[...] a speech-sound localized in the brain [...] is very far from being an element of language. It must be further associated with some element or group of elements of experience [...] before it has even rudimentary linguistic significance.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.10

[...] when [...] associated experiences are [...] associated with the image of a house [...] they begin to take on the nature of a symbol, a word, an element of language.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.11

The true, significant elements of language are generally sequences of sounds that are either words, significant parts of words, or word groupings. What distingushes each of these elements is that it is the outward sign of a specific idea [...]
- Sapir (1921), a pag.25

[...] in particular cases, especially in some of the highly synthetic languages of aboriginal America, it is not always easy to say whether a particular element of language is to be interpreted as independent word or as part of a larger word.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.33