ABSTRACT
When we talk, we use the language that has been handed down to us. If we fail to do so, we end up talking to ourselves. Moreover, if we are speaking English (as opposed to Swahili, Georgian, or Chinook), we are forced to make certain distinctions that we might not otherwise choose to make. For example, as English speakers, we are obliged to note, and encode in our talk, the number of objects to which we are referring. When I ask you to “Look at the aardvark,” I am asking you to consider a single aardvark. If I want you to examine several aardvarks, I must use the word “aardvarks.” Even if I have no particular interest in whether you examine one versus several aardvarks, I must (if I’m speaking English) commit myself to one request or the other-either “aardvark” or “aardvarks.”
