If the form of every moneme was an unanalysable grunt, there would be a complete solidarity between sense and vocal form. Meaning would exert a direct influence on form, and form on meaning, the result being that at every instant, every speaker would be tempted to adapt his pronunciation to the particular shades of meaning he would want to convey to his audience. As a final result, both form ad meaning would be in a permanent state of wavering, and this would prevent the establishment of discrete meaningful units, what the monemes of our language actually are thanks to their well-defined and stable form. The articulation of 'signifiants' into succession of phonemes practically excludes the meaning of a given word from exerting any influence on its specific form.
- Martinet (1962), Pag. 24