pontificate vs speak

pontificate is a noun but speak is not a noun.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
pontificate	Yes	No	Yes	No
speak	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, speak is a hypernym of pontificate; that is, speak is a word with a broader meaning than pontificate:

Other hypernyms of pontificate include talk.

pontificate (noun)	speak (noun)
the government of the Roman Catholic Church

pontificate (verb)	speak (verb)
talk in a dogmatic and pompous manner	express in speech
administer a pontifical office	exchange thoughts; talk with
	use language
	give a speech to
	make a characteristic or natural sound