 Similarly, Erasmus’ comments on the function of language as a means of communication appear significant at first sight. In the Lingua, for example, he says: “The tongue was given to men so that by its agency as messenger one man might know the mind and intention of another” (CWE 29: 314). He also acknowledges the communicative function in the Paraclesis, one of the prefaces to his New Testament edition: “for our daily conversation reflects in large measure what we are. Let each person understand what he can; let each express what he can” (CWE 41: 412). Here as elsewhere Erasmus does not elaborate on his thoughts, and his statements fall short of a philosophy of language.