Speaking Beasts and Beastly Tongues - On

Language Diversity in the Sinophone World 1
Speaking Beasts and Beastly Tongues: On Some Boundaries of

‘Human Language’ in Early and Medieval China
(Wolfgang Behr, Asien-Orient-Institut, Universität Zürich)

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>
1. Linguistic diversity today, some numbers

1.1 the 25 most widely spoken “languages” today worldwide (based upon
Hatmon & Loh 2010; www.terralingua.org/linguisticdiversity/)

1.2 the dynamics of “language” growth 1970 – 2004

1.3 geographic distribution of linguistic diversity (data source: ethnologue)

1.4 some dimensions
➢ number of “languages” spoken worldwide – ca. 6.800 (ethnologue)

➢ “language” extinction 1970–2005 – ca. 20%
➢ number of “languages” ever spoken since Recent Out of Africa
(ROA) spread of modern humans (-60 kya) – ca. 100.000 (Bickel 2013)
➢ population of China: 11.VI.2015, 22:26:11 – 1.373.770.859, of
which ca. 95.7% “Hàn Chinese” (countrymeters.info/en/China)
➢ number of “languages” spoken in China today: 214 (ethnologue)
➢ more realistically, but including 5 creoles and the Austronesian lan-
guages of Taiwan: 129 (Sun Hongkai 2006.b, Sun, Hu Zengyi, Huang Xing 2006)

1.5 distribution of speaker sizes in the PRC (data: Sun Hongkai 2006.b)
45
40
Number of Speakers
35
30
25
20
15
10
0
100-1k 1k-10k 10k-100k 100k-1mil 1mil-10mil 10mil- 100mil-
100mil 1mrd
Number of languages

1.6 Linguistic diversity in Early China? Precious little instructive

sources! (Behr 2004, 2010, Boltz 2010, forthcoming)
2.6 Linguistic diversity in East Asia during the late Neolithic and early
bronze age, based on typological clusters
(Janhunen 1998, Gassmann & Behr 2005, 2013)

AA Austroasiatic Russia EA
AI Ainuic UR (Siberia) Kamčat.
AM Amuric JU AM KA
AN Austronesian JE Saxalin
BU Burushaski IE Kazaxstan TG JR
DR Dravidic TU MO Mongolia Manchuria AI
EA Eskaleutic Kirgizstan KO
HM Hmong-Mienic
Japan
Uzbekistan
Aserbajdž
Korea
IE Indoeuropean IE . Turkmenistan Tajikist.
JE Jenisejic Afghanistan BU China
JR Japonic Tibet
JU Jukaghiric Pakistan TB AN Ok.
KA Kamčukotic Iran Nepal
KU Koreanic IE Indien KU Bh. TK
Taiwan
MO Mongolic DR Bangla. Laos AA HM
NI Nihali NI Burma
Thailand
Vietnam
TB Tibeto-Burman
→ (incl. Sinitic) Hn. Philip-
TG Tungusic pines
Camb.
TK Tai-Kadaiic
TU Turkic Malaysia
UR Uralic ŚrL Indonesia

1.7 The internal differentiation of Sinitic during the Western Hàn em-
pire, partially reconstructable from the Regional expressions from
foreign states and glosses on words from extinct eras collected by
the “light charrette officials” (Yóuxuān shǐzhě juédài yǔ shì biéguó
fāngyán 輶軒使者絕代語釋别國方言) by Yáng Xióng 揚雄 (ca. 53
B.C.-18 A.D.) and other Eastern Hàn/Early Medieval glossographies
(cf. Lǐ, Lǐ, Yáng & Huá 1992; cf. Huá Xuéchéng 2003)
I. Qín-Jìn V: Qí-Lǔ IX: Chǔ

II: Zhōu-Hán-Zhèng VI: Dōng-Qí, Hǎidài X: Nán-Chǔ
III: Zhào-Wèi VII: Yāndài XI: Nán-Yuè
IV: Wèi-Sòng VIII:Běi-Yān, Cháoxiǎn XII:Wú-Yuè


1.8 Aside: Old Chinese as a creolized language?

(cf. Deng Xiaohua 2001, 2004, Wang Jingliu 2006, DeLancey 2011, 2012)
Prototypical creole languages (McWhorter 1998, 2001, 2005) have:

■ SVO-constituent order +
■ little or no inflectional morphology +
■ no semantically contingent derivational morphology –
■ no usage of tone
a. to differentiate monosyllables –
b. for grammatical purposes –
→ not all ‘simple’ languages are necessarily creole languages!

(cf. Ansaldo & Matthews 2001, Sampson 2005)

2. “Language”
2.1 wildly diverging definitions, e.g.

➢an art (Sapir); an art like brewing or baking, but also an instinctive
tendency (Darwin); a process of free creation (Chomsky); a set (fi-
nite or infinite) of sentences (Chomsky); a systematic, conventional
use of sounds, signs or written symbols in a human society (Crystal);
an object between sound and thought (Barthes), a system of commu-
nication to express feelings, thoughts, experiences (Goldstein); a
system of arbitrary vocal symbols (Bloch and Trager)
(cf. collection of definitions @ grammar.about.com)
➢ language is always a construct; but not all societies at all times have
this construct, or are aware of having it!

