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The present essay is intended to complement and extend the previous discussion of the acquisition of language (Part I). The further question arises of the relation between thought and language. The argument is presented that the capacity for thought arises developmentally before the emergence of the capacity for linguistic expression. Also functionally, on the mature and adult level, thought is regarded as independent of and antecedent to verbal expression. The word, in this sense, is a partial and incomplete expression of the fullness and complexity of the thought behind it. The relation of thought and word is traced develop-mentally in terms of Vygotsky's analysis of concept development, in which thought and language follow different paths of development and achieve final integration and synthesis in adolescence. The development of thinking capacity and the evolution of inner speech points to the autonomy and independent synthetic capacity of the subjective self even before the development of linguistic competence. Beyond the reach and comprehension of the word, the thought remains active and alive nonetheless in the private inner world of the subjective self.