History Main / AnimalTalk

[[folder:Real Life]]
* While human-like language is unique to humans, many forms of animal communication ''do'' function cross-species. Many mammals (humans included) express emotions such as fear, anger, pleasure, disdain, aggression, happiness, and challenge using similar body language and facial expressions. As a result, mammals of different species are able to communicate with each other to some extent, and with us, if we're observant enough. As anyone with an animal companion will tell you, its entirely possible to hold simple two way "conversations" with an intelligent animal you are familiar with.
** All body language doesn't (necessarily) cross species, however, even species as closely related as humans and chimpanzees. A chimp who "smiles" at you is ''not'' actually happy—the expression is what's known as a "fear grimace" (akin to a human SlasherSmile, PsychoticSmirk, or TheUnSmile) and means that the chimpanzee feels threatened (and a threatened chimp, especially a male, is likely to attack). Chimps do smile, but only expose their bottom teeth or no teeth at all.
* Many primates have been taught a primitive form sign languages and can easily communicate basic ideas with humans...and even teach this language to their kids. Calling this "language", however, is questionable. One of the more famous examples is Koko the gorilla, who "speaks" a kind of pidgin version of American Sign Language, sloppily and with so many idiosyncrasies that even people who themselves know ASL cannot understand her and have to rely on ''her handler'' to translate, much like a very young child who can only be comprehended by their family. It's been suggested by a number of authorities that most of the more coherent statements Koko has been "quoted" as making are somewhere between 'wishful thinking' and almost entirely made up by her handler; the handler interprets vague gestures generously and selectively chooses which gestures are assigned meaning and which are just, well, gestures. There's clearly ''something'' like an attempt to communicate going on, but calling it 'language' is ''definitely'' a stretch.
** Some primates, mostly famously Kanzi the bonobo, have been taught to communicate using a series of symbols called Lexigrams on a keyboard. Kanzi has been known to string together multiple lexigrams to describe new things.
* One animal that may in fact have a language of its own is dolphins, who communicate via a series of clicks and whistles. It's not easily decipherable, but said sounds have been observed in repeated patterns, and, crucially, each dolphin in a pod has its own series of sounds - ergo, dolphins have names. There is one alleged event where a dolphin pup and her mother had a ''telephone conversation'', and the communication seemed to be clear between them.
** This has been confirmed in orcas. Different populations in different parts of the world have different "languages", and lost, orphaned, and stranded orcas can be identified as being part of a certain pod by their calls. Orcas that speak different dialects can't communicate verbally.
* One of the more interesting examples of animal "language" is whale song, frequently cited as an excellent demonstration of a StarfishLanguage. Analysis demonstrates that there are complex structures of harmony and repeating patterns within the tones resembling both language and symphonic composition, with many species demonstrating regional dialects and "musical styles". While the most widely known use is males singing for mates, this behavior is seen in both males and females, and is not limited to courtship behavior, but seems to be used as a means of long-range communication.
* Cats are capable of extremely complex communication. While adult cats in the wild normally don't meow[[note]]Meowing is something ''kittens'' do to get the attention of their mother[[/note]] they do communicate intentions and emotions through body language, posture, soft trills, growls, hisses, and yowls. In addition, domestic cats meow even into adulthood, which is thought to be a retained behavior because ''humans'' respond to it. Many cat owners even find that more intelligent cats tend to develop "words" (meows with particular inflections, tones, and trills) for things like "Hello!", "my food bowl is empty", "No", "Pay attention to me", "please share your lunch with me", "I'm worried about you", etc. All of this is not quite language, but it ''is'' significant in that it demonstrates that cats make successful, intentional, untrained efforts at communicating ideas both with each other and with a distantly related species, humans.
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* Reversed in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Remy the rat can understand humans and has even taught himself to read but must use physical gestures to communicate with them. There is one scene where Remy speaks to his sidekick Emile, then cuts to a human's perspective where all she can hear is a very high-pitched squeaking. This could mean the difference is in timbre rather than language. Also, he was never shown to communicate with any other animal, other than his rat family.

** Contrary to the anime and manga, the main Pokémon video games have mostly avoided the subject... right up until ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]]'', where we have N, who actually speaks the Pokemon language more easily than he speaks the local human language.

In a comic ThoughtBubbleSpeech may be used instead. VentriloquistAnimal occurs when talking animals don't move their mouths.

Not to be confused with TalkingAnimal, where the animals actually speak and the humans understand them.

-->--''Anime/CowboyBebop''

[[quoteright:250:[[ComicBook/KryptoTheSuperdog https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/krypto_dialogue_2.png]]]]

* In BBC's [[WesternAnimation/PetSquad]], the 3 main characters talk through barks, meows and squeaks to their owner, but become a [[TalkingAnimal]] when their owner is out of the room.

