CHAPTER IV

OF SPEECH
THE INVENTION of printing, though ingenious,
compared with the invention of letters is no great matter.
But who was the first that found the use of letters is not
known. He that first rought them into !reece, men sa",
was #admus, the son of $genor, %ing of &hoenicia. $
profitale invention for continuing the memor" of time
past, and the con'unction of mankind dispersed into so
man" and distant regions of the earth( and withal difficult,
as proceeding from a watchful oservation of the diverse
motions of the tongue, palate, lips, and other organs of
speech( where" to make as man" differences of
characters to rememer them. But the most nole and
profitale invention of all other was that of speech,
consisting of names or appellations, and their conne)ion(
where" men register their thoughts, recall them when
the" are past, and also declare them one to another for
mutual utilit" and conversation( without which there had
een amongst men neither #ommonwealth, nor societ",
nor contract, nor peace, no more than amongst lions,
ears, and wolves. The first author of speech was !od
himself, that instructed $dam how to name such creatures
as He presented to his sight( for the *cripture goeth no
further in this matter. But this was sufficient to direct him
to add more names, as the e)perience and use of the
creatures should give him occasion( and to 'oin them in
such manner " degrees as to make himself understood(
and so " succession of time, so much language might e
gotten as he had found use for, though not so copious as
an orator or philosopher has need of. +or I do not find
an"thing in the *cripture out of which, directl" or "
conse,uence, can e gathered that $dam was taught the
names of all figures, numers, measures, colours, sounds,
fancies, relations( much less the names of words and
speech, as general, special, affirmative, negative,
interrogative, optative, infinitive, all which are useful( and
least of all, of entit", intentionalit", ,uiddit", and other
insignificant words of the school.
But all this language gotten, and augmented " $dam and
his posterit", was again lost at the tower of Bael, when
" the hand of !od ever" man was stricken for his
reellion with an olivion of his former language. $nd
eing here" forced to disperse themselves into several
parts of the world, it must needs e that the diversit" of
tongues that now is, proceeded " degrees from them in
such manner as need, the mother of all inventions, taught
them, and in tract of time grew ever"where more copious.
The general use of speech is to transfer our mental
discourse into veral, or the train of our thoughts into a
train of words, and that for two commodities( whereof one
is the registering of the conse,uences of our thoughts,
which eing apt to slip out of our memor" and put us to a
new laour, ma" again e recalled " such words as the"
were marked ". *o that the first use of names is to serve
for marks or notes of rememrance. $nother is when
man" use the same words to signif", " their conne)ion
and order one to another, what the" conceive or think of
each matter( and also what the" desire, fear, or have an"
other passion for. $nd for this use the" are called signs.
*pecial uses of speech are these- first, to register what "
cogitation we find to e the cause of an"thing, present or
past( and what we find things present or past ma" produce,
or effect( which, in sum, is ac,uiring of arts. *econdl", to
show to others that knowledge which we have attained(
which is to counsel and teach one another. Thirdl", to
make known to others our wills and purposes that we ma"
have the mutual help of one another. +ourthl", to please
and delight ourselves, and others, " pla"ing with our
words, for pleasure or ornament, innocentl".
To these uses, there are also four correspondent auses.
+irst, when men register their thoughts wrong " the
inconstanc" of the signification of their words( " which
the" register for their conceptions that which the" never
conceived, and so deceive themselves. *econdl", when
the" use words metaphoricall"( that is, in other sense than
that the" are ordained for, and there" deceive others.
Thirdl", when " words the" declare that to e their will
which is not. +ourthl", when the" use them to grieve one
another- for seeing nature hath armed living creatures,
some with teeth, some with horns, and some with hands,
to grieve an enem", it is ut an ause of speech to grieve
him with the tongue, unless it e one whom we are oliged
to govern( and then it is not to grieve, ut to correct and
amend.
The manner how speech serveth to the rememrance of
the conse,uence of causes and effects consisteth in the
imposing of names, and the conne)ion of them.
Of names, some are proper, and singular to one onl" thing(
as &eter, .ohn, this man, this tree- and some are common
to man" things( as man, horse, tree( ever" of which,
though ut one name, is nevertheless the name of diverse
particular things( in respect of all which together, it is
called a universal, there eing nothing in the world
universal ut names( for the things named are ever" one of
them individual and singular.
One universal name is imposed on man" things for their
similitude in some ,ualit", or other accident- and whereas
a proper name ringeth to mind one thing onl", universals
recall an" one of those man".
$nd of names universal, some are of more and some of
less e)tent, the larger comprehending the less large( and
some again of e,ual e)tent, comprehending each other
reciprocall". $s for e)ample, the name od" is of larger
signification than the word man, and comprehendeth it(
and the names man and rational are of e,ual e)tent,
comprehending mutuall" one another. But here we must
take notice that " a name is not alwa"s understood, as in
grammar, one onl" word, ut sometimes "
circumlocution man" words together. +or all these words,
He that in his actions oserveth the laws of his countr",
make ut one name, e,uivalent to this one word, 'ust.
