← Back to quotes

Were a language ever completely "grammatical," it would be a perfect engine of… — Edward Sapir

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.

Edward Sapir
1921
★ 1.7
Other tags relating to this quote
Topic
Language
Time
1921
Person
Edward Sapir
Provenance
Citation
Sapir, Edward. Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1921, ch. 2.

Related quotes

Other quotes that share a subject, a time, or a voice with this one.

Other media

Works in other forms that share a subject with this one.

Other media onSubject·Language