In some works about {{Civilized Animal}}s that can't be understood by humans, or even {{Nearly Normal Animal}}s, all animals will understand each other regardless of species. If any {{Language Barrier}}s ''do'' show up among animals, they will be based on culture rather than species.[[note]]In RealLife, much as with people, things like a cat's meow or a gull's cry often sound different in historically isolated populations around the globe.[[/note]] In real life, animals of different species do not understand each other, not even if they're closely related species like dogs and wolves.

People of different nationalities are always portrayed as not being able to understand each other if it's not common for people of said nationalities to understand each other in RealLife, whilst all animals understand each other regardless of species. In RealLife, much as with people, things like a cat's meow or a gull's cry often sound different in historically isolated populations around the globe.

Sometimes the LanguageBarrier between humans and animals only applies one way: the animals can understand the human language, but not vice versa, like in ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron''. In some other situations, very young children can understand animals, either meaning that Baby Talk counts as a type of "Animal", or that Animal Talk is just one of those things that's InvisibleToAdults.

Sometimes the trope only applies one way: the animals can understand the human language, but not vice versa, like in ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron''. In some other situations, very young children can understand animals, either meaning that Baby Talk counts as a type of "Animal", or that Animal Talk is just one of those things that's InvisibleToAdults.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' -- as a wolf, Link can talk to any friendly animal, including Epona. Notable that while Link can speak to them, the animals don't understand humans. Early on in the game, if you fail to listen to a human conversation without being spotted, the humans run off, and a dog nearby remarks "Wow, you can understand human talk?"

* ''Literature/DoctorDolittle'' series, in which the Doctor's household consists of (among others) a dog, a horse, a goose, an owl, a pig and a mouse, and they can talk with each other easily, so there is some lingua franca going on. Polynesia is the only one who can speak human languages.

* ''Anime/RingingBell'' has sheep and wolves talking to each other however other animals don't communicate.

** Dave the octopus seems to be able to speak to humans, though it's possible he simply learned the English language, as he's shown to be a mad genius. Strangely the [[Furry Confusion other octopuses just speak via bulbing, even when speaking to the penguins]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpaceChimps'', although it only applies to chimpanzees and aliens. No other animal can talk to them.

People of different nationalities are always portrayed as not being able to understand each other even within the same racial ethnicity, whilst all animals understand each other regardless of species. In RealLife, much as with people, things like a cat's meow or a gull's cry often sound different in historically isolated populations around the globe.

Made particularly strange if the TranslationConvention is in effect around humans: when perspective shifts to humans, the RealLife (and completely dissimilar) vocalizations of the species involved will be heard, but then when it switches to the perspective of said animals, everything will become intelligible with no BilingualDialogue problems at all, ''as the same language''.

Humans and other obviously sapient creatures, such as RidiculouslyHumanRobots, {{Beast M|an}}en, and, yes, even anthropomorphic {{Funny Animal}}s of different nationalities are always portrayed as not being able to understand each other even within the same racial ethnicity, whilst all animals understand each other regardless of species. In RealLife, much as with people, things like a cat's meow or a gull's cry often sound different in historically isolated populations around the globe.

Humans and other obviously sapient creatures, such as RidiculouslyHumanRobots, {{Beast M|an}}en, and, yes, even anthropomorphic {{Funny Animal}}s are always portrayed as having many different languages even within the same racial ethnicity, whilst all animals speak the same language regardless of species. In RealLife, much as with people, things like a cat's meow or a gull's cry often sound different in historically isolated populations around the globe.

There are only two languages in the world: Human and Animal. Humans and other obviously sapient creatures, such as RidiculouslyHumanRobots, {{Beast M|an}}en, and, yes, even anthropomorphic {{Funny Animal}}s are always portrayed as having many different languages even within the same racial ethnicity, whilst all animals speak the same language regardless of species. In RealLife, much as with people, things like a cat's meow or a gull's cry often sound different in historically isolated populations around the globe.

Sometimes the trope only applies one way: the animals can understand the human language, but not vice versa, like in ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' (at least early on). In some other situations, very young children can understand animals, either meaning that Baby Talk counts as a type of "Animal", or that Animal Talk is just one of those things that's InvisibleToAdults.

In a comic book ThoughtBubbleSpeech may be used. VentriloquistAnimal occurs when talking animals don't move their mouths.

