Simplified Flow of the Sapir-language "Drift"
Ping Wang · Journal of Sichuan University of Science & Engineering · 2011
This passage was started with going deep into Sapir's standpoint of language drift,reviewing history of language and demonstrating that Sapir points out the language drift has direction which can be generally concluded by history of language.The history of language is one which is going simplified constantly,so we can conclude that language drift developed towards direction of simplification.Furthermore,we analyze argumentation which is about language drift in An Introduction to Study of Speech in detail,and we found Sapir implied simplified flow of language drift intensively under surface of his expression of three drifts in English.In this way,the history of simplified language and argument about simplified language which is implied elaborately by Sapir in statement of language drift can be confirmed each other,we can conclude in first time that main direction of language drift which Sapir mentioned but not make clear is Simplification.