Guy Deutscher

“And if Germans do have systematic minds, this is just as likely to be because their exceedingly erratic mother tongue has exhausted their brains' capacity to cope with any further irregularity”
― Guy Deutscher, Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages

“Anyone who has tried to learn a foreign language knows only too dearly that languages can be full of pointless irregularities that increase complexity considerably without contributing much to the ability to express ideas. English, for instance, would have losed none of its expressive power if some of its verbs leaved their irregular past tense behind and becomed regular.”
― Guy Deutscher, Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages