--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No phonetic sign, except at a…" description: "\"“No phonetic sign, except at a rudimentary, strictly speaking pre-linguistic level of vocal imitation, has any substantive relation or contiguity to th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/george-steiner-4683_language_no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary_1392159.png" --- # No phonetic sign, except at a rudimentary, strictly… ![“No phonetic sign, except at a rudimentary, strictly speaking pre-linguistic level of vocal imitation, has any substantive relation or contiguity to that which it is conventionally and temporally held to designate.” quote by George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/george-steiner-4683_language_no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary_1392159.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/george-steiner-4683_language_no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary_1392159.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/george-steiner-4683_language_no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary_1392159.png) > ““No phonetic sign, except at a rudimentary, strictly speaking pre-linguistic level of vocal imitation, has any substantive relation or contiguity to that which it is conventionally and temporally held to designate.”” [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Phonetic signs are merely primitive vocal imitations lacking a real connection to the concepts they represent. **In simple terms:** Sounds are basic imitations, not linked to meaning. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of linguistic representation. Themes language semiotics representation Mood analytical critical Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - teaching - translation - communication design - philosophical analysis Key Concepts Phonetics meaning construction Questions to Reflect On - Can sounds ever fully capture meaning? - How do we bridge the gap between sign and concept? A Different Perspective May undervalue symbolic power of language. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ## Related quotes > [A poor self-image is the magnifying glass that can transform a trivial mistake or an imperfection into an overwhelming symbol of personal defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/a-poor-self-image-is-the-magnifying-glass-that-can-transform-a/) [David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-d-burns/) > [“Sign The Truth of Sign is Simple. Sign Word is one but meaning are different. some time the work as done bye seen Sign.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pradeep/sign-the-truth-of-sign-is-simple-sign-word-is-one-but-meaning-are/) Pradeep > [“If you're not a sex symbol, you're in trouble.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-gurley-brown/if-you-re-not-a-sex-symbol-you-re-in-trouble/) [Helen Gurley Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-gurley-brown/) > [I don't have to assert my virility. I think my career has shown that I'm not exactly a pantywaist. But I do take pride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wayne/i-don-t-have-to-assert-my-virility-i-think-my-career-has-shown-that-i/) [John Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wayne/) > [Juneteenth has always been a symbol of freedom deferred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cori-bush/juneteenth-has-always-been-a-symbol-of-freedom-deferred/) [Cori Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cori-bush/) > [People used to come knocking on my door saying, 'Your trouble is that you're a sex symbol who doesn't do enough sexy things.' I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raquel-welch/people-used-to-come-knocking-on-my-door-saying-your-trouble-is-that/) [Raquel Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raquel-welch/) > [“Emil Fischer represents a symbol of Germany's greatness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-dietrich-harries/emil-fischer-represents-a-symbol-of-germany-s-greatness/) Carl Dietrich Harries > [I wasn't a sex symbol, I was a sex zombie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-lake/i-wasn-t-a-sex-symbol-i-was-a-sex-zombie/) [Veronica Lake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-lake/) > [“But what a feeling can come over a man just from seeing the things he believes in and hopes for symbolized in the concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/but-what-a-feeling-can-come-over-a-man-just-from-seeing-the-things-he/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [I'm tired of seeing listings of programs I want to watch that aren't closed captioned. And I'm tired of looking for the symbol on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlee-matlin/i-m-tired-of-seeing-listings-of-programs-i-want-to-watch-that-aren-t/) [Marlee Matlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlee-matlin/) > [South Carolina, as a matter of compromise, displays the Confederate flag on a flagpole in front of the state capitol. Because I grew up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edwards/south-carolina-as-a-matter-of-compromise-displays-the-confederate/) [John Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edwards/) > [“Think of it as a symbol. Here’s the chain, joining us together. I know it’s a symbol of captivity. Slavery, even. But I also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primula-bond/think-of-it-as-a-symbol-here-s-the-chain-joining-us-together-i-know/) [Primula Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primula-bond/) > [As far as I'm concerned, the sexiness, the sex symbol, it's not a consideration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-craig/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-the-sexiness-the-sex-symbol-it-s-not-a/) [Daniel Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-craig/) > [“Symbols are miracles we have recorded into language.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-kelley-harrell/symbols-are-miracles-we-have-recorded-into-language/) [S. Kelley Harrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-kelley-harrell/) > [“WHAT IS 'THE LAMB'? WHY IS 'THE TYGER' THEN?-WILLIAM ... 