That's wrong. What matters is the capacity to suffer. There are humans who do not have the mental capacity to articulate such a thing either. I'd highly recommend as it deals with such arguments in greater length. http://lockeanliberal.com/2014/11/02/what-a-conservative-col...

"The day an animal can articulate that, I'll agree with you."

They can if you keep your eyes open just a little.

So if I can't speak the language of my torturer, my suffering rightly has no meaning to them?

We also don't make everyone who can't speak our language suffer.

Historically, we do. However, we are able to communicate even if we don't know a specific language.