"Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the "real world" is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached … We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation."
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Academics from the United StatesAcademics from GermanyImmigrants to the United StatesLinguists from the United StatesAnthropologists from the United States
Original Language: English
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Sources
The Status Of Linguistics As A Science (1929), p. 69
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_Sapir
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Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir (Jan. 26, 1884 – Feb. 4, 1939) was an American anthropologist and linguist, a leader in American structural linguistics, and a pioneer of concepts in linguistic relativity as a creator of what is now called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. He is arguably the most influential figure in American linguistics.
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