"Speech Sounds" is a science fiction short story by Octavia Butler. It was most recently published in a collection of short stories titled Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse . It was first published in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine in 1983. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1984. In the not-so-distant future, a mysterious pandemic leaves civilization in ruins and severely limits humankind’s ability to communicate. Some are deprived of their ability to read or write, while others lose the ability to speak. They identify themselves by carrying items or symbols... that function as names. People communicate among themselves through universally understood sign language and gestures that can often exacerbate misunderstandings and conflicts. Additionally, it seems that as a result of the illness and their handicap, many ordinary people are easily prone to uncontrollable feelings of jealousy, resentment, and rage over their own impairments and the ability of others. In Los Angeles, a woman named Rye decides to seek out her only remaining relatives, a brother and his family in nearby Pasadena.
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