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" A standard international language should not only be simple, regular, and logical, but also rich and creative. "
Edward Sapir
Creative
Only
Rich
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" Cultural anthropology is more and more rapidly getting to realize itself as a strictly historical science. "
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Realize
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" 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. "
Edward Sapir
Free
Language
Free Will
" 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. "
Edward Sapir
Appearances
Without
Simplicity
" 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
See
Man
Independence
" 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
Prove
Freedom
Spirit
" 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
Him
Simplicity
More
" 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
Better
Content
Language
" In a sense, every form of expression is imposed upon one by social factors, one's own language above all. "
Edward Sapir
Social
Expression
Language
" So far as the advocates of a constructed international language are concerned, it is rather to be wondered at how much in common their proposals actually have, both in vocabulary and in general spirit of procedure. "
Edward Sapir
Spirit
Vocabulary
Much
" 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
Hand
Desire
Done
" The modern mind tends to be more and more critical and analytical in spirit, hence it must devise for itself an engine of expression which is logically defensible at every point and which tends to correspond to the rigorous spirit of modern science. "
Edward Sapir
Spirit
More
Expression
" 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
Evidence
Information
History
" 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
Hopeless
Language
Dear
" 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
Sacrifice
Language
Creation
" National languages are all huge systems of vested interests which sullenly resist critical inquiry. "
Edward Sapir
Inquiry
Interests
Languages
" 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. "
Edward Sapir
Diplomacy
Only
Science
" French and German illustrate the misleading character of apparent grammatical simplicity just as well. "
Edward Sapir
Simplicity
Just
Character
" 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
Language
Society
Live
" More and more, unsolicited gifts from without are likely to be received with unconscious resentment. "
Edward Sapir
Gifts
Without
Resentment
" 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. "
Edward Sapir
Us
Limits
Comparison
" 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. "
Edward Sapir
Long
Time
Problem
" 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
Language
Experience
Community
" 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. "
Edward Sapir
Important
Language
World
" One of the glories of English simplicity is the possibility of using the same word as noun and verb. "
Edward Sapir
Word
English
Same
" 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
Reflection
Use
Communication
" No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. "
Edward Sapir
Social
Two
Reality
" 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
Fruits
Learning
Study
" 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
Light
Culture
Future
" 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
Driven
Money
Time
" 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. "
Edward Sapir
Idea
Score
Criticism