In his book Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein said, "If a lion could speak, we couldn't understand him."

The idea that any language speaker understands another speaker is common sense. So, if a lion spoke in a language we know, we should understand what they're saying, right? But Wittgenstein is getting at a deeper idea—language is more than just words. It's our experiences and how we see the world.

Lions and humans live in completely different worlds. For a lion, instincts like hunting and survival shape its life. If a lion tried to express its thoughts using words, metaphors, and analogies, those thoughts would be so different from ours that we wouldn't get it. Even if the lion spoke a human language, it would be talking about a perspective we can't understand.

The same thing happens when we learn another language. But understanding a lion's language would mean knowing more than just how to speak. Language isn't only words and grammar. It's about culture, feelings, shared experiences, worldview, and emotional state. We would find it hard to understand a lion for the same reason we find it tough to understand the people around us.

Wittgenstein's main message is that the limits of our language are the limits of our world. Even if a lion spoke, its view—shaped by its life experiences—would be outside what we can understand. No two human cultures are as far apart as a human and a lion, but it's a good reminder that understanding is more than just words. It takes empathy, compassion, and our own life experiences to understand others in any language.