Is there a language behind speaking? Twelve influential language thinkers of the last century are presented in a way that highlights their answers to this question. The result is a surprising picture: the pragmatic turn no longer separates Saussure and Chomsky from Searle and Habermas. These authors agree on the assumption of the logical-genealogical primacy of language over each instance of speaking. However, for thinkers like Wittgenstein, Austin, Luhmann, Davidson, Lacan, Derrida, Butler, and Bourdieu, linguistic competence is by no means grounded in knowledge of the universal rules of language and communication.