The [...] word, 'sing', is an indivisible phonetic entity [...] The other words all involve the same fundamental notion but, owing to the addition of other phonetic elements, this notion is given a particular twist that modifies or more closely defines it.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.25

[...] historical evidence does [...] show that sing is in origin a number of quite distinct words, of type 'A + (b)', that have pooled their separate values. The '(b)' of each of these has gone as a tangible phonetic element [...]
- Sapir (1921), a pag.29

If two languages taken at random, [...] are compared as to their phonetic systems, we [...] find that very few of the phonetic elements of the one find an exact analogue in the other.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.43

Two languages may, [...] be built up of precisely the same series of consonants and vowels and yet produce utterly different acoustic effects. One of them may not recognize striking variations in the lengths or 'quantities' of the phonetic elements, the other may note such variations most punctiliously.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.53

Varying methods of syllabifying are also responsible for [...] acoustic differences. Most important of all, [...] are the very different possibilities of combining the phonetic elements. Each language has its peculiarities.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.54

[...] phonetic elements or such dynamic features as quantity and stress have varying psychological 'values.'
- Sapir (1921), a pag.54

The inner sound-system, [...] is a real and [...] important principle in the life of a language. It may persist as a pattern, involving number, relation, and functioning of phonetic elements [...]
- Sapir (1921), a pag.55

The phonetic pattern [...] not invariable, but it changes far less readily than the sounds that compose it. Every phonetic element that it possesses may change radically and yet the pattern remain unaffected.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.187