Marxism and Problems of Linguistics - From Marx to Mao

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material. As you see, this is an entirely different subjectwhich I did not touch upon and could not have touched uponsince linguistics concerns itself with normal human beingspossessing the faculty of speech and not with anomalous deafmuteswho do not possess the faculty of speech.You have substituted for the subject under discussionanother subject that was not discussed.2. From Comrade Belkin’s letter it is evident that heplaces on a par the “language of words” (spoken language)and “gesture language” (“hand” language, according toN. Y. Marr). He seems to think that gesture language andthe language of words are of equal significance, that at onetime human society had no language of words, that “hand”language at that time played the part of the language ofwords which appeared later.But if Comrade Belkin really thinks so, he is committinga serious error. Spoken language or the language of wordshas always been the sole language of human society capableof serving as an adequate means of intercourse between people.History does not know of a single human society, be itthe most backward, that did not have its own spoken language.Ethnography does not know of a single backwardtribe, be it as primitive or even more primitive than, say, theAustralians or the Tierra del Fuegans of the last century,which did not have its own spoken language. In the historyof mankind, spoken language has been one of the forces whichhelped human beings to emerge from the animal world, uniteinto communities, develop their faculty of thinking, organizesocial production, wage a successful struggle against the forcesof nature and attain the stage of progress we have to-day.In this respect, the significance of the so-called gesture language,in view of its extreme poverty and limitations, is44
negligible. Properly speaking, this is not a language, andnot even a linguistic substitute that could in one way oranother replace spoken language, but an auxiliary means ofextremely limited possibilities to which man sometimes resortsto emphasize this or that point in his speech. Gesture languageand spoken language are just as incomparable as arethe primitive wooden hoe and the modern caterpillar tractorwith its five-furrow plough or tractor row drill.3. Apparently, you are primarily interested in the deafmutes,and only secondarily in problems of linguistics. Evidently,it was precisely this circumstance that prompted youto put a number of questions to me. Well, if you insist, I amnot averse to granting your request. How do matters standwith regard to deaf-mutes? Do they possess the faculty ofthinking? Do thoughts arise with them? Yes, they possessthe faculty of thinking and thoughts arise with them. Clearly,since deaf-mutes are deprived of the faculty of speech, theirthoughts cannot arise on the basis of linguistic material. Canthis be taken to mean that the thoughts of deaf-mutes arenaked, are not connected with the “standards of nature”(N. Y. Marr’s expression)? No, it cannot. The thoughts ofdeaf-mutes arise and can exist only on the basis of the images,sensations and conceptions they form in every-day life on theobjects of the outside world and their relations among themselves,thanks to the senses of sight, of touch, taste, and smell.Apart from these images, sensations and conceptions, thoughtis empty, is deprived of all content, that is, it does not exist.July 22, 1950Pravda, August 2, 195045
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J. V. STALINMARXISMAND PROBLEMSOF L
Page 8 and 9: From Marx to MaoML© Digital Reprin
Page 10 and 11: First Edition 1972PUBLISHER’S NOT
Page 13: MARXISM AND PROBLEMSOF LINGUISTICS
Page 16 and 17: ase. If the base changes or is elim
Page 18 and 19: sists not in serving one class to t
Page 20 and 21: grammatical system and its basic st
Page 22 and 23: single and common language of a soc
Page 24 and 25: language.” For this reason, stran
Page 26 and 27: geoisie.” 4 Certain comrades conc
Page 28 and 29: aristocracy? How can one possibly d
Page 30 and 31: Reference is further made to Lenin,
Page 32 and 33: The mistake our comrades commit her
Page 34 and 35: is conceivable without it. But the
Page 36: slowly than the basic word stock. W
Page 39 and 40: elements of the new quality, and he
Page 41 and 42: There can be no doubt that the cros
Page 43 and 44: N. Y. Marr’s “disciples” begu
Page 45 and 46: CONCERNING CERTAINPROBLEMS OF LINGU
Page 47 and 48: tion: instruments of production man
Page 49 and 50: itself, which is free of the “nat
Page 51 and 52: Hence, the existence of specific wo
Page 53 and 54: REPLY TO COMRADESTO COMRADE SANZHEY
Page 55: TO COMRADES D. BELKIN AND S. FURERI
Page 59 and 60: concluded that a socialist revoluti
Page 61 and 62: plied to all periods of development
Page 63 and 64: languages takes place as a struggle
Page 65 and 66: communist society. As a science, Ma
Page 67 and 68: nationalism and separatism in the R
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