Edward Sapir Quotes on age

It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection... view

By: Edward Sapir

No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality... view

By: Edward Sapir

No important national language, at least in the Occidental world, has complete regularity of grammatical structure, nor is there a single logical category which is adequately and consistently handled in terms of linguistic symbolism... view

By: Edward Sapir

National languages are all huge systems of vested interests which sullenly resist critical inquiry... view

By: Edward Sapir

It would, of course, be hopeless to attempt to crowd into an international language all those local overtones of meaning which are so dear to the heart of the nationalist... view

By: Edward Sapir

It is no secret that the fruits of language study are in no sort of relation to the labour spent on teaching and learning them... view

By: Edward Sapir

A common creation demands a common sacrifice, and perhaps not the least potent argument in favour of a constructed international language is the fact that it is equally foreign, or apparently so, to the traditions of all nationalities... view

By: Edward Sapir

A logical analysis of reflexive usages in French shows, however, that this simplicity is an illusion and that, so far from helping the foreigner, it is more calculated to bother him... view

By: Edward Sapir

A second type of direct evidence is formed by statements, whether as formal legends or personal information, regarding the age or relative sequence of events in tribal history made by the natives themselves... view

By: Edward Sapir

A standard international language should not only be simple, regular, and logical, but also rich and creative... view

By: Edward Sapir

As a matter of fact, a national language which spreads beyond its own confines very quickly loses much of its original richness of content and is in no better case than a constructed language... view

By: Edward Sapir

Both French and Latin are involved with nationalistic and religious implications which could not be entirely shaken off, and so, while they seemed for a long time to have solved the international language problem up to a certain point, they did not really do so in spirit... view

By: Edward Sapir

English, once accepted as an international language, is no more secure than French has proved to be as the one and only accepted language of diplomacy or as Latin has proved to be as the international language of science... view

By: Edward Sapir

Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society... view

By: Edward Sapir

In a sense, every form of expression is imposed upon one by social factors, one's own language above all... view

By: Edward Sapir

The supposed inferiority of a constructed language to a national one on the score of richness of connotation is, of course, no criticism of the idea of a constructed language... view

By: Edward Sapir

These examples of the lack of simplicity in English and French, all appearances to the contrary, could be multiplied almost without limit and apply to all national languages... view

By: Edward Sapir

The spirit of logical analysis should in practice blend with the practical pressure for the adoption of some form of international language, but it should not allow itself to be stampeded by it... view

By: Edward Sapir

The psychology of a language which, in one way or another, is imposed upon one because of factors beyond one's control, is very different from the psychology of a language which one accepts of one's free will... view

By: Edward Sapir

The attitude of independence toward a constructed language which all national speakers must adopt is really a great advantage, because it tends to make man see himself as the master of language instead of its obedient servant... view

By: Edward Sapir