The association must be a purely symbolic one; [...] the word must denote [...] the image, must have no other significance than to serve as a counter to refer to it whenever it is necessary or convenient to do so.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.12

[...] the individual sound is not [...] an element of speech at all, for speech is a significant function and the sound as such has no significance.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.24

The grammatical element, moreover, is not only non-existent except as associated with a radical one, it does not even, as a rule, obtain its measure of significance unless it is associated with a particular class of radical elements.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.26

[...] it is psychologically impossible to hear or see [...] two words juxtaposed without straining to give them some measure of coherent significance.
- Sapir (1921), a pag.62