over-individualize

Updated: May 14, 2025

They show to what extent literary art may lean on the collective art of the language itself. The more extreme technical practitioners may so over-individualize this collective art as to make it almost unendurable. One is not always thankful to have one's flesh and blood frozen to ivory. An artist must utilize the native esthetic resources of his speech.

Edward Sapir - Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech