He glanced the boot up and down and then settled back on her face, deciding they looked about as weird as the girl who wore them. She obviously understood him but just... wasn't talking to him for some reason. Maybe she had something horrible going on with her teeth and just refused to open her mouth? Some kind of horrible over-under bite or crooked buck-teeth or something... who knew...

Then Ash decided because of this, Chell would make the perfect wife. Ash was used to talking aloud (mostly to himself), but it was uncertain if curiosity or impatience was going to win out in this first encounter with Miss Bromden.

So... he decided to just outright ask. "You can't talk, can you?"

Ten points for Gryffindor Captain Obvious.