Culture, Language and Personality: Selected Essays

218 Pages·1949·36.05 MB·English

by  Edward Sapir

DWARD
. U LT U RE, LANGUAGE
ND PERSONALITY
SELECTED ESSAYS
IVIRIIIY O. CALI.ORNIA 'Rill
EDWARD SAPIR
Culture, Language, and Personality
I~mi Ili~i 1I11 111111 11111111111
IIHUN-D7J-KYOO
echtallik Oascharr tenaal
EDWARD SAPIR
CULTURE, LANGUAGE
AND PERSONALITY
SELECTED ESSAYS EDITED BY
DAVID G. MANDELBAUM
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY, LOS ANGELES, LONDON
A rechtal Jk Oescho&rr ater~1
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, LTD.
LONDON, ENGLAND
The essays in this book have a1so been
published as part of Selected Writings of
Edward Sapir in Language, Culture, and Personality
Copyright, 1949, by
The Regents of the University of California
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
STANDARD BOOK NUMBER 520-01116-3
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
uteursr IljK jmater~
Editor's Introduction
This selection of Edward Sapir's best-known writings
has been made at the publisher's request so that a
wide circle of readers can come to know and flnd
pleasure in his thought and style. These essays, nine
in number, representative of his contributions in three
fields of learning, have been chosen from the larger
collection entitled Selected Writings of Edward Sapir
in Language, Culture, and Personality published in
1949 by the University of California Press.
Sapir continues to be honored, not only by those
who knew the rare quality of the man, but also by
those who discover, from reading what he had to tell
us, that they grow intellectually taller than they were
before.
The first three essays deal with language, Sapir's
principal field of study. In the long essay on language,
compact and tightly written though it is, we can see
something of Sapir's broad and sure grasp of the sub-
ject and of his illuminating explorations in various
aspects of linguistics. The opening essay begins with
a trenchant summary of the formal characteristics of
language and then discusses language as an attribute
of man. After taking note of various notions concern-
ing the origin of language, Sapir goes on to an analysis
of the functions of speech, and then to a description
of structural and genetic classifications. The discus-
A rechtal Jk Oescho&rr ater~1
vi Introduction
sion of genetic affiliations among languages leads to
observations on change in language and that, in turn,
to the relations between language and the rest of a
culture.
Practical, social considerations are central in the
essay, "The Function of an International Auxiliary
Language." Sapir gave much thought to this subject
and his views can now be gauged in the light of
events which have occurred in the years since they
were first propounded. C. K. Ogden's rejoinder to
Sapir appeared in the same issue of Psyche and also
in a volume of the Psyche Miniature Series entitled
Debabelization.
The dominant note of "The Status of Linguistics as
a Science" is one which Sapir stressed in various of
his writings. "Language is a cultural or social product
and must be understood as such," He reminded lin-
guists that, if their subject was to be scientifically
productive and aesthetically satisfying, it could not be
narrowly circumscribed, but had to be an integral and
integrated part of the study of man.
"Culture, Genuine and Spurious" is an example of
Sapir's comments on culture in general. In this essay
he boldly offers value judgments on cultures, a proce-
dure that was at variance with the relativistic tone of
of anthropology at that period. The essay on "The
Meaning of Religion" presents in noteworthy style
penetrating ideas on a human characteristic.
The interplay of culture and personality was a field
of study in which Sapir was a pioneer. The essay
"Cultural Anthropology and Psychiatry" plots the
scope and gives the rationale of culture-personality
studies. The short essay on "Personality" offers defini-
A ecn Jk bescn.er at ~I
vii Introduction
tions and suggests uses for them. The relevance of
the various social sciences, especially economics, to
the realities of life are discussed in ''Psychiatric and
Cultural Pitfalls in the Business of Getting a Living."
The final essay in this collection, "The Emergence of
the Concept of Personality in a Stlldy of Cultures,"
offers a number of research leads which have proved
to be stimulating and fruitful.
This selection of Sapir's notable essays includes only
a sampling of the many that deserve the attention of
a wide public. None of his technical studies in Amer-
ican Indian languages, and in Indo-European, Semitic,
and African languages could be included within the
