What do you call a person who cannot speak?

Answer 1

You call them 'mute'.

Answer 2

an idiot

Correction: People who cannot or who do not speak are said to be "mute."

The word "dumb" is an older term for "mute," which shows up in the now-reviled expression "deaf and dumb" (does not hear or speak) and in the old term for silent movies and for a show in pantomime: "dumb show."

In the days when terms such as idiot, imbecile, and moron were official designations for people of low intelligence, an "idiot" was technically a "feeble minded" person whose mental age did not exceed three and who would not, therefore, have had much speech, if any at all.

Answer 3

Aphasia is an acquired language disorder in which there is an impairment of any language modality. This may include difficulty in producing or comprehending spoken or written language.

Muteness or mutism is kind of a speech disorder that causes an inability to speak.

Answer 4

Adjectives for a person who cannot talk are mute, dumb, aphasic and aphonic. Mute is also a noun.

Answer 5

Such a person is called dumb or mute. Mute may be preferred, since dumb has also acquired the informal connotation "stupid."

Answer 6

a person who cannot speak is called a mute

Answer 7

Dumb/mute is when they can't speak, deaf is when they can't hear, paralyzed is when they can't move.

Answer 8

Deaf and mute.
A person that can\'t talk or speak is a mute.

Answer 9

A person who cannot speak is mute

Answer 10

Deaf