2.2 Ancient Chinese echoes of modern linguistic definitions

(cf. Geaney, forthcoming)
a. arbitrariness (a.k.a., “double articulation”), convention
(1) 名無固宜，約之以命，約定俗成謂之宜，異於約則謂之不宜。名無固
實，約之以命實，約定俗成，謂之實名。(Xúnzǐ 荀子 22.8)
“Names (*meŋ) have no intrinsic appropriateness, (rather) it is
agreed upon through naming (*m-riŋ-s). Something fixed through
agreement and established by conventions is termed appropriate. If
deviating from what was agreed, it is termed inappropriate. Names
have no intrinsic appropriateness, (rather) something is agreed upon
in order to name a reality/substance, and, whenever they are fixed
through agreement and established by conventions they are termed
names of a reality/substance.”
(2) 鄭人謂玉未理者為璞，周人謂鼠未腊者為璞。周人懷璞，謂鄭賈曰：
「欲買璞乎？」鄭賈曰：「欲之。」出其璞視之，乃鼠也，因謝不取
(Yǐnwénzǐ 尹文字 2.11)
“The people of Zhèng call unprocessed jade pú (*pˁʰrok), the people

from Zhōu call rats not processed to dried meat pú (*pˁʰrok). A per-
son from Zhōu had pú and said to a trader from Zhèng: ‘Would You
like to by some pú?’ The trader from Zhèng said: ‘I’d like to’. [The
person from Zhōu] took out his pú and showed it to him, whereupon
[the trader from Zhèng] politely declined the offer.”
(3) 所謂言者，齊於眾而同於俗。(《淮南子:脩務訓》)
“What is called ‘language’ is equal for all common people and in ac-
cordance with conventions.”

b. language socially acquired, determined by environment
(4) 羌、氐、翟，嬰兒生皆同聲，及其長也，雖重象狄騠，不能通
其言，教俗殊也。今三月嬰兒，生而徙國，則不能知其故俗。
由此觀之，衣服禮俗者，非人之性也，所受於外也。(Huáinánzǐ
11.5; cf. Brown Ms. 2003)
“Toddlers of the Qiāng (*khlaŋ), Dǐ (*tˁij) and Dí (*lˁewk) all sond
alike at birth. That one cannot, once they have grown up, understand
their words, even if relying on multiple interpreters and dragomans,
is due to the difference in education and habits. If, today, a toddler of
three months of age is relocated to another state after birth, we will
not be able to know about his original habits. Viewed from this per-
spective, clothes and garments, rituals and habits are not the inborn
nature of man, but something which is imposed from without.”
• aside: not true! Already “Newborns' cry Melody is Shaped by Their Native Language”
(Mampe, Friederici, Christophe & Wermke, Current Biology 19.23, 2009:1995–1997)

(5) 君子曰：學不可以已。（…）君子博學而日參省乎己，則知明
而行無過矣。（…）干、越、夷、貉之子，生而同聲，長而異
俗，教使之然也。(Xúnzǐ 1:2)
“The gentleman said: There is nothing by which studies may be

ended (...) Only when the true gentleman has acquired broad learn-
ing and scrutinizes himself with respect to it on a daily basis, will his
knowledge be lucid and his conduct bereft of mistakes. The children
of the Gān (*kˁa[nr]), Yuè (*ɢʷat), Yí (*N-ləj) and Mò (*M-kə-lˁak)
[-tribes] all agree in their utterances at birth, but when grown up,
they differ in their manners. It is education which has led them to be
so.”
• aside: may even be extended to morphological properties of language: (cf. Lupyan & Dale,
“Language Structure is Partly Determined by Social Structure”, PLOSone 5.1, 2010:1–10)

c. a universal, inborn capacity, grounded in biology
(6) 嬰兒生無石師而能言，與能言者處也。(《莊子:外物》)
“A child, when it is born, needs no great master, and yet it becomes
able to speak, living (as it does) among those who are able to speak.”
(7) 人之所以能言語者，以有氣力也；氣力之盛，以能飲食也。飲
食損減，則氣力衰，衰則聲音嘶。困不能食，則口不能復言。
夫死，困之甚，何能復言？(《論衡:論死》)
“Man is able to talk, because he possesses vital energy. As long as he
can eat and drink, the vital energy is well fed, but no sooner do eat-
ing and drinking cease, than the energy is destroyed. After this de-
struction there are no more sounds possible. When the person is
worn out, and cannot eat any more, the mouth cannot speak any fur-
ther. Death is exhaustion in the highest degree, how could man still
speak then?” (Forke I:198)

(8) 夫天地有德，合則生氣有精矣；陰陽消息，則變化有時矣。時得而治
矣，時得而化矣，時失而亂矣；是故人生而不具者五：目無見，不能
食，不能行，不能言，不能施化。故三月達眼而後能見，七月生齒而
後能食，期年生臏而後能行，三年�合而後能言，十六精通而後能施
化。(《说苑:辨物》, cf. also 《韩诗外传》1, 《大戴礼记:本命》)
“Now heaven and earth have powers, which, when they unite, inevitably
give birth to an essence imbued with pneuma. When Yin and Yang dis-
solve, their changing will inevitably transform along with time. (...) There-
fore, there are five capacities which human beings do not possess at birth:
their eyes can not see; they can not eat; they can not walk; they can not
speak; and they can not procreate. Thus, only when (pneumatic essence)
reaches the eyes after three months, they become capable of seeing; only
when the milk teeth grow after seven months, they are capable of eating;
only when their shin bones grow, after waiting for a full year, they are ca-
pable of walking; only when their fontanel closes after three years they are
capable of speaking; and only when the essence permeates everything at
the age of sixteen they are capable of procreating.”
d. but not merely a physical process: language is referential
(9) 夫言非吹也。言者有言，其所言者特未定也。果有言邪？其未