B" this imposition of names, some of larger, some of
stricter signification, we turn the reckoning of the
conse,uences of things imagined in the mind into a
reckoning of the conse,uences of appellations. +or
e)ample, a man that hath no use of speech at all, /such as
is orn and remains perfectl" deaf and dum0, if he set
efore his e"es a triangle, and " it two right angles /such
as are the corners of a s,uare figure0, he ma" "
meditation compare and find that the three angles of that
triangle are e,ual to those two right angles that stand " it.
But if another triangle e shown him different in shape
from the former, he cannot know without a new laour
whether the three angles of that also e e,ual to the same.
But he that hath the use of words, when he oserves that
such e,ualit" was conse,uent, not to the length of the
sides, nor to an" other particular thing in his triangle( ut
onl" to this, that the sides were straight, and the angles
three, and that that was all, for which he named it a
triangle( will oldl" conclude universall" that such
e,ualit" of angles is in all triangles whatsoever, and
register his invention in these general terms- Ever"
triangle hath its three angles e,ual to two right angles.
$nd thus the conse,uence found in one particular comes
to e registered and rememered as a universal rule( and
discharges our mental reckoning of time and place, and
delivers us from all laour of the mind, saving the first(
and makes that which was found true here, and now, to e
true in all times and places.
But the use of words in registering our thoughts is in
nothing so evident as in numering. $ natural fool that
could never learn " heart the order of numeral words, as
one, two, and three, ma" oserve ever" stroke of the clock,
and nod to it, or sa" one, one, one, ut can never know
what hour it strikes. $nd it seems there was a time when
those names of numer were not in use( and men were fain
to appl" their fingers of one or oth hands to those things
the" desired to keep account of( and that thence it
proceeded that now our numeral words are ut ten, in an"
nation, and in some ut five, and then the" egin again.
$nd he that can tell ten, if he recite them out of order, will
lose himself, and not know when he has done- much less
will he e ale to add, and sutract, and perform all other
operations of arithmetic. *o that without words there is no
possiilit" of reckoning of numers( much less of
magnitudes, of swiftness, of force, and other things, the
reckonings whereof are necessar" to the eing or well1
eing of mankind.
2hen two names are 'oined together into a conse,uence,
or affirmation, as thus, $ man is a living creature( or thus,
If he e a man, he is a living creature( if the latter name
living creature signif" all that the former name man
signifieth, then the affirmation, or conse,uence, is true(
otherwise false. +or true and false are attriutes of speech,
not of things. $nd where speech is not, there is neither
truth nor falsehood. Error there ma" e, as when we
e)pect that which shall not e, or suspect what has not
een( ut in neither case can a man e charged with
untruth.
*eeing then that truth consisteth in the right ordering of
names in our affirmations, a man that seeketh precise truth
had need to rememer what ever" name he uses stands for,
and to place it accordingl"( or else he will find himself
entangled in words, as a ird in lime twigs( the more he
struggles, the more elimed. $nd therefore in geometr"
/which is the onl" science that it hath pleased !od hitherto
to estow on mankind0, men egin at settling the
significations of their words( which settling of
significations, the" call definitions, and place them in the
eginning of their reckoning.
B" this it appears how necessar" it is for an" man that
aspires to true knowledge to e)amine the definitions of
former authors( and either to correct them, where the" are
negligentl" set down, or to make them himself. +or the
errors of definitions multipl" themselves, according as the
reckoning proceeds, and lead men into asurdities, which
at last the" see, ut cannot avoid, without reckoning anew
from the eginning( in which lies the foundation of their
errors. +rom whence it happens that the" which trust to
ooks do as the" that cast up man" little sums into a
greater, without considering whether those little sums
were rightl" cast up or not( and at last finding the error
visile, and not mistrusting their first grounds, know not
which wa" to clear themselves, spend time in fluttering
over their ooks( as irds that entering " the chimne",
and finding themselves enclosed in a chamer, flutter at
the false light of a glass window, for want of wit to
consider which wa" the" came in. *o that in the right
definition of names lies the first use of speech( which is
the ac,uisition of science- and in wrong, or no definitions,
lies the first ause( from which proceed all false and
senseless tenets( which make those men that take their
instruction from the authorit" of ooks, and not from their
own meditation, to e as much elow the condition of
ignorant men as men endued with true science are aove
it. +or etween true science and erroneous doctrines,
ignorance is in the middle. Natural sense and imagination
are not su'ect to asurdit". Nature itself cannot err- and
as men aound in copiousness of language( so the"
ecome more wise, or more mad, than ordinar". Nor is it
possile without letters for an" man to ecome either
e)cellentl" wise or /unless his memor" e hurt " disease,
or ill constitution of organs0 e)cellentl" foolish. +or words
are wise men3s counters( the" do ut reckon " them- ut
the" are the mone" of fools, that value them " the
authorit" of an $ristotle, a #icero, or a Thomas, or an"
other doctor whatsoever, if ut a man.
