Quotes by Edward Sapir

About Edward Sapir:

Edward Sapir is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the early development of the discipline of linguistics.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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.

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.

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.

Edward Sapir

We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation.

Edward Sapir

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.

Edward Sapir

A firm, for instance, that does business in many countries of the world is driven to spend an enormous amount of time, labour, and money in providing for translation services.

Edward Sapir

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.

Edward Sapir

I am convinced that the stratigraphic method will in the future enable archaeology to throw far more light on the history of American culture than it has done in the past.

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.

Edward Sapir

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

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.

Edward Sapir

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

Edward Sapir

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

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.

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.

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.

Edward Sapir

French and German illustrate the misleading character of apparent grammatical simplicity just as well.

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.

Edward Sapir

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.

Edward Sapir

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

Edward Sapir

Author Bio

  • NameEdward Sapir
  • DescriptionAmerican linguist and anthropologist
  • BornJanuary 26, 1884
  • DiedFebruary 4, 1939
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionAnthropologist; Linguist; Sociolinguist