* In all the ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' comics, movies, specials, and series, the animals can understand human language, but not vice versa. In the comic this has been going the other way as far as Garfield and Jon are concerned, since Jon actually reacts to things that only appear in Garfield's thought bubbles (such as the comic's trademark AsideGlance).
** Odie is an odd exception, he is incapable of any form of communication other than barks and such in all media he appears in, and with the exception of a couple isolated incidents is unable to do animal thoughtspeak, though he is the only animal in the comics who isn't able to do so, including other dogs. Given his intelligence level, he may have just not learned how to. There was one comic, however where he tried to meow to Garfield, only for Garfield to claim he couldn't understand him due to his thick dog accent.
** This seems to apply not only to animals, but ''everything'': flowers, doughnuts, old meatloaf, laser pointers, and weight machines have all been shown to be capable of communicating with Garfield through thoughts.
* Snoopy is capable of AnimalTalk in the ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' comics, but not so much in the movies and specials.

%%* The ''Film/{{Garfield}}'' movie has the animals talking to humans rather than being totally silent to them like in the comics.

* Tony Tony Chopper of ''Manga/OnePiece'' is a reindeer granted human intelligence by a magic fruit. Not only can he speak, but he can also translate between 'human' and 'animal' WordOfGod says that only an animal with the Hito Hito Fruit can talk to both humans and animals, contrary to a human eating the animal-themed Zoan fruits and being able to communicate to animals.

* Occurs in the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode Mushroom Samba via subtitles, after a cow has forced the train with Ed and the mark to stop by standing on the tracks.
-->'''Ein:''' Woof! (Thank you)\\
'''Cow:''' Moo. (Oh, it's no problem)
* In ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'', as revealed in Episode 29, Ichigo developed the ability to understand cat language. Also, in the end of Episode 27 and over the course of Episode 28 before then, she actually turns into a talking cat for the first time! Ryou also turns into a talking cat as well, but only lasts in that form for a few seconds.
* In ''Manga/AnimalLand'', each animal species has their own distinct language called a cry which only members from their own species can understand. The animals however can understand humans like Tarouza and they in turn can understand all types of animal cries.
* In the ''Manga/HappyHappyClover'' Anime and Manga by Creator/TatsuyamaSayuri. [[HumansAreCthulhu Animals are forbidden to leave Cresent Forest, in fear of humans.]] But, Clover decides to leave the forest since she wonders why animals are scared of humans. When she first encounters humans, she starts panicking and calling for help. But from the humans' point of view, they can't understand what she's saying.
* Another manga by Tatsuyama Sayuri is [[http://s.ecrater.com/stores/59739/4bef07e91dd10_59739n.jpg "Pukupuku Natural Circular Notice"]] a 1999 manga that ran until 2004. In the Manga series, the pets and animals that show up in the manga can talk to each other but the humans can't understand them
* The dogs in ''Manga/MassuguNiIkou'' all speak among themselves. They can also speak to other animals such as crows.
* ''Manga/MyRoommateIsACat'': Most of the sympathetic animals are cats, but Haru is shown able to talk with a dog while visiting the vet's office.
* ''Anime/RingingBell'' has sheep and wolves talking to each other however other animals don't communicate.

* Archie's dog in ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie'' has internal dialogue in his appearance. He speaks in fragmented sentences. He refers to Archie as "archiemaster" and many of his words are meshed together.

* Seems to apply in ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'', but rarely comes up. When Otto (Sgt. Snorkel's dog) and Bella (Sgt. Lugg's cat) first meet, they seem to be able to communicate through their thought bubbles, which humans can't "hear". Another time in a much newer strip, Otto communicates with some cats with normal speech bubbles.
* In ''ComicStrip/{{The Far Side}}'', being that it's a MindScrew comic strip, this trope is subverted, inverted, played straight, and so on in every possible way from strip to strip. Including one where dolphins speak ''Spanish''.

