Wednesday 25 July 2007
A comment from Verity got me thinking about which characters make which animal sounds when they talk. (Yes, it is a bad habit of mine.) The computer scientist in me could not resist analyzing the data, so here it is in all its unformatted glory for those of you who might be curious about such things.
Methodology
I simply counted up the number of times the text “[…] growled” appeared to see who growled the most. I also discarded a few “and growleds” since they aren’t very interesting.
Results
Of course, all of the “he growled” phrases could not be assigned to their growlers, but on the other hand, having all the “he growleds” counted separately readily shows that men growl far more often than women in my story. In fact, Egelric alone growls more than all the women of Lothere combined! 
I also checked out our top roarers, snarlers, hissers, squeakers, peepers, and purrers. Surprisingly – or perhaps not – Leofric beat out Egelric in the roaring competition.
Also, it is quite clear that men growl, roar, and snarl more often than women, but women are more likely to hiss than men. And women and children do the majority of the peeping, cheeping, and squeaking.
Women do seem to purr more than men, but strangely the top three named purrers are Imin, Dre, and Dantalion!
Appendix One — Data
Growled
| 81 | he |
| 34 | Egelric |
| 23 | she |
| 16 | Lar |
| 10 | Sigefrith |
| 7 | Leofric |
| 6 | Malcolm |
| 6 | Colban |
| 5 | Myrddin |
| 4 | father |
| 4 | Vash |
| 4 | elf |
| 3 | Dunstan |
| 3 | Imin |
| 3 | Llen |
| 3 | Theobald |
| 2 | Eadwyn |
| 2 | Cynewulf |
| 2 | Gunnilda |
| 2 | man |
| 2 | Brinstan |
| 2 | Abbot |
| 2 | voice |
| 2 | Eirik |
| 2 | Leia |
| 1 | Cian |
| 1 | priest |
| 1 | Conrad |
| 1 | Ethelwyn |
| 1 | Raedwald |
| 1 | girl |
| 1 | brother |
| 1 | Iylaine |
| 1 | Matilda |
| 1 | Dantalion |
| 1 | Osh |
| 1 | Pol |
| 1 | Brede |
| 1 | Papa |
| 1 | Gils |
| 1 | Kiv |
| 1 | Lasrua |
| 1 | Bertie |
| 1 | Wulsy |
| 1 | Aylmer |
| 1 | Anson |
| 1 | boy |
| 1 | Surr |
| 1 | Llosh |
| 1 | Wulf |
| 1 | they |
Roared
| 30 | he |
| 6 | Leofric |
| 6 | Brandt |
| 4 | Sigefrith |
| 4 | Egelric |
| 3 | Theobald |
| 2 | Lar |
| 2 | Colban |
| 2 | Brede |
| 2 | father |
| 1 | Alwy |
| 1 | Eirik |
| 1 | man |
| 1 | Pol |
| 1 | Cenwulf |
| 1 | Aengus |
| 1 | cousin |
Snarled
| 27 | he |
| 14 | she |
| 6 | Egelric |
| 5 | Malcolm |
| 4 | Myrddin |
| 3 | Leofric |
| 3 | Lar |
| 3 | Maire |
| 3 | elf |
| 2 | Flann |
| 2 | Vash |
| 2 | Theobald |
| 2 | Sigefrith |
| 1 | Raedwald |
| 1 | girl |
| 1 | Emma |
| 1 | Paul |
| 1 | Llen |
| 1 | Kiv |
| 1 | Brede |
| 1 | Bertie |
| 1 | Alred |
| 1 | Dunstan |
| 1 | Colban |
| 1 | man |
| 1 | Leia |
| 1 | creature |
| 1 | Imin |
| 1 | Surr |
Hissed
| 54 | she |
| 32 | he |
| 4 | Malcolm |
| 4 | Eadgith |
| 3 | Brede |
| 2 | Sigefrith |
| 2 | Estrid |
| 2 | Baron |
| 2 | father |
| 2 | Lar |
| 2 | Vash |
| 1 | Osh |
| 1 | Caedwulf |
| 1 | Gunnilda |
| 1 | Yware |
| 1 | people |
| 1 | She |
| 1 | Cat |
| 1 | Eirik |
| 1 | Wynflaed |
| 1 | Myrddin |
| 1 | gasp |
| 1 | Dantalion |
| 1 | Selwyn |
| 1 | Lasrua |
| 1 | sister |
| 1 | Flann |
| 1 | Lili |
| 1 | Olaf |
| 1 | Lena |
| 1 | Maud |
| 1 | Araphel |
| 1 | son |
| 1 | Egelric |
| 1 | Leofric |
Squeaked
| 45 | she |
| 13 | he |
| 3 | Yware |
| 3 | Catan |
| 2 | snow |
| 2 | Sigefrith |
| 2 | Brede |
| 1 | Eadgith |
| 1 | door |
| 1 | Caedwulf |
| 1 | Myrddin |
| 1 | Ralf |
| 1 | who |
| 1 | Nush |
| 1 | Astrid |
| 1 | Gytha |
| 1 | girl |
| 1 | Wynna |
| 1 | guard |
| 1 | Mouse |
| 1 | Malcolm |
| 1 | Selwyn |
| 1 | Synne |
| 1 | Vash |
| 1 | Imin |
| 1 | Gwynn |
| 1 | Estrid |
| 1 | Iylaine |
| 1 | Dunstan |
| 1 | Cynewulf |
| 1 | Lena |
| 1 | Wulf |
Peeped or Cheeped
| 2 | Hetty |
| 1 | voice |
| 1 | Eithne |
| 1 | she |
| 1 | Cynewulf |
| 1 | Cubby |
| 1 | Gils |
Purred
| 14 | she |
| 3 | Imin |
| 2 | Dre |
| 2 | She |
| 2 | Dantalion |
| 1 | Sophie |
| 1 | Lili |
| 1 | elf |
| 1 | Queen |
| 1 | he |
| 1 | it |
| 1 | Ana |
Appendix Two — A Little Something Cute
I was happy to see Egelric leading in the growls and Leofric topping the roars. I wonder though if all the growls are the same Malcom.
Chapters
I'am surprised that Matilda isn't on the hissed and snarled list. But this was very interesting. Its good to see Hilda's little boy happy he sure does look like his father the Abbot.