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This article uses the notion of forms of life to examine the role assigned to language – spoken or signed – in the legal rights and empowerment of “deaf-mute” people in France at the turn of the nineteenth century. It sets out three case studies : the trial and acquittal of a deaf-mute pupil, an allegation made by a deaf-mute pupil, and a petition submitted by a deaf-mute teacher regarding the legal rights accorded to deaf-mute people by the Napoleonic Civic Code. A close reading of the material reveals the role of three linguistic functions – performative acts, grammatical construction, definition – in ascertaining a shared experience and understanding of language, that is, a common form of life. Attesting common access to and expectations of language, these functions were strategic in establishing “deaf-mute” people’s membership of society, their understanding of their duties as citizens, and the need to grant them full civil rights. I use the concept of forms of life to pinpoint the political dimension of linguistic expectations and the possibilities that may arise when these expectations are fulfilled.