* While played straight with Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs in ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12425454/1/ Dinosaur King Retold]]'', this is averted with sea reptiles like Futabasaurus, who have their own language distinct from the Archosaurs. When Zoe and Spiny first summon the Futabasaurus, he attacks everyone but Spiny because he can't distinguish who are his summoner's allies and enemies.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'' also exhibits this trope, all the animals are able to talk with each other. But when humans are around, them make normal animal noises. Most notable when Marie,Toulouse,and Berlioz return home and meow to their owner when they return home.
* For the most part, ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'' seems to follow this trope, as animals of all species can communicate, as well as understand what the humans are saying but not vice-versa. However, at one point Timothy Mouse is able to whisper intelligibly into the ringmaster's ear as he sleeps. Either Timothy is special, animals just pretend they can't speak when humans are around (which you'd think would be an even bigger claim to fame than a flying elephant if one ever spoke up), or the fact that the man was asleep meant he only heard the mouse subconsciously.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' has all manners of fish being able to communicate with each other, mermaids, invertebrates, and even birds. [[CarnivoreConfusion Sharks]] appear to be the only animals that can't speak. They avoid interaction with humans for most of the movie, yet Eric appears to understand Sebastian when he whispered Ariel's name at him. Even the prequel series has shown Sebastian interacting with a human child, proving that humans can understand some creatures.
* Also shown in the first ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' movie, where all animals understand each other, but "humans can't talk". The sequels feature animals that don't seem to talk but are still intelligent and sapient as the talking animals. Examples include Cretaceous and Maelstrom from ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown'', the dinosaurs from ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeDawnOfTheDinosaurs'', and the hyraxes from ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeContinentalDrift''. Interestingly, Santa Claus from ''A Mammoth Christmas'' is human and is able to communicate with the animals. It might be because he's magical.
* In ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'', the dog characters can talk to each other and to most animals in the zoo. Interestingly, they cannot converse with apes as they are too close to humans in nature. Birds and rats are also shown to not communicate with dogs.
* Reversed in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Remy the rat can understand humans and has even taught himself to read but must use physical gestures to communicate with them. There is one scene where Remy speaks to his sidekick Emile, then cuts to a human's perspective where all she can hear is a very high-pitched squeaking. This could mean the difference is in timbre rather than language. Also, he was never shown to communicate with any other animal, other than his rat family.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet'', most animals speak to each other, even most [[CarnivoreConfusion predators]], but humans cannot understand. Unless one happens to be a penguin that can communicate via tap-dance.

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'' subverts this: gorillas and elephants seem to share a language, unintelligible to humans, but other animals like [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute baboons]] or [[CarnivoreConfusion leopards]] seem to have their own language of grunts and growls. This carries on to the animated series, where Jane has been taught to speak to gorillas and elephants, but she simply cannot communicate with any other non-human animal. She also cannot understand when Tarzan is speaking to a different animal. Tarzan, apparently, is just multilingual. When other humans show up, Jane or Tarzan have to relay whatever their elephant or gorilla friends say to them.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', there are a couple of scenes where Alex the lion tries to talk to the humans. All they hear is roaring, and are understandably horrified. It's implied that the Zoo animals are too sheltered to realize that the humans can't understand them.
* But in ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', it is unclear whether or not the human characters can understand the animal characters. Sometimes, the humans seem to understand the animals, sometimes they do not.
** Dave the octopus seems to be able to speak to humans, though it's possible he simply learned the English language, as he's shown to be a mad genius. Strangely the [[Furry Confusion other octopuses just speak via bulbing, even when speaking to the penguins]].

* A variation is used in the sequels to ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', where there are apparently two dinosaur languages, one used by the ''T. rex'' characters (and possibly other "Sharpteeth") and one used by everyone else. An odd exception to the rule is Chomper, the baby 'Sharptooth' who (presumably) learned to speak the 'conventional' dinosaur language and the exclusive 'Sharptooth' language (shown when translating his parents language to Littlefoot). Interestingly, some non-dinosaurs can speak the same language as the herbivorous dinosaurs, including carnivores.
* In ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', Nuju learns bird language. There is also kikinalo language and Visorak language.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': All animals can speak with each other but not with humans. However, when Naveen and Tiana are transformed into frogs they gain the abilities to talk to the animals yet do not lose the ability to communicate with other humans. Mama Odie appears to be able to understand AnimalTalk in her human form, though this is [[JustifiedTrope justifiable]] in that she uses voodoo.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpaceChimps'', although it only applies to chimpanzees and aliens. No other animal can talk to them.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'' has animals of different species speaking to each other.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'', the animals can't talk to people, not even the parrots ironically.
* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'', the humans can't understand the animals as shown when Ozzie is distracting the humans by "playing dead" when he is speaking it switches to the humans perspective where all they hear is animal noises.
* ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason'', the animals can talk to each other, but it's most likely that the humans can't understand them as shown when Boog is trying to stop Elliot from ruining his show. The humans hear them behind the curtain and since they only hear roaring, mistake him for trying to kill Elliot and then all of them. Though it is unclear if Shaw can understand the animals or not, but did see Elliot walk like a man. But in ''Open Season: Scared Silly'', Shaw didn't understand the animals, when Boog said "Aooooo" when his hand was bitten by Mr Weenie, he heard it clearly but thought it was a werewolf.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'', the animals (except the dogs) can talk to each other, but they are never shown talking to humans.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'', all the herbivorous dinosaurs and the lemurs can talk to each other, but [[CarnivoreConfusion the carnivorous dinosaurs]], including the film's [[BigBad Big Bads]], a pair of Carnotaurus, cannot talk. They instead communicate using roars and screams.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron'': The horses can talk to each other, but not to humans. Unlike other examples where animals are the main characters, the TranslationConvention isn't used.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Barnyard}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'' parodies this: Not only do the animals have the ability to talk to each other, but they pretend that they can't talk when humans are around (except for one scene).
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'', all of the animals can talk to each other, and to Mowgli who was RaisedByWolves. The sequel takes this to ridiculous extremes when Shanti and Ranjan, who both grew up in the village, also understand the animals.
* The animals in ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToasterToTheRescue'' can actually talk to each other and even electronic devices, but like said electronics they cannot talk to people.

