| Lemma | formal |
|---|---|
| Categoria grammaticale | AG |
| Lingua | inglese |
| Sigla | Sapir (1921) |
| Titolo | Language |
| Sinonimi | |
| Rinvii | abstract concept (inglese) composition (inglese) concept (inglese) delimiting function (inglese) element of speech (inglese) expression (inglese) form (inglese) language (inglese) mind (inglese) morphological (inglese) phonetic drift (inglese) relation (inglese) sentence (inglese) significance (inglese) speech (inglese) |
| Traduzioni | |
| Citazioni | [...] it is quite impossible to show [...] that more than a negligible proportion of the elements of speech or anything at all of its formal apparatus is derivable from an onomatopoetic source. The fundamental groundwork of language -the development of a clear-cut phonetic system, the specific association of speech elements with concepts, and the delicate provision for the formal expression of all manner of relations - all this meets us rigidly perfected and systematized in every language known to us. The element 'b' ('-s', '-ing', '-er') is the indicator of a subsidiary and [...] a more abstract concept; in the widest sense of the word 'form,' it puts upon the fundamental concept a formal limitation. In a great many languages composition is confined to [...] the delimiting function, that is, of the two or more compounded elements one is given a [...] qualified significance by the others, which contribute nothing to the formal build of the sentence. If all the phonetic changes brought about by the phonetic drift were allowed to stand, [...] most languages would present such irregularities of morphological contour as to lose touch with their formal ground-plan. Such words as 'credible', 'certitude', [...] are entirely welcome in English because [...] their formal analysis [...] is not a necessary act of the unconscious mind... |