The Taelons speak a whispery language that often seems nonsensical when translated into English, largely because the alien argot lacks many of our own grammatical constraints: for example, there are no nominative nouns, no transitive verbs, etc.—moreover, every word is ambiguous and polysemic, with subtle nuances of meaning that often seem contradictory. The language abounds in poetic notions that are concocted and dissolved in a moment, according to aesthetic necessity. The aliens do not even believe that they use their language; instead, they say that the language uses them. It is, for them, an entity with a life of its own. It is not a tool used to express ideas; instead, they see it as an ideal virus that uses their own minds as a means for replicating itself through the act communication.