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Edward Sapir Quotes (1884-1939)
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About Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir (Jan. 26, 1884 β Feb. 4, 1939) was an American anthropologist and linguist, a leader in American structural linguistics, and a pioneer of concepts in linguistic relativity as a creator of what is now called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. He is arguably the most influential figure in American linguistics.
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βLanguage is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols.β
βCultural anthropology is not valuable because it uncovers the archaic in the psychological sense. It is valuable because it is constantly rediscovering the normal.β
βHuman beings do not wish to be modest; they want to be as expressive β that is, as immodest β as fear allows; fashion helps them solve that paradoxical problem.β
βIt would be naΓ―ve to imagine that any analysis of experience is dependent on pattern expressed in language. Any concept, whether or not it forms part of the system of grammatical categories, can be conveyed in any language. If a notion is lacking in a given series, it implies a different configuration and not a lack of expressive power.β
βGetting down to brass tacks, how in the Hell are you going to explain general American n- 'I' except genetically? It's disturbing, I know, but (more) non-committal conservatism is only dodging, after all, isn't it? Great simplifications are in store for us. β¦ It seems to me that only now that is American linguistics becoming really interesting, at least in its ethnological bearings.β
βHuman 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. 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. The fact of the matter is that the "real world" is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached β¦ We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation.β
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Edward Sapir on Language 2 quotes
βIt is easy to show that language and culture are not intrinsically associated. Totally unrelated languages share in one culture; closely related languagesβeven a single languageβbelong to distinct culture spheres. There are many excellent examples in Aboriginal America. The Athabaskan languages form as clearly unified, as structurally specialized, a group as any that I know of. The speakers of these languages belong to four distinct culture areas... The cultural adaptability of the Athabaskan-speaking peoples is in the strangest contrast to the inaccessibility to foreign influences of the languages themselves.β
Edward Sapir on Fashion
Edward Sapir on Anthropology
βCultural anthropology is not valuable because it uncovers the archaic in the psychological sense. It is valuable because it is constantly rediscovering the normal.β
About Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir (Jan. 26, 1884 β Feb. 4, 1939) was an American anthropologist and linguist, a leader in American structural linguistics, and a pioneer of concepts in linguistic relativity as a creator of what is now called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. He is arguably the most influential figure in American linguistics.
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