XXX. DO ANIMALS TALK? 



IF animals talk, as we are convinced that they do, to the 

 limited extent of conveying wishes or facts by sounds, 

 their speech ought to conform to the divisions of human 

 speech. There must, in fact, be an c animal grammar,' 

 in the terms of which they express themselves. It is 

 no bad test of the assertion that animal speech exists to 

 apply the old formal divisions of the grammarians to 

 the instances in which they appear to c voice ' their 

 thoughts, and ascertain by trial whether the forms into 

 which the human speech has been divided fit the latter. 

 The time-honoured divisions of speech are (i) statement 

 of fact; (2) request, including commands; (3) question. 

 It is not to be supposed that the very limited range and 

 simple character of animal wants and ideas would 

 necessarily bring into play the whole of this category of 

 articulate speech. But, as a fact, they do need to use 

 all three forms of expression, but omit the last. Unlike 

 children, animals do not ask questions. They only 

 ' look ' them, and though they constantly and anxiously 



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