endent of language, yet searching
observation of the child that is learning to speak shows that only by
means of verbal language can the intellect give precision to its
primitive indistinct concepts and thereby develop itself further,
connecting ideas appropriately with the circumstances in which the child
lives.

It is a settled fact, however, that many ideas must already be formed in
order to make possible the acquirement of speech. The existence of ideas
is a necessary condition of learning to speak.

The greatest intellectual advance in this field consists in this, that
the specific method of the human race is discovered by the speechless
child--the method of expressing ideas aloud and articulately, i. e., by
means of expirations of breath along with various positions of the
larynx and the mouth and various movements of the tongue. No child
_invents_ this method, it is _transmitted_; but each individual child
_discovers_ that by means of sounds thus originating one can make known
his ideas and thereby induce feelings of pleasure and do away with
discomfort. Therefore he applies himself to this process of himself,
without instruction, provided only that he grows up among speaking
people; and even where hearing, which serves as a means of intercourse
with them, is wanting from birth, a life rich in ideas and an
intelligence of a high order may be developed, provided that written
signs of sound supply the place of sounds heard. These signs, however,
can be learned only by means of instruction. The way in which writing is
learned is the same as the way in which the alalic child learns to
speak. Both rest upon imitation.

I have shown that the first firm association of an idea with a syllable
or with a word-like combination of syllables, takes place exclusively
through imitation; but a union of this sort being once established, the
child then freely invents new combinations, although to a much more
limited extent than is commonly assumed. No one brings with him into the
world a genius of such quality that it would be capable of inventing
articulate speech. It is difficult enough to comprehend that imitation
suffices for the child to learn a language.

What organic conditions are required for the imitation of sounds and for
learning to speak I have endeavored to ascertain by means of a
systematic collection, resting on the best pathological investigations,
of all the disturbances of speech thus far observed in adults;