A visual dictionary of the vocalizations of Mongolian herders.

September 28, 2015 8:21 PM

Or, what to say to your cow on the steppe. Visual anthropologist Natasha Fijn presents this short video of shouts and moos as an appendix to her book, Living With Herds.
posted by gusandrews (12 comments total)

I would like this for every other herding culture now, please. *makes grabby hands*
posted by gusandrews at 8:21 PM on September 28, 2015

I'm going to try to learn all these and teach them to my dog. Don't eat sidewalk garbage! Khoosh!
posted by moonmilk at 8:29 PM on September 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

...or maybe Khai is more appropriate for that.
posted by moonmilk at 8:31 PM on September 28, 2015

I know a guy who did a thesis on the vocalizations of drummers from various regions (India and Africa primarily, I think). This reminds me I want to get that from him. Having done African dance for over a decade, it's interesting the differences even between traditions of drummers describing the rhythm of the same kind of drum.
posted by gusandrews at 8:38 PM on September 28, 2015

These are amazing and wonderful. I have almost never been around domesticated herd animals (as compared to cows that are rounded up once or twice a year) and I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't know that they could learn so many context specific commands.

"Wrong way"

I taught my dog this and it is so useful to have a "reverse direction" command.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:25 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Fascinating stuff. And the animals seem to understand it all.

I'm trying to train my dogs ready for any zombie invasion. "Zombie kill!" Sadly, they just look at me blankly, obviously thinking that I am an idiot.
posted by greenhornet at 9:55 PM on September 28, 2015

This is a great find, thanks for posting it.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:15 PM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is this a good spot to recommend a great movie about Mongolia and the people who live there? Sort of as context for the Natasha Fijn video. I love this movie because the landscape looks kind of like where I live (southern Alberta) and the people are lovely. It's not without its flaws as a movie, but it's one of my all-time favourites.
posted by sneebler at 6:44 AM on September 29, 2015 [3 favorites]

My mom's roommate when I was in high school taught her dogs "git," which basically meant "get away from that." I don't know how she did it, but it was one of the most useful commands you can teach an animal.
posted by gusandrews at 7:32 AM on September 29, 2015

My mom's roommate when I was in high school taught her dogs "git," which basically meant "get away from that." I don't know how she did it, but it was one of the most useful commands you can teach an animal.

EVERY dog should know "leave it", regardless of what sound you use for the command.
 
posted by Herodios at 8:31 AM on September 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

I taught my dog this and it is so useful to have a "reverse direction" command.

My dog knows this too (as "fix it!" when she winds up with her leash around a pole) and it's possibly the single most useful cue she knows. Except maybe for "play dead", which gets used when I need to clip her nails.
posted by sciatrix at 1:39 PM on September 29, 2015

This post totally made my day! For the past several weeks, I've been trying to nail down details for a fictional village I'm writing about with a primarily yak-based economy and this fit into my headspace in such a beautiful, seamless way I got tingly thrills all over.
posted by Diagonalize at 1:56 PM on September 29, 2015 [2 favorites]