嘗有言邪？其以為異於鷇音，亦有辯乎，其無辯乎？道惡乎隱
而有真偽？言惡乎隱而有是非？道惡乎往而不存？言惡乎存而
不可？(《莊子:齊物論》)
“Now to say something is not (simply) blowing, who says something

has something to say. If what he has to say is indeed something not
yet fixed (in the mind?), will he then really have something to say?
Did he ever have something to say? Can this be considered different
from the chirpings of baby birds, is there a distinction or not? Where
is the Dao go into hiding such that "true" and "false" come into be-
ing? Where do words go into hiding such that "true" and "false"
come into being? Where does the Dao go to when it is not pre-
served? Where is something to be said preserved when it is inadmis-
sible?”
(10) 言者，以諭意也. 夫辭者，意之表也。鑒其表而棄其意、悖。

(《呂氏春秋:離謂》, cf. Geaney, forthc., ch. 4)
“Speaking, is whereby one imparts a meaning. Now phrases are the
surface of meaning. To reflect on what is superficial [in speaking]
while discarding what is meaningful, results in self-contradiction.”
(11) 言、出舉也。(《墨子:經上第四十》1.64)
“Speaking is to emit references”.

e. a tool for communication (rare!)
(12) 老子曰：言者所以通己於人也，聞者所以通人於所也。
(《文子: 精誠》)
“Laozi said: Speaking is whereby one puts oneself into communica-
tion with others, listening is whereby one puts others into commu-
nication with a place.”
(13) 夫言者、所以通己於人也，聞者、所以通人於己也。瘖者不言，
聾者不聞，既瘖且聾，人道不通，故有瘖聾之病者，雖破家求
醫，不顧其費。豈獨形骸有瘖聾哉？心志亦有之。
(《淮南子:泰族訓》)
“Now speaking is that by which puts oneself into communication
with others others, hearing is that by which puts others into com-
munication with oneself. Mute people do not speak, deaf people do
not hear, and once people are mute and deaf, the human Dao cannot
communicate.”
f. capable of expressing emotions
(14) 親仁而使能。夫取人之術也，觀其言而察其行，夫言者所以
抒其匈而發其情者也，能行之士必能言之，是故先觀其言而
揆其行，夫以言揆其行，雖有姦軌之人，無以逃其情矣。」
(《說苑:尊賢》)
“Consider dear the humane and promote those capable. Now if

you want to make use of the skills of a human being, look at the
way it speaks and examine how it acts. Now speaking is that by
which one expresses what is in one's bosom and releases one's
emotions. A scholar capable of acting must be able to put some-
thing into words. Therefore first look at someone’s words and
then guess his actions. If you guess somene’s actions on the basis
of his words, even if you are dealing with a wicked person, he will
certainly have no means of escaping his emotions.”
2.3 Language as the specificum definiens of human beings
(15) “Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of com-

municating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily
produced symbols.”
(Edward Sapir, Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech, 1921:8)
(16) “The essence of language is human activity – activity on the part

of one individual to make himself understood by another, activity
on the part of of that other to understand what was in the mind of
the first.” (Otto Jespersen, The philosophy of language, 1934:17)
(17) “Language is incomplete and fragmentary, and merely registers a

stage in the average advance beyond ape-mentality. But all men
enjoy flashes of insight beyond meanings already stabilized in ety-
mology and grammar.”
(Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas, 1933 [1967:226])

2.4 The locus classicus for a similar position in Early Imperial China
(18) 人之所以為人者，言也。人而不能言，何以為人？言之所以為
言者，信也。言而不信，何以為言？信之所以為信者，道也。
信而不道，何以為道？道之貴者時，其行勢也。
(《穀梁傳:僖公二十二年》)
“What makes a human being a (true) human being is speech. If a

human being is not capable of speaking, why would one consider it
a human being? What makes speech (true) speech is trustworthi-
ness. To speak without trustworthiness, why would that be consid-
ered (true) speaking? What makes trustworthiness (true) trustwor-
thiness is the Dao-Guidance. To be trustworthy without being
guided, why would that be considered (true) Dao-Guidance. The
most valuable thing in Dao-Guidance is proper timing, in its execu-
tion – proper circumstances.”
2.4.1 but: fairly isolated, cf. other usages of the [人之所以谓人者]

trope:
(19) 雩者，為旱求者也。求者請也，古之人重請。何重乎請？人之
所以為人者，讓也。請道去讓也，則是捨其所以為人也，是以
重之。(《穀梁傳:定公元年》)
“The rain sacrifice, is something ‘sought for’ because of a drought.

So ‘seek for’ something means ‘to request something’ and people
in antiquity laid stress upon requesting. Why would they lay stress
on requesting? What makes a human being a (true) human being is
to yield precedence. To request the right of way and to discard
yielding precedence, means to abandon what makes one a (true) hu-
man being, and this is why they laid stress upon this.”

