“And if Germans do have systematic minds, this is just as likely to be because their exceedingly erratic mother tongue has exhausted their brains' capacity to cope with any further irregularity”
Guy Deutscher“And if Germans do have systematic minds, this is just as likely to be because their exceedingly erratic mother tongue has exhausted their brains' capacity to cope with any further irregularity”
Guy Deutscher, Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages“So if you, O subsequent ones, ever deign to look down at us from your summit of effortless superiority, remember that you have only scaled it on the back of our efforts. For it is thankless to grope in the dark and tempting to rest until the light of understanding shines upon us. But if we are led into this temptation, your kingdom will never come.”
Guy Deutscher, Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages“Really, it is unfair to say that English spelling is not an accurate rendering of speech. It is – it's only that it renders the speech of the 16th century.”
Guy Deutscher, The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention“Language is mankind's greatest inventiom… that it was never invented.”
Guy Deutscher, The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention