George Steiner's phrase "the language animal" as examined by
Charles Taylor —
Steiner attributes his "language animal" phrase, in the transliterated
form "zoon phonanta," to the ancient Greeks. This attribution
is apparently bogus. See Steiner on Language (March 30, 2012).*
It is highly relevant that Taylor is a Catholic and Steiner is a secular Jew.
* More generally — See Steiner + Language + Animal in this journal.