"Language is the express image and picture of human thoughts; and, from the picture, we may often draw very certain conclusions with regard to the original."
— Reid, Thomas (1710-1796)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Edinburgh and London
Publisher
John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson
Date
1785
Metaphor
"Language is the express image and picture of human thoughts; and, from the picture, we may often draw very certain conclusions with regard to the original."
Metaphor in Context
There are other opinions that appear to be universal, from what is common in the structure of all languages, ancient and modern, polished and barbarous. Language is the express image and picture of human thoughts; and, from the picture, we may often draw very certain conclusions with regard to the original. We find in all languages the same parts of speech, nouns substantive and adjective, verbs active and passive, varied according to the tenses of past, present, and future; we find adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. There are general rules of syntax common to all languages. This uniformity in the structure of language, shows a certain degree of uniformity in those notions upon which the structure of language is grounded.
(I.ii.7, p. 44)
(I.ii.7, p. 44)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
4 entries in ESTC (1785, 1786, 1790, 1793).
See Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (Edinburgh and London: Printed for John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1785). <Link to Google Books>
See Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (Edinburgh and London: Printed for John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1785). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
03/01/2012
