I wonder if Miqo'te can purr

[nothing_cool]

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.

[myahele]

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

[Enkidoh]

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! 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.

[Velox]

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.

[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.

[Kaiser-Ace]

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.

[CyrilLucifer]

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.

[azlewood]

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.

lol i do the same, exactly the same

[Ronove]

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.

[CyrilLucifer]

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

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.