2 Dec 2013 ... Poetry By: Rituparna Ray Chaudhuri ... after year, lay down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rituparna-ray-chaudhuri/what-is-the-lamb-why-is-the-tyger-then-william-2-dec-2013-poetry-by/) Rituparna Ray Chaudhuri ## More by George Steiner > [“But there is a third mode of trancendence: in it language simply ceases, and the motion of spirit gives no further outward manifestation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/but-there-is-a-third-mode-of-trancendence-in-it-language-simply/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/words-that-are-saturated-with-lies-or-atrocity-do-not-easily-resume/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Every one of my opponents, every one of my critics, will tell you that I am a generalist spread far too thin in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/every-one-of-my-opponents-every-one-of-my-critics-will-tell-you-that/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The very opposite of freedom is cliche, and nothing is less free, more inert with convention and hollow brutality, than a row of four-letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-very-opposite-of-freedom-is-cliche-and-nothing-is-less-free-more/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [To starve a child of the spell of the story, of the canter of the poem, oral or written, is a kind of living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-starve-a-child-of-the-spell-of-the-story-of-the-canter-of-the-poem/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [I have every reason to believe that an individual man or woman fluent in several tongues seduces, possesses, remembers differently according to his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/i-have-every-reason-to-believe-that-an-individual-man-or-woman-fluent/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [I believe that a work of art, like metaphors in language, can ask the most serious, difficult questions in a way which really makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/i-believe-that-a-work-of-art-like-metaphors-in-language-can-ask-the/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [To a degree which is difficult to determine, the esoteric impulse in twentieth-century music, literature and the arts reflects calculation. It looks to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-a-degree-which-is-difficult-to-determine-the-esoteric-impulse-in/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us-2/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [“The inception of human consciousness, the genesis of awareness, must have entailed prolonged 'condensations' around intractable nodes of wonder and terror, at the discriminations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-inception-of-human-consciousness-the-genesis-of-awareness-must/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The immense majority of human biographies are a gray transit between domestic spasm and oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-immense-majority-of-human-biographies-are-a-gray-transit-between/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The new sound-sphere is global. It ripples at great speed across languages, ideologies, frontiers and races. The economics of this musical Esperanto is staggering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-new-sound-sphere-is-global-it-ripples-at-great-speed-across/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [My father loved poetry and music. But deep in himself he thought teaching the finest thing a person could do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/my-father-loved-poetry-and-music-but-deep-in-himself-he-thought/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/every-language-is-a-world-without-translation-we-would-inhabit/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) [Explore all 104 George Steiner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) ## More Language quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. But I never came down to that level as being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-khosla-kumar/usually-male-directors-have-to-use-foul-language-to-get-the-job-done/) [Divya Khosla Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-khosla-kumar/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“I only have two words to say More or Less”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timbur/i-only-have-two-words-to-say-more-or-less/) TimBur > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The words for what I want to say right now don't exist. Everything sounds…so cliché.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-crane/the-words-for-what-i-want-to-say-right-now-don-t-exist-everything/) [Shelly Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-crane/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Words can kill you trust towards someone, mind you language people, every reaction had its consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/words-can-kill-you-trust-towards-someone-mind-you-language-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [For comedy action, I must know the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammo-hung/for-comedy-action-i-must-know-the-language/) [Sammo Hung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammo-hung/) [Browse all 21,951 Language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“No phonetic sign, except at a rudimentary, strictly speaking pre-linguistic level of vocal imitation, has any substantive relation or contiguity to that which it is conventionally and temporally held to designate.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Steiner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary-strictly-speaking-pre/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Language" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary-strictly-speaking-pre/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/george-steiner-4683_language_no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary_1392159.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/george-steiner-4683_language_no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary_1392159.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/george-steiner-4683_language_no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary_1392159.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No phonetic sign, except at a rudimentary, strictly speaking pre-linguistic level of vocal imitation, has…” — George Steiner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Steiner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“No phonetic sign, except at a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary-strictly-speaking-pre/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/no-phonetic-sign-except-at-a-rudimentary-strictly-speaking-pre/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```