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Is there a word opposite to "illiterate", which means someone can read but can not speak?

Is there a word opposite to "illiterate", which means someone can read but can not speak?

Lamun23
It shattered me ☠️

28 comments

Any_Anybodys
Mute means they literally can't speak. Inarticulate means they lack proficiency in speaking
Alundra828
If you're talking about physically not being able to speak, the word is "mute". But if you're talking about being able to read a language, but not hold a conversation in that language, there is no single word for it. You'd maybe call it "receptive bilingual." With the "receptive" meaning that they have reading/listening comprehension. And the bilingual meaning a second language "bi" meaning two, "lingual" meaning language.
NeoThe1_
Closest I can think of is being "mute", where you can't speak at all, but I can't think of anything like what you are asking
superparty
This is not a real word, but I have self-described as being “biliterate” in Spanish (English first language) because I have a decent vocabulary and understand the mechanics enough to read and write, but have zero confidence in processing spoken Spanish in person. Basically I took a lot of classes but my ear is slow :(
Evil_Weevill
Illiterate means someone can't read at all. It doesn't mean they can or can't speak. It only refers to their ability to read. The opposite of illiterate is literate.. Which also doesn't mean anything for a person's ability to speak. A person who can't speak at all would be called "mute" but that doesn't mean anything about their ability to read or not. There is no one word that means someone can read and that they can not speak. Probably because at least in most of the first world, the assumption is that almost everyone can read. Being illiterate is usually very rare.
eslforchinesespeaker
back when this wasn't uncommon, especially among people who were, say, training to read scientific papers, for example, they would say that they have a "reading knowledge" of german. they would read at an academic level, but not train for speaking. not really a single word to convey that, that i know of. let's see.
GM-VikramRajesh
There is no singular word for this concept. Probably because native learners can all speak the language but not all can read or write (especially historically), unless they cannot speak at all regardless of language “mute” The closest I can think of using a combination of words would be to describe someone as “literate but non-verbal in x” where x is the language in question.
jonesnori
"Illiterate" does not imply ability to speak, except that almost everyone can speak. One could be both mute and illiterate, so those are not opposites.
AliciaWhimsicott
Since this seems to be in the context of a test, I would probably go for "inarticulate", meaning you can physically speak but are below average (knock on wood, you'll get better with practice).
smokervoice
Disfluent is the closest I can think of.
Ippus_21
In English we'd usually just say it explicitly: "I can read \[Language\], but I suck at speaking it" or "my accent is terrible." Like, I'm about a B1 in French on paper (on Duolingo), but I don't have anyone to speak it with, so I would struggle to form sentences in real time.
ReasonableBaby7854
There's no direct translation. If you use the terms provided by others in this thread and said it to someone you would have to elaborate on what you meant
ShenZiling
Other than what the others have mentioned, maybe aphasia? 失语症
DTux5249
Mute means you can't speak. You can be both mute and illiterate at the same time.
Ddreigiau
"Illiterate" does not mean anything either way in terms of speaking
kittenlittel
Non-verbal
JGHFunRun
You are poorly spoken in spite of your excellent literary word-smithing (Obligatory statement that this is humorous in the way it’s phrased)
maladicta228
“Mute” technically would be correct, but is often not the best word to use to describe a person. Non-speaking or nonverbal is often better. There is some discourse especially in the Deaf community about the usage of mute in certain contexts, but nonverbal is pretty widely understood and accepted.
Far-Fortune-8381
you wouldn’t need to specify they can read, as that’s the default. being illiterate has no connotation of being able to speak, as being able to speak is assumed. so it would just be mute if they can’t speak but can read. or if you wanted more specificity you would need to use more words
saltybilgewater
book-bound But it usually gets used to describe a person who has a strong affinity for books. However, I think I could see it used by someone attempting to explain this particular problem.
ComfortableFormal652
Unarticulated is the word you’re looking for.
thelastbaard
Me, I can read French fluently but god damn when I speak it I get stage fright and forget everything I know and can understand nothing
languageservicesco
Illiterate doesn't mean you can speak but can't read. It just means you can't read. So you just need a word for not being able to speak.
untempered_fate
I don't think there's a specific English word for that, no. We'd just say something like "I can read [x language] but don't speak it well."
Latter_Dish6370
Some people are “non verbal”, and some of those people can still read.
dipapidatdeddolphin
I assume you're talking about an otherwise verbal person's inability to speak a second language, which we don't really have a word for as far as I am aware, and as other commenters have said, you would say you could read but not speak the language. But just in case you're talking about someone who can't speak at all, that person would be 'mute' if they can't vocalize and 'nonverbal' if the vocal chords work but the language formation doesn't. Mute people can generally learn to read, I have no idea about nonverbal people. In all of these cases, I know of no word that means [can read] + [can't speak]
itanpiuco2020
Passive bilingual Receptive bilingual Textually proficient I will send you a message
WeirdGrapefruit774
Mute or dumb would both work, but dumb would be seen as pretty offensive in most cases.