“A dog cannot relate his autobiography; however eloquently he may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were honest but poor.”10 Human language is completely different. Human language is open. Rather than using fixed and limited phrases, we combine and recombine a finite collection of phonemes to yield intricate, hierarchical, and virtually unlimited sequences of sounds conveying a virtually unlimited spectrum of ideas. We can just as easily talk about yesterday’s snake or tomorrow’s nest as we can describe a delightful dream of flying unicorns or our deepening disquiet as night spills
...more
