Living Language
As the linguist Edward Sapir observed, “The complete vocabulary of a language may indeed be looked upon as a complex inventory of all the ideas, interests, and occupations that take up the attention of the community.”
David W. Anthony • The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
language is a lens, and our thoughts and perceptions are almost certainly shaped in some way by its conventions and metaphors. It shows us that writing influences our thoughts even as we use it to describe them.
Laura Hartenberger • What AI Teaches Us About Good Writing
Every scientist stands on the shoulders of giants, every artist works within or against a tradition. A baby learning language from the adults around her is the most recently formed link in what the educationalist Paul Harris terms an ‘ancient tutorial system’.
Ian Leslie • Curious
Adopting the language of a particular community, as we saw in the previous chapter, is as much about believing that it is a desirable thing to be a member of that community as it is simply being exposed to it: