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Guy Deutscher Quotes

Language is mankind’s greatest invention – except, of course, that it was never invented.

Language is mankind’s greatest invention – except, of course, that it was never invented.

Guy Deutscher
Language, Invention, Mankind
Guy Deutscher (2006). “The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention”, p.1, Macmillan

As strange as it may sound, our experience of a Chagall painting actually depends to some extent on whether our language has a word for blue.

Guy Deutscher
Blue, Sound, May

And there are also languages that divide nouns into much more specific genders. The African language Supyire from Mali has five genders: humans, big things, small things, collectives, and liquids. Bantu languages such as Swahili have up to ten genders, and the Australian language Ngan’gityemerri is said to have fifteen different genders, which include, among others, masculine human, feminine human, canines, non-canine animals, vegetables, drinks, and two different genders for spears (depending on size and material).

Guy Deutscher
Animal, Vegetables, Two

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