Now when this was sounded abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because every man heard them speak in his own language.
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Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
Was it while speaking in one language they should be understood by all, or that they should speak in all languages? It was more fitting that they should speak in all languages, because this pertained to the perfection of their knowledge, whereby they were able not only to speak, but also to understand what was said by others. Whereas if their one language were intelligible to all, this would either have been due to the knowledge of those who understood their speech, or it would have amounted to an illusion, since a man's words would have had a different sound in another's ears, from that with which they were uttered.