* The fairies from ''Franchise/DisneyFairies'' actually all speak human language when left alone, but make tinkling noises when with humans. It's implied that their voices are just high pitched to the point that humans can only hear the tinkling.
* Goats and wolves speak a common tongue in ''Anime/OneStormyNight''. Other animals seem to understand each other as well.

* Unlike with [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime previous]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}} examples]], ''Anime/YouAreUmasou'' has carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs both being able to speak and communicate with each other.

* The book ''Literature/WatershipDown'', never content to leave an animal trope as it finds it, has its rabbits speak Lapine amongst themselves. Local creatures share a crude woodland vernacular (referred as "hedgerow talk"), but other ones have to be taught; these are represented by broken language, strong accents and unintelligibility of simple concepts such as Lapine's "''silflay''" or Keehaar's 'Gullish' "sea" to other species. Different rabbit populations have words and concepts for things others do not: for example, the Watership crowd has no comprehension of the "great messenger of Frith" that scattered their pursuers, but the Efrafans know it was a train.
* Played straight in Richard Adam's ''Literature/ThePlagueDogs'', where apparently all animals can talk to each other (a caged rabbit clearly requests to "be left to die in peace") but animals cannot talk to humans. However, the titular dogs have trouble understanding the Tod, a fox whose animal speak is translated into a particularly hard-to-understand English dialect.
* In ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'', each species of animals, plants and inanimate objects has its own language. Interestingly, for instance language of the dragons is related to the language of snakes, and centaurs can in theory converse with pegasi. Also, some beings might have magical gifts to be able to talk the languages of other species, like Grundy.
* Played straight in most of Creator/DickKingSmith's books; for instance in ''The Sheep-Pig'' sheep, dogs and pigs can all communicate, and in ''Magnus Powermouse'', the mice have no problem talking to a rabbit. Averted in ''The Fox Busters'', which includes the mutually incomprehensible languages of Vulpine, Hennish and Rodent, with no ''lingua franca''.
* In the first ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'' book, it is explicitly stated that different genera of animals speak different languages. There is one ''lingua franca'' that is understood by a few species, including humans and Protoceratopsians. The thing is, whether you are able to understand this language or not depends seemingly on your ''biological classification''. Fortunately, James Gurney seems to have outright dumped this in later books (exactly how it was supposed to work was never clear).
** One of Allan Dean Foster's Dinotopia novels had a human-and-stegosaurian nomadic community where, despite the stegosaurians and all other dinosaurs being as intelligent as humans (it's part of the setting) and the community having existed for years, the dinosaurs and humans ''could not understand what the other species was saying''.
** It may or may not have been Gurney who dumped it, but the digest novels left it behind to make them easier for younger readers to comprehend.

* Either played with or subverted in Creator/TamoraPierce's ''Literature/TheImmortals'' series, where all the animals could talk to each other with relative ease, but it was implied that each species has its own distinct dialect. Unlike a lot of examples, the language the animals speak seems to be directly mind-to-mind, separate from their vocalised communications, so perhaps it operates more like telepathy than language. Inter-species communication happens in the books (squirrels talking to wolves etc) but it's implied that this is very unusual and due to the effect of the human [[FriendToAllLivingThings main character]], contact with whom makes animals smarter. So while apparently all animals are able to talk to one another, it wouldn't normally occur to them to speak to another species.
* Creator/{{Garry Kilworth}}'s ''Literature/HouseOfTribes''. Kilworth plays with this in ''Literature/HuntersMoon1989'', where it's fox-speak (and dog-speak; the two species share a common language) rendered as English, feline as French, and so on; human speech is described as sounding like barks and growls. Vulpine also features regional dialects: Camio, a North American fox, is described as having a different accent than the rest of the foxes, who are all native to Great Britain; he also has different names for some vulpine concepts (''longtrekker'' as opposed to ''rangfar'' to describe a fox who has journeyed far from home, etc.).

* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', several different types of animals can speak, but each species speaks a different "language" and they are all unintelligible to each other (and to humans). The cats can only understand one or two words that the dog pack speaks (namely, "pack" and "kill"), while Midnight the badger is highly unusual for having learned to talk to cats, as well as foxes and rabbits. It's even mentioned that there are different languages among cats in different regions (Midnight can speak a couple of those others too). The Tribe of Rushing Water, for instance, speaks the same language as the Clans, but are mentioned to have a strange accent and use different idioms.

* Sorcerors in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' instantly learn the language of an animal on transforming into it. Wolves have a language that is primarily dominated by body language, while birds are noted to spend a lot of time yelling that a certain nest is theirs.

* Gry's power in ''Literature/AnnalsOfTheWesternShore''. It's some kind of telepathy, but it works ''only'' on animals because human thoughts are too complex. (She can also detect babies in utero until a certain stage of development.)
* ''Literature/TheBees'' is, not surprisingly, about bees. The bees themselves can all understand a common tongue although lower worker drones cannot talk. They also have dancing as a method of communication. Wasps and bees can talk to each other without much difficulty (ignoring the fact the wasps want to kill the bees) but communication to other insects, like ants, requires the use of an ancient tongue which very few creatures know fluently leading to very simple communication.
* In ''Literature/VarjakPaw'', it originally seemed like cats couldn't speak the same language as dogs, however Varjak is eventually able to speak with one. Dogs don't speak as articulately as cats do.
* In ''Literature/{{Bambi}}'', Bambi is not only able to understand other mammals but he can understand insects as well. Animals cannot understand humans though. It's also implied plants have a language but only other plants understand it.
* In ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'', there is not one universal language. Dogs and wolves speak the same language due to being so similar (they're very often even considered the same species). Foxes, coyotes, and dogs can also understand one another, but foxes and coyotes speak in fragmentive speech.
* Zig-zagged on Literature/{{Discworld}}, especially in books involving Gaspode. In his first appearance in ''Literature/MovingPictures'', Gaspode (who's a TalkingAnimal) is clear that without his magically enhanced intelligence he wouldn't have the ability to process complex language; he can translate for another dog, but all it says is "[[DogsAreDumb Laddie good boy! Good boy, Laddie!]]" But his next appearance in ''Literature/MenAtArms'' introduces the Dog Guild, and apparently the canine language is capable of producing [[ANaziByAnyOtherName terrifying political speeches]], and the average Ankh-Morpork stray has enough reasoning power to understand them. ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'' reveals he can also talk to wolves, although few wolves are interested in talking to him.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheVolsungs'': While Sigmund and Sinfjotli are transformed into wolves by two enchanted wolfskins, they can no longer talk but only howl like wolves, yet they understand each other. It is not mentioned whether they can understand ''other'' wolves.
* ''Literature/{{Bravelands}}'' has no humans in the series (so far), and the main animals who talk to each other are lions, baboons, and elephants. Other animals like giraffes, rhinos, and cheetahs can communicate with them pretty well, and other talking animals include zebras, wildebeests, and vultures. Animals generally speak one CommonTongue but there are some animals that predominantly or exclusively speak certain languages. For example, birds speak skytongue, zebra speak grasstongue, and crocodiles speak sandtongue.
* ''Literature/TheLastDogs'': The main animals who can talk are dogs, but the three main protagonists ([[TheHero Max]], [[DeadpanSnarker Rocky]], and [[GenkiGirl Gizmo]]) encounter other talking animals like cats, rats, pigs, and zoo animals like elephants and red pandas.
* In ''Literature/TheCatMaster'', the points of views are with five cats (one being the main villain of the story), two dogs (an old German shepherd and a savage chow mix), a neurotic lizard, a gluttonous possum, and a mockingbird seeking revenge for her mate's death. There is also a raccoon that can speak, but it only speaks madly of how water burns it (because it has rabies).
* ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' has Common-Singing, the CommonTongue that all the animals (ranging from cats, foxes, squirrels, and even birds) can speak. This is because Common-Singing is mainly boy language. Higher-Singing is cat-exclusive and strictly verbal.
* In ''Literature/TheGoldenHamsterSaga'', all mammals can speak a telepathic language called Interanimal.
* In ''Literature/TheSummerKingChronicles'', birds and gryfons speak one language, and mammals speak "earth speech." Only [[TheChosenOne the Summer King]] can understand all animals.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Harry Potter can speak Parseltongue, allowing him to communicate with snakes. He gained the ability from Voldemort when Voldemort attempted to kill him as a baby.
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' establishes that Animagi can communicate with other creatures when they're in their animal form. Sirius Black uses his dog form to ask Hermione's cat-Kneazle Crookshanks to obtain Neville's list of Gryffindor common room passwords this way. Voldemort mentions in ''Goblet of Fire'' that Peter Pettigrew, who has the Animagus form of a rat, has an unusual affinity for actual rats and can talk to them in his rat form.
* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', the only animals that have been shown to have anything resembling a language are cetaceans. Dolphins and whales can communicate with each other, though they don't make the same sounds, and whale speech is described as a semi-StarfishLanguage, based on feelings rather than words. [[FriendToAllLivingThings Cassie]] is the only one who's shown actually communicating with a whale, in dolphin morph.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' -- as a wolf, Link can talk to any friendly animal, including Epona. Notable that while Link can speak to them, the animals don't understand humans. Early on in the game, if you fail to listen to a human conversation without being spotted, the humans run off, and a dog nearby remarks "Wow, you can understand human talk?"
* Present in the ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' series. Yes, ''Tekken''. That's what happens when you have six actual animals (plus King and King II, who seem to prefer snarls and roars over their native Spanish). Here, though, it seems that [[BilingualDialogue everyone retains their language (or something they've picked up) and just understand each other]]: Paul (English) and Kuma II (bear) trading insults, Raven (English) and Heihachi (Japanese) discussing storyline, and so on.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight'', using the Transformation Staff to turn into an animal allows the characters to talk to any animal, whether it's a rabbit or a seagull. They often give hints about where to find items or prepare for the next boss.
* ''VideoGame/DisgaeaD2ABrighterDarkness'' has this as one of the personality/voice options for Beastmasters. All of their voice clips become random animal noises, including chicken noises.
* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' implies the FunnyAnimal characters speak a language called "Animalese". The human protagonist is fluent in it.
* ''VideoGame/DogsLife'' stars a dog named Jake who speaks internally. Oddly, several [=NPC=] characters only bark instead of speak.
* Judd from ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' talks in "meows" which inklings apparently understand. Oddly, he is the only animal who does this. Moe the clownfish speaks and the more anthropomorphic characters also speak (except jellyfish, who don't speak the same language as inklings). It's possibly because Judd is a mammal.

