“Man is a classifying animal: in one sense it may be said that the whole process of speaking is nothing but distributing phenomena, of which no two are alike in every respect, into different classes on the strength of perceived similarities and dissimilarities. In the name-giving process we witness the same ineradicable and very useful tendency to see likenesses and to express similarity in the phenomena through similarity in name. — Otto Jespersen Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin (1922)”
Quotes by Otto Jespersen
Otto JespersenJens Otto Harry Jespersen was a prominent Danish linguist renowned for his extensive contributions to the study of language, particularly in the realms of foreign-language pedagogy and historical phon...