The Sound of Voices

An interesting question was asked of me:
If someone isn't taught a language (due to neglect or not) what do their thoughts sound like?

I've always found this subject intriguing. I first really began thinking about it when I read Bruce Perry's The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, which is an emotional book revealing a few of the children Dr. Perry has seen in his career as a psychologist. The title chapter details a little boy named Justin who was, quite literally, raised as a dog. He was placed in a dog cage and rarely spoken to. Due to years of this treatment, his brain began to deteriorate and he began to only communicate with people in the only way he knew how: as a dog. He would moan and wail, and had absolutely no social skills of which to speak. Gradually Dr. Perry was able to communicate with Justin and begin to nurture him. Eventually Justin was placed in a foster home and his development rapidly increased with the amount of care he was given.

I find this fascinating because the little boy simply did not know language. Of course he had to have thoughts - it is impossible for one to not have thoughts - but what did they sound like? Might they have been action thoughts (eg. imagining oneself as yawning instead of thinking "I'm tired")? I think this must be the case, especially when it comes to the deaf. They do not have a verbal language - it is all physical. Their thoughts must be physical.

Or maybe a person can still think in sounds even if one cannot hear them (such as Beethoven). But when it comes to being without a language - without words with which to communicate - perhaps thoughts are actionally based.

More research needs to be done on this.

On an unrelated note, an ant next to me was carrying a fellow ant, which was dead, on his back whilst trying to find his anthill. In which language do animals and insects think?