* In ''VideoGame/GoldenTreasureTheGreatGreen'', most Goodbeasts can understand each other, describing their partially-telepathic language as "singing", while the No-Tails (humans) generally have great difficulty singing, if they can at all. There are exceptions in both cases: the player character, a Draak-Kin (dragon), has trouble understanding spiders and many other arthropods, and a few No-Tails can sing, even quite fluently. [[PaintingTheMedium The different fonts]] used for each species of Goodbeast seems to imply how well the player character can understand them, with fellow Draak-Kin having clear, easy-to-read fonts, cats having loopy cursive fonts that are hard to read, and so on.

* The cats can talk to one another in ''Webcomic/PapiNyang'' but the humans can't understand them. It hasn't quite been confirmed if they understand the humans, due to Chev not listening to them. They haven't tried talking to other animals yet.
* In ''Webcomic/FauxPas'': The animals can all talk with one another, and most of them understand English. At first, Cindy didn't understand English and Randy ([[TactfulTranslation tactfully]]) translated what humans were saying to her. Some can read (and a few can write) English, but the only one who can speak it is the cockatiel (since cockatiels in real life can mimic human language). Of course, Cocky actually speaks French; his English is extremely poor, which allows the humans to largely just ignore him.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'':
** Comprehending animal language seems to be a natural ability. When Dr. Nimnul (a human) accidentally transplants himself into the body of Zipper (a fly), he can understand the Rangers "because he's part bug".
** In one single scene of the cartoon this trope is subverted in a confusing way. A dog talks to a human, the human can understand it but since he wasn't paying attention he doesn't realize it was his dog that talked, and looks around asking "who said that?". Either animals can talk "human" but they decide not to, or this dog is a Meowth-type.

* The 2000 AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/CliffordTheBigRedDog'' relies on this trope (in the books, the dogs never spoke at all). It can be jarring sometimes to see the three dogs having an intelligent conversation in English (via TranslationConvention), only for the show to stop translating those barks when a human character steps into the picture. However, in the version that premiered in 2019, as well as the 1988 cartoon, the dogs and human characters talk directly with each other.
* Used, undoubtedly to the maximum confusion of its young audience, in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' animated series. Arthur's pet dog Pal can speak to other non-anthropomorphic animals, as well as [[LivingToys toys]], (just as a reminder, Arthur has friends who are [[FurryConfusion anthropomorphic dogs]]). Furthermore, there are several episodes where Pal and ''Arthur's baby sister'' (who is an anthropomorphic aardvark) can communicate with each other. The series even has Kate start to lose her ability to understand Pal when she begins to learn how to talk.

