| Lemma | grammar |
|---|---|
| Categoria grammaticale | N |
| Lingua | inglese |
| Sigla | Sapir (1921) |
| Titolo | Language |
| Sinonimi | structural genius of language (inglese) |
| Rinvii | basic plan of language (inglese) concept (inglese) content (inglese) conveniently (inglese) expression (inglese) form (inglese) grammatical (inglese) language (inglese) relation (inglese) structural genius of language (inglese) |
| Traduzioni | |
| Citazioni | [...] languages have an inherent tendency to economy of expression. Were this tendency entirely inoperative, there would be no grammar. The fact of grammar, a universal trait of language, is simply a generalized expression of the feeling that analogous concepts and relations are most conveniently symbolized in analogous forms. Were a language ever completely 'grammatical', it would be a perfect engine of conceptual expression. [...] no language is tyrannically consistent. All grammars leak. 'Man' and 'white' possess an inherent relation to 'woman' and 'black', but it is a relation of conceptual content only and is of no direct interest to grammar. [...] type or plan or structural 'genius' of the language is something much more fundamental [...] than any single feature of it that we can mention, nor can we gain an adequate idea of its nature by a mere recital of the sundry facts that make up the grammar of the language. |