Can a (standard) familiar with ranks in linguistics talk? Why or why not?
They are all magical beasts. Why might it be limited only to ravens?
As far as I know there are three standard familiars that can talk (Raven, Parrot and Thrush) and for those it is a supernatural ability. For the others I'd say it falls under the
Regardless of a familiar's total skill modifiers, some skills may remain beyond the familiar's ability to use.
clause, just like a toad can't create a forged document with Linguistics (but a monkey might). Familiars other than the three named above simply don't have the anatomical parts needed to talk.
The whole talking familiar being supernatural is kind of odd to me though. Ravens, Parrots and Thrushes have the vocal ability to talk (as do lyrebirds if you can convince your GM that you can get one as a familiar), so if you give them the familiar's brainpower they should just be able to talk just fine without supernatural intervention.
We already know that all familiars can talk verbally:
"...a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help."
So why can't they speak other languages if they know them?
I'm failing to see the rule that says they can't (at least after 5th-level).
I know you have a working knowledge of the rules, so I know that you know this is not possible.
My question in order to help you not destroy your reputation even more is to ask what the purpose of this questions is.
I know you say you ask some questions to help the community, but unless someone is trying to cheese their way into a talking familiar that can't talk I don't see the point of this.
To answer the question though, being a magical beast does not mean you can talk. If they had to explicitly say ravens can talk.....
I will also add "all familiars" can not talk. They(master and familiar) have a special language that exist between them due to the magical connection they have. Note that it says communicate verbally. That does not imply human speech. As an example many animals in real life communicate verbally, but they can't talk.
edit:Dogs barkings is an example.
We already know that all familiars can talk verbally:
"...a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help."
So why can't they speak other languages if they know them?
I'm failing to see the rule that says they can't (at least after 5th-level).
They rules spell out who they can talk to (their master and their own kind), by extension thereof that they cannot speak to others. This is further underlined by the specification that ravens can speak a language.
The fact that the raven ability to talk is a supernatural ability. As such they (like other unimproved familiars) do not possess an innate ability of speech.
It all boils down to their natural form. Some magical beasts can talk, others can't. In the case of familiars the above significantly hints that they cannot.
It doesn't stop them from taking linguistics and understanding a buckload of different languages though. (Actually as a magical beast with int above 2, they understand one language from the start).
The familiar and master sharing a language is more a case of the master understanding the familiar than it is of the familiar talking an actual language.
To illustrate, look at how, as per the rules, a vermin familiar communicates:
Vermin familiars communicate with their masters and other vermin of their kind (greensting scorpions with other scorpions, house centipedes with other centipedes, and scarlet spiders with other spiders) by way of a strange combination of behaviors, slight changes in coloration, and even the excretion of scents, subtle and otherwise.
More important question: Why are there no squirrel familiars?
There is a squirrel familiar !!
And it can fly ...