(20) 夫人之所以為人者，非以此八尺之身也，乃以其有精神也。
(《潛夫論:卜列》)
“Now, what makes a human being a (true) human being is not that
its body is eight feet tall, but that it is equipped with a refined
spirit.”

(21) 凡人之所以為人者，禮義也。禮義之始，在於正容體、齊顏色、
順辭令。容體正，顏色齊，辭令順，而後禮義備。
(《禮記:冠義》)
“In general, that which makes a human being a (true) human being
is a sense of etiquette and propriety. The first step towards a sense
of etiquette and propriety lies in a correct arrangement of de-
meanour and body, the adjustment of facial expression and counte-
nance, the alignment of speech and ordinances. Only when de-
meanour and body are correctly arranged, facial expression and
countenance adjusted, and speech and ordinances aligned, will a
sense of etiquette and propriety be at one’s disposal.”

(22) 人之所以為人者何已也？曰：以其有辨也。飢而欲食，寒而欲
煖，勞而欲息，好利而惡害，是人之所生而有也，是無待而然
者也，是禹桀之所同也。然則人之所以為人者，非特以二足而
無毛也，以其有辨也。今夫狌狌形狀亦二足而無毛也，然而君
子啜其羹，食其胾。故人之所以為人者，非特以其二足而無毛
也，以其有辨也。(《荀子-非相》)
“What, at the end of the day, is it that makes a human being a (true)
human being? I say: it is due to its ability to make distinctions. To
desire food when one is hungry, to desire warmth when feeling
cold, to desire a rest when one is working physically, to be fond of
what is profitable and to despise what is detrimental – these are
properties which man possesses from birth, which are the way they
are without him having to develop them, and which are shared by
an Yu and a Jie alike. Yet what makes a human being a (true) hu-
man being is not just contingent upon its being bipedal and without
body hair, but due to is its ability to make distinctions.”
Now, the physical shape of the pongo apes

(*sreŋ.sreŋ) is also bipedal without body
hair, but the gentlemen will nevertheless
sip a stew made of them and eat their
minced meat. Thus, what makes a human
being a human being is not just contingent
upon its being bipedal and without body
hair, but due to its ability to make distinc-
tions. (...)”
(illustration: 《三才圖會》)

3. Discourses on speaking animals
3.1 a very well researched topic in Greek philosophy, cf.
• Dickerman, Sherwood Owen, “Some Stock Illustrations of Animal Intelligence

in Greek Philosophy”, Transactions of the American Philological Association 42,
1911, 123 –120.
• Tabarroni, A. “On the Articulation of Animal Language in Ancient Linguistic
Theory”, Versus L/LI, 103 – 121.
• Bigwood, J.M., “Ctesias’ Parrot”, The Classical Quarterly 43.1, 1993, 321 –
327.
• Levine Gera, Deborah: Ancient Greek Ideas on Speech, Language, and Civiliza-
tion, Oxford: Oxford. UP 2003.

• Laspia, Patrizia, “Il linguaggio degli ucelli. Arostotele e lo specifico fonetico del
linguaggio umano” [The language of the birds. Aritsotle and the phonetic speci-
ficity of human languag] in: S. Vecchio, ed., Linguistica impura. Dieci saggi di
filosofia del linguaggio tra storia e teoria, Palermo: Novocento, 1996, 59 – 71.
• Gensini, Stefano & Maria Fusco, Animal loquens. Linguaggio e conoscenza
negli animali non umani die Aristotle a Chomsky [Animal loquens. Language
and conscience in non human aninals from Aristotle to Chomsky], Roma:
Carocci, 2010.
• Fusco, Maria, “Birdsong and human language. The development of a topos in an-
cient times”, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft, 24, 2014, 33 – 50.

3.2 Some Classical descriptions of bird articulations
Papageien-Mosaik, Palast V in Pergamon, 160-150 v. Chr. (Antikensammlung, Staatliche

Museen zu Berlin), image source: parrotmuseum.wordpress.com/tag/antiquity/

(23) “The parrot is about as large as a hawk, which has a human tongue
and voice (γλῶσσαν ἀνθρωπίνην ἔχει καὶ φωνήν), a dark red
beak, a black beard, and blue feathers up to the neck, which is red
like cinnabar. It speaks Indian like a native, and if taught Greek,
speaks Greek (διαλέγεσθαι δὲ αὐτο ὥσπερ ἅνθρωποω Ἱνδιστί,
ἄν δὲ Ἑλληνιστὶ μάθηι, καὶ Ἑλληνιστὶ )” (Ctesias, Ἰνδικά, late 5th, early
4th c. B.C.; FGrHist 688 F 45.8)
(24) “More than any other animal, and second only to man, certain kinds
of birds can utter articulate sounds: this faculty occurs chiefly in the
broad tongued birds” (Aristotle, Hist. Anim., III.504b1-3, 4th c. B.C., ~ Fusco 36)
(25) “Birds utter a voice, and those which have a broad tongue can
articulate best; so too those who have a thin fine tongue” (Aristotle,
Hist. Anim., IV.536a20-22, ~ Fusco 37)

(26) “They assert that Man does not differ in respect of uttered logos
(λόγος προφορικός) from the irrational animals (for crows and
parrots and jays utter articulated sounds [προφέρονται φωvάς]),
but in respect of internal logos (λόγος ἐνδιάθετος); nor does he dif-
fer in respect of merely simple impression (for the animals, too, re-
ceive impressions), but in respect of the transitive and constructive
impression. Hence, since he has a conception of logical sequence,
he immediately grasps also the notion of sign because of the se-
quence.” (Stoic Fragments, SVF II, 135; Adv. Math. VIII, 275, ~ Fusco 38).

(27) Indica purpureo genuit me litore tellus,

candidus accenso qua redit orbe dies.
Hic ego divinos inter generatus honores
mutavi Latio barbara verba sono.
Iam dimitte tuos, Paean o Delphice, cycnos:
dignior haec vox est, quae tua templa colat.
(Petronius, 27–66 A.D., Satyricon Fragmenta et Poemata, 18.350–4)
“My birthplace was India’s glowing shore,

where the day returns in brilliance with fiery orb.
Here I was born amid the worship of the gods,
and exchanged my barbaric speech for the Latin tongue.
O healer of Delphi, now dismiss thy swans;
here is a voice more worthy to dwell within thy temple.”
(E. Courtney, transl., The Poems of Petronius, 1991)

(28) “You would never hear the same note from all Partridges, but they
vary. At Athens, for instance, those on the far side of deme Cory-
dallus emit one note, those on this side another. What names these
notes have Theophrastus will tell us. But in Boeotia and on the op-
posite shore of Euboea they have the same note and, as it were, the
same language.” (Aelian, De nat. anim. III, 35, ~ Fusco 46, 3rd c. a.d.)

3.2.1 Interim summary

➢Parrots, jays, hyll mynahs produce articulated (γεγλωσσαμένον)
sounds
➢thanks to their movable tongues, they are second to humans in the
production of a type of voice called διάλεκτος (Aristotle)
➢they possess an externally emitted, physical capacity of utterance
(λόγος προφορικός), but it is disputed whether this is grounded in a
corresponding internal faculty of language (λόγος ἐνδιάθετος)
➢for those who deny this internal faculty (e.g., the Stoics), their voices
are lacking in meaning and form, reducible to mimicry; they are
merely used by humans like musical instruments;
➢for others they are able to express themselves in a “logical manner”
(Plutarch), since they can produce songs and voices never heard be-
fore, to transmit it to their chicks, thereby creating an ars/τέχνη
which in turn gives rise to cultural memory and tradition, even to di-
alects (Aristotle, Thephrastus)
3.3 Chinese discourses on speaking animals:
a. parrots ~ psittacidae/parakeets, mynahs, loris

b. xīngxīng apes ~ pongos ~ orang-utangs?, gibbbons?, golden
snub nosed monkeys?, rhinopitecus?
3.4 parrots: three early occurrences

(cf. Erkes 1942, Schafer 1959, 1967, Graham 1977, Ptak 2006, 2009, 2011)
(29) 焉有石林，何獸能言，焉有虯龍，負熊以游。(《楚辭:天問》)
“Where is the stone forest? / Which beast can talk? / Where are the
hornles dragons? / Which carry bears on their beaks for sports?”
(transl. Hawkes 1985:128)

(30) 鸚鵡能言，不離飛鳥；猩猩能言，不離禽獸。今人而無禮，雖
能言，不亦禽獸之心乎？夫唯禽獸無禮，故父子聚麀。是故聖
人作，為禮以教人。使人以有禮，知自別於禽獸。 (《禮記:曲禮
上》)
“The parrot is able to speak, but it can not escape being a bird; pon-
gos are able to speak, but they can not escape being a wild animals.
Now if a human being lacks a sense of etiquette, even if it is capa-
ble of speaking, will its heart not also be that of a wild animal?
Now if (human beings) were just like wild animals and lacking a
sense of etiquette, father and son would mate with the same doe.
Therefore, when the sages arose, they established a sense of eti-
quette and taught it to men, in order to enable them, by way of
posessing them, to know how to distinguish themselves from the
wild animals.”

(31) 夏(...) 南越獻馴象、能言鳥。(《漢書:紀:武帝紀》)

“Summer [194 A.D.] (...) the Southern Yue presented a tamed ele-
phant and a bird capable of speaking.”
(32) 又西百八十里，曰黃山，無草木，多竹箭 (…) 有鳥焉，其狀

如鴞，青羽赤喙，人舌能言，名曰鸚䳇。(《山海經:西山經》)
“[The area] another 180 miles further is called Huangshan ... There
is a bird there, whose shape is like that of an owl, it has grue feath-
ering and a red beak, a human tongue and is able to speak. It's name
is yīngmǔ (*qˁreng-mˁoʔ) ‘parrot’.

a. a distinction reminiscent of the Greek “inner/outer faculty“
(33) 物莫不因其所有，而用其所無。以為不信，視籟與竽。(...) 聖
人終身言治，所用者非其言也，用所以言也。歌者有詩，然使
人善之者，非其詩也。鸚鵡能言，而不可使長。是何則？得其
所言，而不得其所以言。(《淮南子:說山訓》)
“Among the objects in the world there is none which does not rely
upon what is there in applying what is not there. If you consider
this (idea) to be unreliable, look at how flute pipes and reed organs
work (when sound is derived from the hollow tubes). (...) The sages
talk about political order their whole life, but what they put into ac-
tion is not what they say, but that what they say is grounded in. A
singer has an ode, but what makes people consider it good is not
that ode. A parrot is capable of speaking, but it can not be made to
produce longer statements – why is that? It is because it suceeds on
the basis of what is being spoken, but not in (that by which=) in the
grounding of what is being spoken.”
b. capacity to produce even dialects
(34) 占城產五色鸚鵡，唐太宗時，環王所獻是也。(...) 環王國即占