compass of this volume. Those who want to know
more about Sapir and his work may refer to Selected
Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture, and
Personality; in the bibliography therein are listings 01
Sapir's contributions to belles-lettres, of his writings
in musical criticism, and of his poetry. For a review of
Sapir's linguistic ideas, see the article by Zellig Harris
in Language, vol. 27 (1951), pp. 28&-333.
Edward Sapir was born in Lauenberg, Germany, in
1884. When he was five years old his parents came to
the United States. Sapir's early education was in
Richmond, Virginia, and, after the age of ten, in the
New York City schools. At the age of fourteen he en-
tered a city-wide scholarship competition and was
ranked first: "the brightest boy in New York City,"
said one newspaper. This scholarship award assisted
him through high school and Columbia University,
where he was graduated in 1904. At Columbia he
came to know Franz Boas, one of the founders of
American anthropology, who interested him in the
A cc~lik be herr atenaal
viii Introduction
anthropological approach to linguistics. With Boas' en-
couragement and help Sapir took an M.A. in German
in 1905 and four years later received the Ph.D. in
anthropology. In the summer of 1905 he made a field
trip to the state of Washington to study the language
of the Wishram Indians and, from that time on, much
of his work concerned American Indian languages
and cultures.
FollOwing bis graduate work at Columbia, Sapir
spent a year as research assistant in anthropology at
the U Diversity of CalifOrnia, Berkeley, and then two
years as an instructor at the University of Pennsyl-
vania. In 1910 he was appointed chief of the Division
of Anthropology in the Geological Survey of the Ca-
nadian National Museum at Ottawa. In 1925 he was
invited to the University of Chicago and six years later
went to Yale University to be Sterling Professor of
Anthropology and Linguistics. Before his death, Febru-
ary 4, 1939, Sapir had received many high academic
honors, among them an honorary degree from Colum-
bia, and the presidencies of the American Anthropo-
logical Association and of the American Linguistic
Society.
The editor and publisher are grateful for Mrs.
Edward Sapir's consent to the publication of the pres-
ent book and also for her cooperation in supplying
new biographical information. Mr. Philip Sapir has
also contributed new information and has been encour-
aging and helpful in various ways.
Thanks are due the original publishers for permis-
sion to reprint the essays that comprise the present
selection.
uteursr IljK jmater~
ix Introduction
The Macmillan Company for "Language," from the Encycw-
paedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 9 (1933); and for "Per-
sonality," from the Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, vol. l~
(1934) .
The publishers of Psyche (London) for "The Function of
an International AuxiL\at'y Language," from Psyche. vol. 11
(1931).
Linguistic Society of America for "The Status of Linguistics
as a Science," from Language, vol. 5 (1929).
University of Chicago Press for "Cultwe. Genuine and
Spurious," from the American Journal of Sociology, vol. 29
(1924).
The American Mercury for "The Meaning of Religion," from
The American Mercury, vol. 15 (September, 1928).
American Psychological Association for "Cultural Anthro-
pology and Psychiatry," from the Journal of Abnormal and
SOcWl PSI/chology, vol. 27 (1932).
American Association for the Advancement of Science for
"Psychiabic and Cu1tural Pitfalls in the Business of Getting a
Living," from M61Ital Health, Publication 9, AAAS (1939).
The Journal Press for "The Emergence of a Concept of
Personality in a Study of Cultures," from the Journal of Social
PSI/chology, vol. 5 (1934).
Berkeley, March, 1956
D.G.M.
Editors note.-In this second printing of the first
paper-bound edition, several production errors (mainly
in the Introduction) have been corrected.
The title of the present volume, selected by the pub-
lisher, should not be confused with that of Language,
Culture, and Personality, Essays in Memory of Edward
Sapir. The memorial volume, which is to be reprinted,
was published in 1941 and was edited by L. Spier,
A. I. Hallowell, and S. S. Newman.
j materl3a
Contents
I ANffiJACE 1
THE FlJNCnON OF AN INTERNATIONAL
A~Y LANGUAGE 45
THE STATUS OF LINGUISTICS AS A SCIENCE 65
CULTURE, GENUINE AND SPURIOUS 78
THE MEANING OF REliGION 12.0
CUL'nJRAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY 140
PERSONALITY 164
PSYClUATRIC AND CULTIlRAL PITFAT T S IN TIlE
BUSINESS OF GETI1NG A LIVING 172
THE EMERGENCE OF TIlE CONCEPT OF
PERSONALITY IN A STUDY OF CULTURES 194
A rechtal Jk Oescho&rr ater~1