How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
He reached for her hand, but she stood up and took a step back. He apologized and tried to talk her into staying, but she left, walking fast. Halfway to Rinka's shop, she wondered if Somiss was hiding thoughts too—if that was his real objection to silent-speech. (29.67)
Communication could be instant and complete with the use of silent-speech (a.k.a telepathy). Sadima reacts badly when Franklin tries it on her though, since she doesn't like the feeling of him snooping around in her head (though Shmooping around in her head would be just fine). That leads her to wonder: maybe Somiss doesn't want people to figure out how to communicate via silent-speech because he's hiding secrets…
Quote #5
Sadima stared at the writing, then whirled around and went back to the kitchen for her copy. Trembling, she put them side by side. Somiss had recopied the songs completely, three times over. All three of his copies were exactly alike, but different from hers. He had changed it. Why? To keep the real song from her and Franklin? (37.56)
Maybe it's not so off base to wonder if Somiss is keeping secrets from Sadima and Franklin. If he's going to the trouble to make extra copies of the songs he's studying just to change minor details then something is surely going on. But what?
Quote #6
"Somiss marked up the first set of copies, counting the letters. The ones in blue occur most often," Franklin said. "He is hoping some or even most of them are vowels."
Sadima blinked and he apologized. "Vowels are the letters you voice." (47.14-15)
This is an example of how you don't need to know how a language works in order to be able to speak that language. If you're reading this right now, you probably have a basic grasp of English, for instance, and yet we're thinking you might not be able to list every single rule of spelling and grammar off the top of your head (unless you're an English teacher, or the kid of an English teacher).