萨丕尔认为语言并非是人类的本能,而是人类为了社会交际有意识地从言语事实中分解出的规则,是人类有意创造的一套系统。人们一代又一代地按照这个系统规则说话,交际。而词也不是我们平日所见单独存在的,词是从句子中分解出的。每一个词都能具备一个完整的意义。 Sapir argues that language is not the instinct of mankind, but the rule that mankind conscientiously divulges from verbal facts for social communication and is a system that human beings are interested in creating. People from generation to generation talk and communicate in accordance with this system of rules. The word is not seen on weekdays alone, the word is decomposed from the sentence. Every word can have a complete meaning.