Ra, I'd love to have them with some different capabilities of speech completely, due to anatomical differences. Preferably ones that take advantage of their specialized ears, so maybe being capable far lower sounds that are impossible for anyone but other Au Ra to hear. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be depicted that way because SE is going for cute and attractive, rather than interesting and unique due to Japan tending to favor the former, rather than the latter.

(unrelated, but linguistics is so fascinating, I am extremely jealous of those who get to study it at a professional level.)

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Originally Posted by CyrilLucifer

This leads me to 2 conclusions:

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And the former is the more likely.

Though, we can easily solve this mystery by doing the following assumption: Miqo'te can in fact purr by channeling aether into their (regular) vocal cords.

Personally, I'm pretty sure a being like Nidhogg would not be able to realistically fly, especially since his bones do not appear to be hollow at all. The wings are downright cute for what they need to hold up. Similarly, dragoons would most certainly crush themselves if gravity on Eorzea worked remotely as it does on earth, which is heavily implied. And how the anatomy of slimes and similar creatures work and how they can be killed by stabbing them remains a mystery. I'm inclined to believe miqo'te purring follows a very similar logic.

I just assume that my polite male Miqo'te retainer is purring when his dialogue is as follows:
"How may I be of serrrvice, madam/sir?"
"I have rrreturned, madam/sir."
"My rrreport is rrready, madam/sir."
"If there is naught else, I will rrresume my venture."
"Excellent decision, madam/sir. Venturrres are my speciality."
"It is an honor to serrrve, madam/sir."

My Qote waifu purrs, so yes.

Weoh, I might be late to this but as far as I know is that Seekers with a H or R in their name are pronounced as a hissing/purring tone, however that's only for clans that they do it (inside their clan), hence why no one else does it whenever they pronounce miqo'te names. Since people also can't do that kind of hissing/ purring sound that only miqo'tes can do, in actuality you shouldn't be pronouncing the h/ r's in a miqo'tes name.. funny for example Y'shtola's actual pronunciation is ya-stoe-la, but ever cut-scene we get it as Yi-shtoe-la or Ya-shtoe-la (or maybe I hear those two due to my bad hearing..)

In short, yeh.. miqo'tes can purr, but that's only tribes miqo'tes that do it, not the ones who live in cities etc.

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Originally Posted by ExKage

I just assume that my polite male Miqo'te retainer is purring when his dialogue is as follows:
"How may I be of serrrvice, madam/sir?"
"I have rrreturned, madam/sir."
"My rrreport is rrready, madam/sir."
"If there is naught else, I will rrresume my venture."
"Excellent decision, madam/sir. Venturrres are my speciality."
"It is an honor to serrrve, madam/sir."

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It sounds like Sahagin o_o

The naming convention thread notes that Miqo'te are capable of certain pronunciations that the other races struggle to reproduce. Particularly the hard H has a hiss to it in certain Seeker tribe names.

I wonder if this, and the long Rs, has less to do with their vocal cords and more to do with their fanged teeth and textured tongues. I'm not 100% on their tongues having the sandpaper texture of most cats, but Moonkeepers, at least, have prominent fangs.

I mean, the shape and placement of teeth has a very notable effect on how words are formed, too.

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Originally Posted by Ametrine

The naming convention thread notes that Miqo'te are capable of certain pronunciations that the other races struggle to reproduce. Particularly the hard H has a hiss to it in certain Seeker tribe names.

I wonder if this, and the long Rs, has less to do with their vocal cords and more to do with their fanged teeth and textured tongues. I'm not 100% on their tongues having the sandpaper texture of most cats, but Moonkeepers, at least, have prominent fangs.

I mean, the shape and placement of teeth has a very notable effect on how words are formed, too.

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That would apply more to Keepers, not Seekers though. Keepers have fangs, Seekers do not (they have the slit pupils instead). Whether their tongues are more textured or not is a mystery for now (I don't recall it being mentioned yay or nay anywhere)