城也。余在欽，嘗于聶守見白鸚鵡、紅鸚鵡。白鸚鵡大如小鵝，
羽毛有粉，如蝴蝶翅。紅鸚鵡其色正紅，尾如烏鳶之尾，然皆
不能言，徒有其表爾。欽州富有鸚哥，頗慧易教，土人不復雅
好，唯福建人在欽者，時或教之歌詩，乃真成閩音。此禽南州
群飛如野鳥，舉網掩群，臠以為鲊，物之不幸如此！(《嶺外代答:
禽獸門:鸚鵡》, 1178 A.D.)

“The State of Champa produces five-coloured parrots. During the

period of Táng Tàizōng (598– 649) the Huánwáng delivered some
as a present. Huángwáng is Champa. When I was in Qīn, trying to
catch and keep one, I saw white parrots and red parrots. The white
parrots are as big like small swans and on their feathering have a
powder like on the wings of a butterfly. The colour of the red par-
rots is deep red, its tailis are like that of a black kite, but they all
can not speak, so one has to content oneself with their appearance.
But in Qin district there ist the yīnggē (lorie, parakeet?), which is
extraordinarily smart and teachable, even if the locals do not
particularly care about them. Only the Fujianese living in Qinzhou,
sometime teach them to sing and then they really produce a Mǐn
voice! These birds fly around in flocks in the southern districts.
One puts up nets and whole groups are caught. Cut into pieces they
are eaten as marinated meat – such is the balefulness of this
species!” (cf. Neolitzky transl. 1977: 170, Ptak 2006: 16)

c. communication is two-ways
(35) 《敦煌實錄》曰：侯瑾，字子瑜，解鳥語。常出門，見白雀與
群雀同行，慨然嘆曰：「今天下大亂，君子小人相與雜。」
(《太平御覽:人事部二:羽族部九:白雀》)
“Hou Jin, initiation name Ziyu, understood the languge of birds. He

often went outside and, seeing a white (=auspicious) sparrow walk-
ing along with the other sparrows, readily expressed his feelings,
saying: Today there is big chaos in the world (all under heaven), the
gentleman and the petty man mixed among each other.”

(36) 唐翰林學士陳王友元庭堅者，昔罷遂州參軍，於州界居山讀書。
忽有人身而鳥首，來造庭堅，衣冠甚偉。衆鳥隨之數千。而言
曰。吾衆鳥之王也。聞君子好音律，故來見君。」因留數夕，
教庭堅音律清濁，文字音義，兼教之以百鳥語。如是來往歲餘。
庭堅由是曉音律，善文字，當時莫及。陰陽術數，無不通達。
在翰林，撰《韻英》十卷，未施行，而西京陷胡庭，堅亦卒焉
(《太平御覽:楊翁佛別鳥語:禽鳥一:元庭堅》)

“When the Hanlin scholars Chen Wangyou and Yuan Tingjian, were
once stationed in Sui district with the troops, they stayed in the
mountains of the district’s borderlands to study. Suddenly there was
someone with the body of a man and a bird’s head, arriving in front
of Tingjian, dressed and capped magnificently. Thousands of birds
were following him, and he said: ‘I am the king of all birds, and I
have heard that you, sir, love music, which is why I came to see
you.’ He thereupon stayed on for a few nights, taught Jianting mu-
sical scales, ‘muddy and clear’ (tonal articulations), the sounds and
meanings of characters, as well as the language of the white birds,
and so it went on for the coming years. Tingjian thereupon deeply
understood music and his competence in characters was unsur-
passed during his lifetimes. Among yin and yang (divination) and
the magic crafts there was nothing he was not well-versed in. As a
Hanlin scholar he wrote the Essence of Rhymes, but it was never
published. When the Western Capital fell to the court of the
barbarians, he also died there.”
3.5 Pongos: some early examples
(37) 《山海經》曰：有獸人面，名曰猩猩。又曰：猩猩知人名，其
為獸，如豕而人面。(《太平御覽:獸部二十:猩猩》)
“In the Classic of Mountains and Seas it is said: ‘There is a wild

animal with the face of a man, it is called pongo’. And in another
passage: ‘The great apes know the names of people. As animals
they are like a pig with a human face.’”
(38)《華陽國志》曰：永昌郡有猩猩，能言，其血可以染朱罽。
(《太平御覽:獸部二十:猩猩》)
“In the Records of the States South of Mt. Hua it is said: "In
Yongchang commandery there are pongos which can speak, their
blood can be used to dye carpets dark red.”
(39) 酈元《水經注》曰：「猩猩形若狗而人面，頭顏端正，善與人
言，音聲妙麗，如婦人對語，聞之無不酸楚． (《太平御覽:獸部二
十:猩猩》)
“It is said in Li (Dao)yuan’s (d. 527) Commentary on the Classic of
Waterways: “The pongo has the body of a dog with a human face,
his head and facial expressian are of normal look and it is good at
talking to people. The sound of his voice is pleasant, like that of
women engaged in conversation. Listening to it nobody fails to be
deeply moved.”

