Language does not stand still. Surprisingly, despite this knowledge, most speakers are fearful of change.

An invention or new combination can be successful only if all if the elements necessary for the recombination are present in the culture.

Speakers who have grown up in the American community unconsciously know its rules about taking turns in conversations-in the same way that they know the rules of grammar and the rules about appropriate speech in various situations.

No child is capable of speech until he has heard other human beings speak, and even two infants reared together cannot develop a language from scratch.

The environment does not determine man's culture; it merely sets the outer limits and at the same time offers opportunities.

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.

An 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.