The best way to get a Polish
cat's attention is to say <kici kici kici>, pronounced like
"kitschy", but the vowels are usually whispered (voiceless). It of course
belongs to the "kitty" family of calls. My household has always included cats or
dogs (or cats and dogs together), and reflecting on our choice of names for
them (ailuronyms and cynonyms) I find that while a name of one or two syllables
like Ace, Rex or Fuga (my parents' dogs' name) will be just fine for a
dog, cats are happier with longer names, preferably rich in sibilants,
nasals or liquids. They will also appreciate it (perhaps even to the point of
not ignoring you completely) if their names are pronounced slowly and carefully.
The two cats who live with us at present are called Melissa and Pamela and
another two we had a few years ago were Messalina and Margarita.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 2:06 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] the cat
Couldn't both the p_s and the k_t groups be the product of
necessity? In my admittedly limited experience, the two are often found in
tandem. Everybody [or is this a wholly NW Old World phenomenon?] knows
that cats only respond to sounds like kssss ksss ksss or psss pssss psss or
kittty kittty kittty! The Russians say kot or koshka but get cats'
attention by using the psss! sound. My Russian girlfriend calls her cat
Busyukin [don't laugh!], when I asked her if it mean anything she just said it's
a naturally good name for a cat because they like such sounds. Maybe it's
a halfway decent approximation of the rustling sounds and squeakings made by
mice in tall grass? Either way, it's the animal that is dictating how its
name should be, not the human for once.
What do they say in China,
Australia, Borneo, the Kalahari or Tierra del Fuego when they wish to attract a
pussycat?