* In the world of Hanna-Barbera's'' [[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies1980s Pound Puppies]]'' the titular characters can speak (English) to humans but must keep it secret, so they switch to dog when maintaining the Masquerade.
** In one of their made-to-VHS movies, the bad guy disables their communication. So the human friends hear nothing but barks and woofs. Meanwhile the Pound Puppies (now speaking English) claim they can't understand what the humans are saying.
* In the Hasbro ''[[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010 Pound Puppies]]'' cartoon both dogs and cats are capable of speaking human English, but have to keep it a secret to keep up the masquerade. As shown with the Alligator Roger, it is possible for other animals to learn English as well. Although other animals like squirrels and birds have their own language.

* The entire premise behind ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'' is that a shaman cast a spell on Eliza, at her request, enabling her to speak to animals. Interestingly, the first spell he cast caused her to speak in random animal noises when she tried talking to her family (though the shaman himself could understand her just fine).

* Although not animal talk, the baby/adult language on ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' works the same way. The babies can all talk to each other and can understand adults, but the adults can't understand them. Big kids, like Angelica and Susie, are the privileged polyglots that can understand and talk to both (for a certain value of "understand" ... leading to phrases such as "As Bob is my witless").
* In Cartoon Pizza / Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}'', Stanley and his friends of the same age often talk to animals. Animals such as Stanley's pets Dennis, Harry and Elsie exhibit human-like behaviors, while all others behave more like animals. Stanley's Grandma Griff also talks to the animals. Though the other characters don't seem to be incapable of understanding the animals, but the animals almost never talk in their presence and, when they do, they are either unaware it is happening or dismiss it as a dream / having not happened.
* Fu Dog in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' can speak English perfectly well, but can't communicate with other dogs when he is captured by a dog catcher. He apparently needs an English-Dog Dictionary to bridge the language gap.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxbusters'', unlike in the book it's based on, all of the species are shown to be able to communicate with each other quite easily. They are also shown to be capable of understanding English as well (in fact it's likely they are meant to be speaking English, rather than animal talk) with characters shown reading, writing and in one episode even making a phone call.

* Apparently the talking animals used as household appliances on ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' cartoon fall into this trope. They make some remark about how it feels to spend their whole life holding some object in their beaks, but it never seems that any human notices what they're saying. (It's a little more of a substantial plot point in the LiveActionAdaptation movie.) Although, Dino DID originally speak in the episode "The Snorkasaurus Hunter" where the Flintstones and Rubbles understood him perfectly fine. So it may be a subversion.

* Woofer and Wimper from ''WesternAnimation/ClueClub'' talk to each other and other animals in perfect English. To the gang and all other humans, they just bark like regular dogs.
* All animals in ''WesternAnimation/KryptoTheSuperdog'' speak the same language, whether they're {{Nearly Normal Animal}}s like Ignatius the iguana, or [[IntelligentGerbil animal-like aliens]] like Mechanikat. Kevin, Krypto's owner, SpeaksFluentAnimal thanks to a TranslatorMicrobes medallion.

* Hot Dog has internal dialogue in ''WesternAnimation/TheArchieShow''.
* It's [[ImpliedTrope implied]] in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' that NearlyNormalAnimal species like dogs and birds speak a separate language from ponies. Fluttershy understands them.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' adds a new level to the animal talk used in ''Franchise/TheLionKing'' franchise. Animals apparently all have their own species-specific languages (which corresponds to the sound they usually make when they communicate) alongside the generalized language they all speak. In one episode Simba and Nala go on a trip to go to an elephants funeral. Simba isn't fluent in elephant and butchers "He had good on him" as "He had poop on him". Luckily the other elephants don't take it badly as [[ToiletHumor the elephant was often poop covered]] and that used to make them laugh.
* ''WesternAnimation/BooBoomTheLongWayHome'': All animals can talk with each other, but not to humans except those who SpeaksFluentAnimal (like Boo-Boom).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Horseland}}'': Animals (horses, dog, cat) can talk with each other and get significant screen time doing so, but humans do not understand them. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in Episode 1: "it's like Sarah can speak horse".
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Green Eggs and Ham|2019}}'': Only the viewer can hear the mouse, who Sam names Squeaky, talking, while other characters can hear him squeaking.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' had Timmy pulling a FreakyFridayFlip with Vicky's dog. He finds himself unable to communicate with Cosmo and Wanda afterward, but can talk to Vicky's other pets.