Noam Chomsky Quotes

Language is one component of the human cognitive capacity which happens to be fairly amenable to enquiry. So we know a good deal about that.

It is only since linguistics has become more aware of its object of study, i.e. perceives the whole extent of it, that it is evident that this science can make a contribution to a range of studies that will be of interest to almost anyone.

In studying language we can discover many basic properties of this cognitive structure, its organization, and also the genetic predispositions that provide the foundation for its development. So in this respect, linguistics, first of all, tries to characterize a major feature of human cognitive organization. And second, I think it may provide a suggestive model for the study of other cognitive systems. And the collection of these systems is one aspect of human nature.

We must plow through the whole of language.

Thinking about language, while thinking _in_ language, leads to puzzles and paradoxes.

Language is, without a doubt, the most momentous and at the same time the most mysterious product of the human mind.

I was always interested in language. I thought, why not? If a painting, by the normal definition of the term, is paint on canvas, why can't it be painted words on canvas?

Semantics, or the study of meaning, remained undeveloped, while phonetics made rapid progress and even came to occupy the central place in the scientific study of language.

Language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it.

Language is the crowning achievement of human beings, and that is something Muslims have always known and revered. We are a literate people whose miracle is a Book from an unlettered man, peace and blessings be upon him, who was the most articulate and eloquent human being who ever lived. We honor our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in honoring language that he loved so much and used so well.

For me, language is something that I've always loved. When I read, that's what I look for. When I write, that's what I strive for.

...language is not the frosting, it's the cake.

Language. I loved it. And for a long time I would think of myself, of my whole body, as an ear.

Only one thing remained reachable, close and secure amid all losses: language. Yes, language. In spite of everything, it remained secure against loss.

LANGUAGE, n. The music with which we charm the serpents guarding another's treasure.

Bilingualism is for me the fundamental problem of linguistics.

I do not pretend that language is science. It isan instrument for the attainment of science.

I love language. It doesn't bother me that its effects are partial. To me that is very sanity-producing. It would be weird if the effects of language were more than partial, if your whole life existed within your texts. That would be much scarier to me than language being an inadequate tool to represent.

No one who set out to design a form of communication would ever end up with anything like English, Mandarin, or any of the more than six thousand languages spoken today.

After using four different languages on an album, it's tough to decide which one I'm gonna actually learn to speak. I always study the lyric, make sure I know what I'm singing, and try to get the pronunciation as perfect as possible.

The business, task or object of the scientific study of languages will if possible be 1) to trace the history of all known languages. Naturally this is possible only to a very limited extent and for very few languages.

Intended to serve as an introduction to both the linguistic and also the practical study of spoken English.

It is no secret that the fruits of language study are in no sort of relation to the labour spent on teaching and learning them.

I ended up doing four or five plays in college and being an English major with my thesis in language acquisition, which I was planning to study in graduate school.

The powers, aspirations, and mission of man are such as to raise the study of his origin and nature, inevitably and by the very necessity of the case, from the mere physiological to the psychological stage of scientific operations.