El maullido viene de la cocina.

Maullido is a noun meaning meow, mew, or the sound a cat makes. It comes from the verb maullar = to meow.

So:

• el maullido = the meow / the cat’s cry
• un maullido = a meow

It refers to the sound itself, not the cat.

Spanish often uses the definite article el / la / los / las where English might not, especially when talking about something specific that is already identifiable in the situation.

Here, El maullido suggests the meowing sound that the speaker is hearing or referring to.

Compare:

• El maullido viene de la cocina. = The meowing is coming from the kitchen.
• Un maullido viene de la cocina. = A meow is coming from the kitchen.
  This sounds more like introducing the sound for the first time.

Viene is the third-person singular form of venir (to come).

The subject is el maullido, which is singular, so the verb must also be singular:

• el maullido viene
• not el maullido vienen

Even though the sentence is about a sound, Spanish uses venir naturally to say where a sound, smell, light, or voice seems to come from.

Not always. In this sentence, viene de means comes from / is coming from / seems to come from.

Spanish uses venir de very naturally with things like:

• sounds
• smells
• music
• voices
• light

Examples:

• La música viene del patio. = The music is coming from the patio.
• Ese olor viene de aquí. = That smell is coming from here.

So here, the idea is that the source of the meowing is the kitchen.

Because cocina is a specific noun, and in Spanish rooms in a house usually take an article:

• la cocina = the kitchen
• el baño = the bathroom
• la sala = the living room

So:

• de la cocina = from the kitchen

Saying de cocina would sound incomplete or unnatural here.

Because del is only the contraction of de + el.

• de + el = del
• de + la = de la (no contraction)

Since cocina is feminine, it uses la, so:

• de la cocina

Compare:

• del patio = from the patio
• de la cocina = from the kitchen

Yes. Proviene de also means comes from / originates from.

• El maullido viene de la cocina. = normal, everyday
• El maullido proviene de la cocina. = a bit more formal or precise

Both are correct. For normal conversation, viene de is very common.

Usually de la cocina is the most natural choice here.

• viene de la cocina = it’s coming from the kitchen
• viene desde la cocina can be understood, but it often feels a little more emphatic, like stressing the starting point or direction.

With sounds, de is generally the default and most idiomatic option.

No, but this version is the most neutral and natural:

• El maullido viene de la cocina.

You could also hear:

• De la cocina viene el maullido.

That version is more stylistic or gives extra emphasis to de la cocina. A learner should usually stick with subject + verb + complement unless there is a reason to emphasize something.

That changes the meaning.

• El maullido viene de la cocina. = The speaker hears a meowing sound and identifies its source as the kitchen.
• El gato maúlla en la cocina. = The cat is meowing in the kitchen.

The original sentence focuses on the sound, not directly on the cat.

Yes, maullido is standard and understood throughout the Spanish-speaking world, including Latin America.

In very casual speech, people might also imitate the sound with miau, but maullido is the normal dictionary word for a meow / meowing sound.

For example:

• Oí un maullido. = I heard a meow.
• Oí un miau. = more playful or informal

A helpful approximation is:

mau-YI-do

Notes:

• mau sounds like mow in English
• ll in most of Latin America sounds like y
• the stress is on lli: mau-LLI-do

So a rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

mow-YEE-doh

Yes. In English, depending on context, you could translate it as:

• The meow comes from the kitchen
• The meowing comes from the kitchen
• The sound of meowing is coming from the kitchen

Spanish el maullido can refer to a single meow or to the meowing sound in general, depending on context.

Spanish often uses the simple present where English might prefer the present progressive.

So:

• El maullido viene de la cocina.

can mean:

• The meow comes from the kitchen
• The meowing is coming from the kitchen

If you want to make the ongoing action more explicit, Spanish could say:

• El maullido está viniendo de la cocina.

But that sounds less natural here. For sounds, the simple present viene is usually the best choice.