The ability of zombies to talk has long fascinated and terrified people. Zombies are reanimated corpses, which calls into question if they retain any human characteristics like speech. In movies and TV shows, zombies are often depicted as mute monsters that only growl or moan. However, some zombie stories show the undead creatures uttering words or even having conversations. So what does science and mythology tell us about zombies and speech?
The origins of zombies in folklore
Before analyzing whether modern zombies can talk, it helps to examine the origins of zombies in folklore. Tales of the dead reanimating existed in various cultures before the modern conception of zombies emerged. In Haitian and West African folklore, zombies were dead people brought back to life through magic and spiritual rituals. These traditional zombies were not violent or bloodthirsty but rather seemed expressionless and compliant to the commands of their masters. Speech and communication weren’t prominent features of the original zombie myth.
In Haitian Vodou tradition, zombies were dead people revived by a bokor (sorcerer) without their original spirit or free will. The bokor would use a powder called coupe poudre to make people appear dead and then later revive them in a hypnotized zombie state. These zombies would remain under the bokor’s control as mindless slaves. Early Haitian zombies weren’t thought to be capable of independent speech or thought, just grunts or wailing under direction of the bokor.
The West African concept of the zombie originated in traditions like voodoo. People who rebelled against community practices might be punished by having a zombie spirit placed in their dead body, forcing them to surrender their free will as they are resurrected. The zombie was therefore a metaphor for slavery and lack of autonomy. This mythological origin does not attribute verbal abilities to the zombie either.
Zombies in modern horror fiction
Zombies became etched into the public imagination through horror stories and films in the early 20th century. Novelists, screenwriters, and filmmakers adapted the Haitian zombie concept into the revived corpses seeking to feed on the living that we know today. While traditional zombies were tools of sorcerers, modern zombies are out for blood on their own volition.
In this transition, zombies began taking on more human qualities, including simple speech and behavior. One of the first influential zombie stories was the 1969 cult horror film Night of the Living Dead by George Romero. This movie featured ambling reanimated corpses uttering words like “eat” while attacking humans. The modern zombie was born – and with it the possibility of vocalization.
In Romero’s 1978 sequel Dawn of the Dead, many zombies exhibit crude speech and behavior, such as the use of firearms by zombie police officers. While limited, this demonstrates Romero’s evolved vision of zombies retaining vestiges of their former humanity after reanimation.
Throughout subsequent decades, zombie fiction in the Romero vein has continued to experiment with talking zombies. In the 1985 horror classic Return of the Living Dead, a zombie named Tarman retains his living memories and can even manipulate humans into thinking he is alive at first. He relays his torture at being undead in a Hal Blaine styled breathiness . Other undead converse with shouts of “brains” when seeking human victims. Here, rudimentary speech conveys the lasting consciousness and urgency of the zombie plague.
Talking zombies in contemporary fiction
Contemporary zombie stories have fully embraced the prospect of conversant corpses. The zombie parody web series Brains (2011) depicts corporate zombies vying for human brains while engaging in office politics. Each zombie has a unique personality and speaks naturally with their own idiosyncrasies. Speech allows for zombie characters instead of mere monsters.
Max Brooks’ seminal novel World War Z (2006) interviews humans about surviving the global zombie war. A key interview is with a man who has a verbal zombie as a servant who he is trying rehabilitate into being human again through conditioning. The talking zombie reveals that he is trapped in undead limbo, able to think but not fully in control of his actions.
The zombie comedy series iZombie (2015) has a protagonist named Liv who is a sentient zombie who talks normally after becoming partially undead. She works with a coroner to solve murders by eating the brains of victims and gaining their memories and abilities. iZombie uses zombieism as a metaphor for substance addiction, exploring questions of morality and free will as Liv retains her personality after zombification and speaks plainly about her undead predicament.
With greater frequency, modern zombie stories grant undead characters consciousness and voice. Zombie speech marks a departure from zombie myths where they lack autonomy and self-awareness. Zombie conversations highlight their lingering humanity and intelligence despite their monstrous state.
Scientific plausibility of talking zombies
Fiction allows zombies to speak for dramatic purposes, but could this happen scientifically? Let’s analyze what physical capabilities zombies would need for speech and language.
Brain function
For zombies to talk, their undead brains would require enough function to process language, form thoughts, and create vocalizations. However, zombie brains are by definition damaged brains. Zombification stem from decay, trauma, or infection rather than a healthy resurrection. So zombies would at best retain residual language and speech abilities from their human lives.
Studies show that even someone in an unresponsive vegatative state retains language comprehension. A mostly intact zombie brain could feasibly do the same, or even regain some language centers as the brain repairs itself through neuroplasticity. However, their vocabulary and elocution would likely be slowed and simple.
Lungs, throat, and mouth
The vocal tract is essential for speech. Lungs send air through the larynx and vocal cords to create sounds. The muscles of the throat, mouth, nose, and tongue manipulate sounds into comprehensible language. Zombies retain these organs for groaning, so articulate speech is conceivable with practice.
However, zombies suffer degradation of their airways and vocal tracts. Their lungs may lose capacity as they deflate after death. Throat muscles and vocal cords deteriorate. The tongue rots. Lips and cheeks deflate. So while zombies can likely moan thanks to their vocal cords, articulated speech requires overcoming damage to the vocal tract.
Physical coordination
Speaking coherently requires precise coordination of the speech organs. Signals must travel from the brain to nerves activating various muscles simultaneously. Zombies suffer loss of coordination as their muscles and nervous system atrophy.
Parts of their brains may retain muscle memory of speech, like an undead version of riding a bike. But this would limit them to familiar words and phrases. Nuanced speech is constrained by their physical limits.
With therapy and practice zombies could possibly relearn how to coordinate the vocal tract again. But their speech would likely remain halting and clumsy. They can’t fully mimic natural human speech.
Conclusion
Fictional zombies can talk in wide ranging ways to suit the story, from animalistic grunts to eloquent monologues. But scientifically, zombies would face major barriers to articulate speech and language:
| Barrier | Impact on Speech |
| Brain damage | Loss of language centers, limited vocabulary and grammar |
| Deteriorated vocal tract | Slurred, clumsy speech |
| Loss of physical coordination | Difficulty controlling and synchronizing speech organs |
Some simple speech could occur thanks to residual brain function and muscle memory. But it would be very lackluster. And it likely couldn’t progress much further. The human traits that allow conversational speech appear lost to zombies along with their humanity.
While the brain’s neuroplasticity and ability to adapt are amazing, a zombie’s decayed state places hard limits. Zombies make disturbing groaning sounds because their bodies are severely impaired. Speech is one of the first and most complex human functions surrendered to zombification.
So while basic sounds, grunts, and moans are plausible, a conversant zombie seems squarely confined to fantasy. The ambling mute monster is the most scientifically accurate, if less entertaining on screen. Fiction should be free to endow zombies with all the speech their warped minds can muster up. But just don’t expect chatty zombies stumbling your way during a real apocalypse anytime soon.