This debate is between Augustine and his 16-year-old son, Adeodatus. The edited edition I am using divides the dialogue into specific themes and topics. I'll follow that pattern in the blog posts.
Part One: The Purpose of Language
The debate opens with a discussion of the purpose of speaking. Adeodatus posits that to speak is to teach or learn. Augustine does not agree. For him, teaching is the purpose of speaking. Adeodatus argues that one is not necessarily teaching when one is singing. So, Augustine puts an amend on it--how about the purpose of language is to teach AND to remind ourselves (spoiler: this is going to be his conclusion, as well).
Augustine side-steps Adeodatus' challenge by suggesting that singing and speaking are two different things and that singing sometimes does not involve words (for example, bird singing). Thus, speaking words is for teaching and reminding. Adeodatus agrees. What Augustine seems to be missing here is how birds may actually be using singing. Singing is not merely aesthetic, which Augustine seems to be implying. But, he leaves behind the problem of singing to pursue speech itself.
Prayer, though, is not speaking. It happens in the mind because God does not need teaching (and Augustine will posit later on that God is the only true teacher, we're, at best, mimes). Prayer happens in the "inner man"--in the "bedchamber of the heart" and the "temple of the mind" so there is no need for speaking in prayer. Thus, when Jesus taught the disciples, he was teaching then the words to pray with. Thus when we pray, we are not teaching but "reminding" ourselves of Jesus--thus "the words are signs come to mind." Augustine concludes then that prayer is a kind of internal speaking, not external, used to remind ourselves, not teach God.
In this initial section, I can sense Augustine's need to think about the purpose of words. In later sections, he will expound on thinking about signification of words and their use and how this effects speech, knowledge, and learning.
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