Language

When we want to tell other people what we think, we can do it not only with the help of words, but also in many other ways.

An Englishman who could not speak Italian was once traveling in Italy. One day he entered a restaurant and sat down at a table. When the waiter come, the Englishman opened his mouth, put his fingers in it, took them out again and moved his lips. In this way he meant to say, "Bring me something to eat." The waiter soon brought him a cup of tea. The Englishman shook his head and the waiter understood that he didn't want tea, so he took it away and brought him some coffee. The Englishman, who was very hungry by this time and not at all thirsty, looked very sad. He shook his head each time the waiter brought him something to drink. The waiter brought him wine, then beer, then soda-water, but that wasn't food, of course. He was just going to leave the restaurant when another traveler came in. When this man saw the waiter, he put his hands on his stomach. That was enough: in a few minutes there was a large plate of macaroni and meat on the table before him.

As you see, the primitive language of signs is not always very clear. The language of words is much more exact.

Words consist of sounds, but there are many sounds which have a meaning and yet are not words. For example, we may say "Sh-sh-sh" when we mean "keep silent." When babies laugh, we know they are happy, and when they cry, we know they are ill or simply want something.

It is the same with animals. When a dog says "G-r-r" or a cat says "F-f-f" we know they are angry.

But these sounds are not language. Language consists of words which we put together into sentences. But animals can not do this: a dog can say "G-r-r" when he means "I am angry," but he cannot say first "I" and then "am" and they "angry." A parrot can talk like a man; it can repeat whole sentences and knows what they mean. We may say that a parrot talks, but cannot say that it really speaks, because it cannot from new sentences out of the words it knows. Only man has the power to do this.

语言

如果我们想把我们所想的事情告诉给别人，我们不但可以用话语还可以用很多其他方法来表示。

有一次，一位不会说意大利语的英国人在意大利境内旅游。有一天，他走进了一家饭馆后就在餐桌旁坐下了。一位男服务员走过来以后，这位英国人就张开了嘴，把两个手指放进了嘴里，然后又把手指拿出来，接着又动了动嘴唇。他用这种办法想表示说"给我拿些吃的东西来"。这位服务员马上就给他端来了上杯茶水。这英国人摇了摇头，这们服务员明白了，他不要茶，于是就把茶端走了，并给他端来了咖啡。这位英国人看起来很不高兴，因为他到这个时候已经很饿了，可是他根本不渴。每当服务员给他端喝的东西他都摇头。服务员给他端来葡萄酒、又端来啤酒、又端来汽水，当然这些都不是食品。他刚打算要离开这家饭馆时，突然另一位旅客进来了。只见这个人一见了服务员，就把他们又手放到肚子上。这就行了：过了两三分钟就在他面前的餐桌上摆上了一大盘子意大利通心面条和肉。

正如你所看到的这个场面一样，原始的手势语并不总是能表达清楚的，词句语言就能表达得清楚得多。

话语是由声音所组成的，但具有下定意义的声音并不都是话语。例如，我们说"嘘！"表示"别出声"。当婴儿笑了，我们知道他们高兴了，当婴儿哭了，我们就知道他们病了或只不过是要什么东西。

动物也一样。当狗发出"呜！"的声音或猫发出"呋！"的声音。我们就知道它们发怒了。

但这些声音都不是语言。语言是组词成句的。动物都不能组词成句：一条狗要表示我发怒了，只能发出"呜"的声音，但狗就不会先说"我"再说"发怒"再说"了"。一只鹦鹉会像人一样学舌，也能重复一些完整的句子，也可以懂得这些句子的意思。我们只能说鹦鹉会学舌，但我们不能说鹦鹉会真正发表讲话。因为鹦鹉不会用所知道的单词形成一些新的句子。只有人才有造句的本领。