“Getting down to brass tacks, how in the Hell are you going to explain general American n- 'I' except genetically?”

— Edward Sapir

In a letter dated August 1, 1918
Context: Getting down to brass tacks, how in the Hell are you going to explain general American n- 'I' except genetically? It's disturbing, I know, but (more) non-committal conservatism is only dodging, after all, isn't it? Great simplifications are in store for us. … It seems to me that only now that is American linguistics becoming really interesting, at least in its ethnological bearings.

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Edward Sapir10

American linguist and anthropologist 1884–1939

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