*u'ect to names is whatsoever can enter into or e
considered in an account, and e added one to another to
make a sum, or sutracted one from another and leave a
remainder. The 4atins called accounts of mone" rationes,
and accounting, ratiocinatio- and that which we in ills or
ooks of account call items, the" called nomina( that is,
names- and thence it seems to proceed that the" e)tended
the word ratio to the facult" of reckoning in all other
things. The !reeks have ut one word, logos, for oth
speech and reason( not that the" thought there was no
speech without reason, ut no reasoning without speech(
and the act of reasoning the" called s"llogism( which
signifieth summing up of the conse,uences of one sa"ing
to another. $nd ecause the same things ma" enter into
account for diverse accidents, their names are /to show
that diversit"0 diversel" wrested and diversified. This
diversit" of names ma" e reduced to four general heads.
+irst, a thing ma" enter into account for matter, or od"(
as living, sensile, rational, hot, cold, moved, ,uiet( with
all which names the word matter, or od", is understood(
all such eing names of matter.
*econdl", it ma" enter into account, or e considered, for
some accident or ,ualit" which we conceive to e in it( as
for eing moved, for eing so long, for eing hot, etc.( and
then, of the name of the thing itself, " a little change or
wresting, we make a name for that accident which we
consider( and for living put into the account life( for
moved, motion( for hot, heat( for long, length, and the like-
and all such names are the names of the accidents and
properties " which one matter and od" is distinguished
from another. These are called names astract, ecause
severed, not from matter, ut from the account of matter.
Thirdl", we ring into account the properties of our own
odies, where" we make such distinction- as when
an"thing is seen " us, we reckon not the thing itself, ut
the sight, the colour, the idea of it in the fanc"( and when
an"thing is heard, we reckon it not, ut the hearing or
sound onl", which is our fanc" or conception of it " the
ear- and such are names of fancies.
+ourthl", we ring into account, consider, and give names,
to names themselves, and to speeches- for, general,
universal, special, e,uivocal, are names of names. $nd
affirmation, interrogation, commandment, narration,
s"llogism, sermon, oration, and man" other such are
names of speeches. $nd this is all the variet" of names
positive( which are put to mark somewhat which is in
nature, or ma" e feigned " the mind of man, as odies
that are, or ma" e conceived to e( or of odies, the
properties that are, or ma" e feigned to e( or words and
speech.
There e also other names, called negative( which are
notes to signif" that a word is not the name of the thing in
,uestion( as these words- nothing, no man, infinite,
indocile, three want four, and the like( which are
nevertheless of use in reckoning, or in correcting of
reckoning, and call to mind our past cogitations, though
the" e not names of an"thing( ecause the" make us
refuse to admit of names not rightl" used.
$ll other names are ut insignificant sounds( and those of
two sorts. One, when the" are new, and "et their meaning
not e)plained " definition( whereof there have een
aundance coined " *choolmen and pu55led
philosophers.
$nother, when men make a name of two names, whose
significations are contradictor" and inconsistent( as this
name, an incorporeal od", or, which is all one, an
incorporeal sustance, and a great numer more. +or
whensoever an" affirmation is false, the two names of
which it is composed, put together and made one, signif"
nothing at all. +or e)ample, if it e a false affirmation to
sa" a ,uadrangle is round, the word round ,uadrangle
signifies nothing, ut is a mere sound. *o likewise if it e
false to sa" that virtue can e poured, or lown up and
down, the words inpoured virtue, inlown virtue, are as
asurd and insignificant as a round ,uadrangle. $nd
therefore "ou shall hardl" meet with a senseless and
insignificant word that is not made up of some 4atin or
!reek names. +renchman seldom hears our *aviour called
" the name of &arole, ut " the name of Vere often( "et
Vere and &arole differ no more ut that one is 4atin, the
other +rench.
2hen a man, upon the hearing of an" speech, hath those
thoughts which the words of that speech, and their
conne)ion, were ordained and constituted to signif", then
he is said to understand it- understanding eing nothing
else ut conception caused " speech. $nd therefore if
speech e peculiar to man, as for ought I know it is, then is
understanding peculiar to him also. $nd therefore of
asurd and false affirmations, in case the" e universal,
there can e no understanding( though man" think the"
understand then, when the" do ut repeat the words softl",
or con them in their mind.
2hat kinds of speeches signif" the appetites, aversions,
and passions of man3s mind, and of their use and ause, I
shall speak when I have spoken of the passions.