Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir
Edward Sapirwas an American anthropologist-linguist, who is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the early development of the discipline of linguistics...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth26 January 1884
CountryUnited States of America
expression perfect would-be
Were a language ever completely "grammatical" it would be a perfect engine of conceptual expression. Unfortunately, or luckily, no language is tyrannically consistent. All grammars leak.
expression world common
A common allegiance to form of expression that is identified with no single national unit is likely to prove one of the most potent symbols of the freedom of the human spirit that the world has yet known.
expression world language
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.
expression language social
In a sense, every form of expression is imposed upon one by social factors, one's own language above all.
cultures discovery four hundred native naturally since
During the more than four hundred years that have elapsed since the discovery of America, the native cultures have naturally not been static.
national richness score supposed
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.
complex dispose english formal german structure true
It is true that English is not as complex in its formal structure as is German or Latin, but this does not dispose of the matter.
english german known logical systems tense
It is well known that the tense systems of French, English and German teem with logical inconsistencies as they are actually used.
attitude men independence
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.
acceptance mind spirit
What fetters the mind and benumbs the spirit is ever the dogged acceptance of absolutes.
symbolism important world
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.
lying hands desire
Impatience translates itself into a desire to have something immediate done about it all, and, as is generally the case with impatience, resolves itself in the easiest way that lies ready to hand.
fashion departure customs
Fashion is custom in the guise of departure from custom
resentment unconscious
More and more, unsolicited gifts from without are likely to be received with unconscious resentment.