Talking to animals

[coffers1]

Do you think it would ever be possible to translate different voices from animals into English?  Do you think this would be a good idea

[Grunty]

Don't see why not.  I've had almost intelligible conversations with football hooligans in the past.

[MargeB]

Dear Dr Doolittle,
:-)
Great idea.
Problem would be in establishing common referent: when you say to me 'dog', I know we're talking about the same thing. When animals say 'dog', 'cat' 'ball' or 'red', we don't know they refer to the same thing as us.
I'm referring here to animals taught sign language/symbols.
Nice question, that'll keep me in thought for this evening!

[MargeB]

There's talk of modifying the larynx/pharynx of some primates to allow them to 'speak'. This is a long way off. But one day....a conversation with chimps.

[bernardo]

We already can.

[ursula62]

The technology must be available already - the crew of the USS Enterprise have a gadget that enables them to communicate with aliens, so dogs and cats should be a doddle.