(40) 晉郭璞《猩猩贊》曰：能言之獸，是謂猩猩。厥狀似獾，號音
若嬰。自然知往，頗測物情。 (《太平御覽:獸部二十:猩猩》)
Guo Pu (276–324) in the Jin period said in his "Eulogy on the
Great Apes":
‘An animal capable of speaking,

that is the Pongo.
Its physical shape resembles a badger,
but the sound of his calls are like those of an infant.
By nature it knows the past,
unpredictable are the feelings of the creature’."

a. the pongo capacity for human speech is not taught, not mimicry
(41) 古謂其靈而智，不因人教而解人語，殊為珍異。秦漢以降，天
下一家，即嶺南獻能言鳥及馴象，西域獻汗血馬，皆載之史傳，
以為奇物，復廣異聞，聲教遠覃，如越裳白雉之類，故彰示後
代。則猩猩不劣於鳥象，何為獨無獻乎？獲之以充口實，則致
之固難也。王莽置漢孺子於四壁中，禁人與語，及長不能名六
畜。猩猩若非靈異自解人語，即須因教方成，又不可容易而為
庖膳也。(杜佑《通典:邊防三:哀牢》, 801 A.D.)
“That [pongos] were called wondrously knowledgeable by the an-

cients is because they understood human language without being
taught, which is truly rare. When, since Qin and Han times, All-
under-heaven grew together as one family, there were gifts of
speaking birds and tamed elephants from the areas South of the
Five Ridge (Lingnan), while the Western Territories presented
blood sweating horses. They were all registered in the accounts of
the (dynastic) histories, and considered strange creatures. Strange

news then spread and oral lore travelled far, like in the case of the
white pheasants of the Yuechang tribes, and it was therefore mani-
festly indicated to later generations (in the histories).
Now, pongos are not inferior to birds and elephants – why then was
none of them offered as a present? They were obtained as a source
for gossip, but delivering them proved chronically difficult. Wang
Mang (the usurper of the Han throne) had the infant scion of Han
(Ruzi Ying) locked up inside and banned people from speaking
with her. When she grew up, she could not (even) name the six do-
mesticated animals. If it was not for the pongos being remarkably
gifted and thereby able to understand human language by them-
selves, one must assume that this was achieved by training them,
although it proved difficult to provide adequate food for them.”

b. they are thus equipped with memory
(42) 狌狌知往，乾鵲知來，鸚鵲能言。天性能一，不能為二。(《論
衡:是應》)
“The rhinopitecus knows the past, the magpie, the future, and par-
rots can talk.” (Forke II.322)

c. pongos display other human-like behaviour: drinking, shoes
(43) 安南武平縣封溪中，有猩猩焉。如美人，解人語，知往事。以
嗜酒故，以屐得之。檻百數同牢。欲食之。衆自推肥者相送。
流涕而別。時餉封溪令。以帊蓋之。令問何物，猩猩乃籠中語
曰。唯有僕幷酒一壼耳。令笑而愛之，養畜。能傳送言語。人
不知也。(《太平廣記:畜獸十三:能言》, 出《朝野僉載》,唐代張鷟撰; 713–741)

“In Fengxi of Wuping District in Annan there was a pongo, resem-

bling a beautiful man, who understood human language and knew
about past events. On account of his fondness for alcohol and be-
cause of [his liking for] shoes it was captured. They penned it up
with a good hundred others in the same stable. When they wanted
to eat it, and people were sorting out the fat ones to give them away
as a present, it shed tears when parting. When it was given as a gift
of food to the village head of Fengxi, they covered its cage with a
piece of cloth. When the village head asked what kind of object it
was the great pongo from within the cage: ‘Just a footman and a
pitcher of alcohol!’ Laughing, the village head grew fond of him
and fed him. That he was able to convey things by language, people
did not know.”

(44) 猩猩好酒與屐。人欲取者，置二物以誘之。猩猩始見，必大詈
云：「誘我也。」乃絕走而去之。去而復至。稍稍相勸，頃盡
醉。其足皆絆。或圖而贊之曰：「爾形唯猿，爾面唯人。言不
忝面，智不逾身。淮陰佐漢，李斯相秦。曷若箕山，高臥養
真。」(《太平御覽獸部二十:好酒》出《國史補》)

“Pongos love alcohol and shoes. When people want to catch them,
they arrange both objects to attract them. When the pongos first see
those, they are inevitably scolding: ‘Trying to attract us!’, then
clear out and run away. But after running away, they come back
again. Gradually encouraging one another, they are soon com-
pletely drunk, and all wear shoes on their feet. Someone painted
and praised them with the following poem :
Your body is completley that of an ape,

your face is completely that of a man.
Your language does not have to be ashamed of your face,
your knowledge does not surpass your body.
South of the Huai river you assist the Han,
like Li Si assisted Qin.
Would you, in the [secluded] Ji mountains (of Henan),
not sleep comfortably, nourishing your true nature?!"
d. their capacity for language makes them suffer like humans: an early
topos in poetry
(45) 嗟禄命之衰薄，奚遭時之險巇？
豈言語以階亂，將不密以致危？（…）
背蠻夷之下国，侍君子之光儀.。
(Mǐ Héng 禰衡, fl. 173-98《鸚鵡賦》)
Alas ! that its fate should be so hard;

