Language in its primitive forms ought to be regarded and studied against the background of human activities and as a mode of human behavior in practical matters. We have to realize that language originally, among primitive, noncivilized peoples was never used as a mere mirror of reflected thought. The manner in which I am using it now, in writing these words, the manner in which the author of a book, or a papyrus or a hewn inscription has to use it, is a very far-fetched and derivative function of language. In this, language becomes a condensed piece of reflection, a record of fact or thought. In its primitive uses, language functions as a link in concerted human activity, as a piece of human behavior. It is a mode of action and not an instrument of reflection.— Bronislav Malinowski(1923)