voice boxes?

Question

could you swap a human and dogs voiceboxes around so the dog can speak and the human bark??

Answer 1

Dogs DO speak. It's called barking, growling, yelping, screaming, yipping, howling, etc. These are the sounds a dog's larynx and vocal cords can make, and they serve the same evolutionary purpose for the canine world as our ability to speak in words does for our species. Just like people, most of a dog's "language" consists of non-verbal components, such as facial expression, body language, position, and with dogs, ear position, showing, covering or displaying the teeth or tongue, head position, stance, tail movements (or their absence), eye movements and gaze. For people and many other languaged species, only about 20% of "language" is actually based on sound. The rest are the non-verbal things mentioned above, along with the context within which these sounds and behaviors occur.
Also, people CAN bark. We have just about the most highly developed and evolved language capability on the planet, which is why so many people become famous for imitating others. We are natural mimics. There is a book called, "How to Speak Dog", and can teach you how to imitate the various barks and sounds your dog makes, as well as how to imitate (within the human capability) many of the positions and non-verbal parts of your dog's language. Once I learned these things, my dogs looked literally surprised when I imitated their "play" bark and position, and immediately jumped all over me and had a great rough-housing time. They like it when I talk their language. And, being intelligent beings, they can understand an amazine amount of our language, both the verbal and non-verbal.
Now, speaking as a doctor, you could not transplant (at least in this point in medical skill) a dog's vocal equipment into a human. Our bodies would reject it as foreign tissue, as we often do with human organ donations. The same would hold true for a dog with a transplanted human vocal system.
Your dog doen not NEED to speak English (or whatever language you speak) to understand you, nor do you need to speak Dog to understand your pet. You already know what he wants, needs or is asking for. You've already learned each other's languages, so why change anything?
So, "Ruff, ruff, grrrr, wag wag." and, in English, "Good night".

David

Answer 2

You could probably swap the voiceboxes but the dogs brain would still tell it to bark. Try ventriloquism instead, or a brain transplant.

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

well you could but the dog wouldnt be able to speak because it hasnt got the capacity to learn a language and it hasnt got the correct tongue physically either

Answer 5

only in ur dreams. good idea to take some1 else's voice box as it would be good to hold a conversation with my dogs i talk to them enough.

Answer 6

well thats a silly question but I have to admit its a good idea

Answer 7

get a life

Answer 8

No, they are quite different physically.

Answer 9

dont think so

Answer 10

only if your sleeping.