Why must it live in such difficult times?
Is it because speech leads to disaster,
Or telling secrets puts one in danger? (...)
It has forsaken a lowly barbarian state
To serve a distinguished gentleman.
(transl. W.T. Graham 1979:47)

(46) Luo Yin’s 羅隱 (833– 910) poem on “Speaking”
《言》
珪玷由來尚可磨，似簧終日複如何。
成名成事皆因慎，亡國亡家只為多。
須信禍胎生利口，莫將譏思逞懸河。
猩猩鸚鵡無端解，長向人間被網羅。

A flaw in a piece of jade can still be polished,

Like a reed (sweet words) during the course of a day may be re
stored into the shape it was.
To make a name for oneself or to get something done is all based
upon caution:
Destroyed countries and destroyed families simply abound
One has to be confident that from a bane a sharp tongue may be
born
And that no one shows off his glibly tongue towards ridicule
Pongos and parrots understand, without any reason basis
But growing up they are caught in nets by the people.

3.6 Conclusions: What construction of “language” underlies such pas-

sages on speaking animals?
➢ The capacity of pongos to speak is hardly ever questioned; it is as-

sumed to be innate, unlike that of speaking birds who are often
viewed as only trained, or engaging in simple mimicry
➢ “language” is no defining characteristic of human beings (that being

the capacity for making certain social and higher cognitive distinc-
tions and of understanding ritual)
➢ it exists in a continuum, comprising other non-human primates, and

human primate barbarians (e.g., Mengzi’s “shrike-tongued people of
the southern backwaters who repudiate the Way of the former kings”
南蠻鴃舌之人，非先王之道 ), and, at least potentially, speaking
birds
3.7 Envoi: ‘to speak’ = ‘to bird’ (‘to vocalize’) ?
3.7.1 The word family of “to speak” (cf. Schüssler, EDOC, s.v.)
語 yǔ < *ngjoX < *ŋ(r)a-ʔ ‘to speak; speech; talk’

*ŋ(r)a-ʔ-s ‘to speak to, to tell’ (exoactive)
yù < *ngjoH <
言 yán < *ngjon <
*ŋa-n ‘what is spoken, speech, language’
(*-n-NMLZ)
唁諺 yàn < *ngjenH < *ŋ(r)a-n-s ‘a saying, proverb’
• cf. WT ngag, dngags ‘speech, talk, word’, sngag-pa | bsngags ‘to

praise, extol, recommend’; sngags ‘incantation’;
• but PLB (Bradley) *s-ŋak ‘bird’ > WB hŋak ~ Jingpho ŋa33 ‘to
say’

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Language Diversity in the Sinophone World 1

Speaking Beasts and Beastly Tongues: On Some Boundaries of

(Wolfgang Behr, Asien-Orient-Institut, Universität Zürich)

1. Linguistic diversity today, some numbers

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

1.2 the dynamics of “language” growth 1970 – 2004

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

1.3 geographic distribution of linguistic diversity (data source: ethnologue)

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1.4 some dimensions

➢ number of “languages” spoken worldwide – ca. 6.800 (ethnologue)

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Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

1.6 Linguistic diversity in Early China? Precious little instructive

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

I. Qín-Jìn V: Qí-Lǔ IX: Chǔ

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

1.8 Aside: Old Chinese as a creolized language?

Prototypical creole languages (McWhorter 1998, 2001, 2005) have:

→ not all ‘simple’ languages are necessarily creole languages!

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2.1 wildly diverging definitions, e.g.

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2.2 Ancient Chinese echoes of modern linguistic definitions

a. arbitrariness (a.k.a., “double articulation”), convention

“The people of Zhèng call unprocessed jade pú (*pˁʰrok), the people

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

b. language socially acquired, determined by environment

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“The gentleman said: There is nothing by which studies may be

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c. a universal, inborn capacity, grounded in biology

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

d. but not merely a physical process: language is referential

(9) 夫言非吹也。言 者有言，其所言者特未定也。果有言邪？其未

“Now to say something is not (simply) blowing, who says something

(10) 言者，以諭意也. 夫辭者，意之表也。鑒其表而棄其意、悖。

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

e. a tool for communication (rare!)

f. capable of expressing emotions

“Consider dear the humane and promote those capable. Now if

2.3 Language as the specificum definiens of human beings

(15) “Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of com-

(16) “The essence of language is human activity – activity on the part

(17) “Language is incomplete and fragmentary, and merely registers a

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

“What makes a human being a (true) human being is speech. If a

2.4.1 but: fairly isolated, cf. other usages of the [人之所以谓人者]

“The rain sacrifice, is something ‘sought for’ because of a drought.

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Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

Now, the physical shape of the pongo apes

Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

3. Discourses on speaking animals

3.1 a very well researched topic in Greek philosophy, cf.

• Dickerman, Sherwood Owen, “Some Stock Illustrations of Animal Intelligence

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Georg August-Universität, Göttingen, 11.-13.VI.2015 < wolfgang.behr@aoi.uzh.ch>

3.2 Some Classical descriptions of bird articulations

Papageien-Mosaik, Palast V in Pergamon, 160-150 v. Chr. (Antikensammlung, Staatliche

(9) 夫言非吹也。言者有言，其所言者特未定也。果有言邪？其未

語 yǔ < ngjoX < ŋ(r)a-ʔ ‘to speak; speech; talk’