"Emotion!" snapped Speidel. "Emotion isn't language!"
She repressed a surge of anger, said: "We're dealing with something completely outside our previous experience. We have to discard old ideas. We know that the habits of a native tongue set up a person's speaking responses. In fact, you can define language as the system of habits you reveal when you speak."
Speidel tapped his fingers on the table, stared at the door behind Francine.
She ignored his nervous distraction, said: "The Galactics use almost the full range of implosive and glottal stops with a wide selection of vowel sounds: fricatives, plosives, voiced and unvoiced. And we note an apparent lack of the usual interfering habits you find in normal speech."
"This isn't normal speech!" blurted Speidel. "Those are nonsense sounds!" He shook his head. "Emotions!"
"All right," she said. "Emotions! We're pretty certain that language begins with emotions—pure emotional actions. The baby pushes away the plate of unwanted food."
"You're wasting our time!" barked Speidel.
"I didn't ask to come down here," she said.
"Please." Langsmith put a hand on Speidel's arm. "Let Dr. Millar have her say."