Linguistics Quotes

“The ultimate goal is a classification of languages... based on the fundamental principle that languages which show widespread and systematic resemblances in sound and meaning are related.”

“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”

“Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.”

“Linguistics is not about 'correct' or 'incorrect' language use, but about describing how people actually use language.”

“The method of multilateral comparison is so powerful that it will give reliable results even with poorly chosen vocabulary.”

“Certain universals of grammar are demonstrable from a consideration of the order of meaningful elements.”

“African American Vernacular English is not a random collection of errors but a well-formed linguistic system with its own rules and grammar.”

“Language is the formative organ of thought.”

“The object of the science of language is to understand language, not to improve it.”

“The great difficulty which all writers on pronunciation have to contend with, is the want of a fixed standard of comparison.”

“The initial sound of a word is the most stable.”

“The poetic function projects the principle of equivalence from the axis of selection into the axis of combination.”

“The twofold character of language is its capacity for combination and selection.”

“To have a language is to have a set of rules.”

“The linguistic sign unites, not a thing and a name, but a concept and a sound-image.”

“A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas.”

“Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey.”

“Every sign is composed of a signifier and a signified.”

“Aphasia is a loss of language, not a loss of speech.”

“Phonology is concerned with the function, behavior and organization of sounds as linguistic items.”