At every moment of his life the Shoshone must be careful to observe the complicated folkways of his group, to do reverence to superhuman powers, to remember the courtesies and obligations of family, to pay homage to certain sacred plants, or to avoid particular places.
Peter FarbLanguage does not stand still. Surprisingly, despite this knowledge, most speakers are fearful of change.
Peter FarbA complex society is not necessarily more advanced than a simple one; it has just adapted to conditions in a more complicated way.
Peter FarbAn inability to communicate has little to do with international friction-as is seen in the special ferocity of wars fought between people who speak the same language.
Peter FarbAn invention or new combination can be successful only if all if the elements necessary for the recombination are present in the culture.
Peter FarbNative speakers of a language know intuitively whether a sentence is grammatical or not. They usually cannot specify exactly what is wrong, and very possibly they make the same mistakes in their own speech, but they know-unconsciously, not as a set of rules they learned in school-when a sentence is incorrect.
Peter Farb