The cow is an important symbol of the Dutch landscape, ‘Dutchness’, the Dutch economy and Dutch eating practices. But it is also a controversial symbol; In 2020, more than 2 million cattle were killed in Dutch slaughterhouses, 1.4 million of which were calves younger than nine months. In our imagination we picture cows in the Dutch landscape, but in reality they spend much of their short lives in stalls. As a high-yield animal, the cow has been closely associated with humans for centuries. But what do we know about the cow? How do cows understand each other? How do cows use their voices and body language to communicate with one another and farmers? How do they relate to other cows, other animals and their surroundings?

This project focuses on two questions. First, how do we define what we mean by language? This is a complex question, because there are various linguistic theories that define language. Some try to understand language as a biological system in our brains, others conceive of language as a form of social behaviour. The great majority of linguists exclude the notion that other animals use language; they claim that ‘animal language does not exist’. Human language and human cognitive abilities thus set the standard to be met by other species. Due to this anthropocentric perspective, the languages and cognitive abilities of animals fall short from the start. Second, how do cows relate to their surroundings? Cows actively shape and reshape the landscape, yet the landscape also limits their options. Cows do not live alone, of course; humans and cows form part of a protracted process of domestication. This project investigates the relationship between cows and humans. In what ways do humans relate to cows (as products, as sensitive creatures, as objects)? Which other animals play a role in the relationship with cows?

Due to the rapid fall in biodiversity, growing inequality between humans and other species, the disappearance of habitats for non-human species and overly intensive contact, which has led to the emergence of diseases such as COVID-19, language among animals has become a pressing issue for linguists. This project therefore enriches the concept of language and problematises the notion that language is reserved exclusively for humans. The dairy cow forms the case for the ‘animal languages’ project, which will be carried out in close cooperation with Dutch dairy farmers.