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Quote by Edward Sapir

“Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations.”

Quote by Edward Sapir

Work

This comprehensive volume delves into the intricate details of language, examining its evolution, the role it plays in human society, and its profound influence on culture and thought. more

Author

Edward Sapir was a prominent American anthropologist known for his profound research on language and culture. Born on January 26, 1884, and passing away on February 4, 1939, Sapir's work had a profound impact on the development of modern anthropology, particularly in the fields of linguistic anthropology and semiotics. more

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“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.”

World Humans Form Spirit Common Known Expression Prove Symbols Units Human Spirit Allegiance Freedom Of Expression

Book:General Linguistics

Source: General Linguistics

“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.”

Made Age Events Information Type Evidence Direct Statements Legends Relative Formal Sequence Personal Information Sequence Of Events

Book:Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture and Personality

Source: Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture and Personality

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

Should Language Simple Creative Rich Standards International Logical International Language

Book:General Linguistics

Source: General Linguistics

“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.”

Helping Shows Illusion Simplicity Bother Analysis Logical Foreigners Usage

Book:General Linguistics

Source: General Linguistics

“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.”

Matter Facts Language Loses Cases Originals Spread Richness Matter Of Fact National Language

Book:General Linguistics

Source: General Linguistics

“Comparison of statements made at different periods frequently enable us to give maximal and minimal dates to the appearance of a cultural element or to assign the time limits to a movement of population.”

Giving Made Different Movement Periods Limits Elements Population Appearance Statements Comparison Time Limit

Book:Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture and Personality

Source: Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture and Personality

“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.”

Long Problem Spirit Certain Language Religious Involved Long Time International Latin Implications Nationalistic International Language

Book:General Linguistics

Source: General Linguistics

“Cultural anthropology is more and more rapidly getting to realize itself as a strictly historical science.”

Realizing Historical Anthropology

Book:Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture and Personality

Source: Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture and Personality

“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.”

Language International Accepted Secure Latin Diplomacy International Language

Book:Culture, Language and Personality

Source: Culture, Language and Personality

“Language is an anonymous, collective and unconscious art; the result of the creativity of thousands of generations.”

Life Inspirational Art Language Results Creativity Generations Unconscious Collectives

Author:Edward Sapir