Language as a social phenomenon. Language functions

The problem of language and thinking is one of the most complex and controversial in the theory of linguistics. IN different periods in the history of the science of language, it was resolved in different ways: representatives of the logical direction, for example, identified these concepts (in their opinion, universal linguistic categories should correspond to logical categories as timeless and universal); supporters of the psychological direction tried to solve this issue on a hierarchical plane, justifying the primacy of either thinking in relation to language, or language in relation to thinking; representatives of American structuralism believed that the structure of language determines the structure of thinking and the way of knowing the outside world.

Despite different solution this problem, all researchers agree that there is a connection between language and thinking; differences begin when the question arises about the nature and quality of this connection. Some scientists believe that the mechanism of thinking is not connected with the verbal code and is carried out independently of language on a universal subject code (code of meaning), others believe that the mechanism of thinking is closely related to language, and without language there can be no thinking, and finally, others believe that that thinking can be both verbal and non-verbal (sensory-figurative).

A truly scientific solution to the question of the relationship between language and thinking is provided by the materialist theory of reflection, which considers language and thinking in a dialectical unity. "Thinking is highest form active reflection of objective reality, consisting in targeted, mediated and generalized knowledge of significant connections and relationships of objects and phenomena. It is carried out in various forms and structures (concepts, categories, theories), in which the cognitive and socio-historical experience of mankind is consolidated and generalized.” 1

The tool of thinking is language, as well as other sign systems (abstract, such as mathematical or chemical, where the language of formulas is used, or concrete figurative in art). Language as a sign system is the material support of thinking; it materializes thoughts and ensures the exchange of information. If thinking reflects reality, then language expresses it. Thinking is ideal, and language is material (all its units are clothed in sounds). Thought does not have the properties of matter (mass, extension, density, etc.). The connection of language with thinking allows it to carry out communicative and cognitive functions: language not only conveys judgments or messages about objects and phenomena of the external world, but also organizes our knowledge about this world in a certain way, dividing and consolidating it in consciousness. “Language is a kind of prism through which a person “sees” reality, projecting onto it the experience of social practice with the help of language.” 2 Thus, language, on the one hand, is a means of expressing thought, and on the other, a tool for its formation. Recent work in the field of psychology and psycholinguistics has proven, however, that thinking can be carried out not only with the help of language, but also without words, with the help of only visual-sensory images (cf. the visual-figurative thinking of a composer, sculptor, artist, or the thinking of animals, which allows they can correctly navigate in space). But the presence of these non-verbal forms of thinking does not seem to refute the linguistic concept of thinking, since objective-sensory modes of thinking perform essentially the same function as language. 1 Philosophical encyclopedic Dictionary. M., 1983, p. 391. 2 Leontiev A.A. The problem of glottogenesis in modern science// Engels and linguistics. M., 1972, p. 15

During historical development language and thinking, the nature of their interaction did not remain unchanged: the development of writing, for example, increased the impact of language on thinking, and the very possibilities of language as a means of forming thoughts increased. However, the development of thinking also had an impact on the language, expanding the meanings of words, contributing to an increase in the lexical and phraseological composition of the language.

Thinking is closely related to cognition. According to reflection theory, the first stage of knowledge is the sensory perception of reality. The external world, influencing the senses, causes certain sensations in a person. These sensations from objects and phenomena of the external world are the material for thinking: a person has an idea of ​​an object and on its basis a concept is formed. At the second stage of cognition, in the process of abstraction from the sensory perception of a specific object, when its most essential and general properties are taken into account, the concept takes on a form, namely a word, therefore “every word already generalizes.” 1 Thus, starting from sensory experience, thinking transforms it, makes it possible to obtain knowledge about such phenomena of reality that are inaccessible to direct observation, allowing one to penetrate into the secrets of nature.

At different stages of human development, the level of its knowledge about the world was different, therefore, even in developed languages ​​one can find many words that illustrate the “primitive” thinking of the people (compare, for example, the ethnocultural motivation for the names of a person in Indo-European languages ​​with the name of the earth: most of them are correlated with i-e root*ghem-/*ghom-, cf. lat. homo"person", which goes back to *ghem > humus"earth"), i.e. is an expression of ancient mythological ideas “earth (people) - sky (gods)”; or the expression “The sun has set,” reflecting the original idea that the sun revolves around the earth). 1 Lenin V.I. Full collection op. Ed. 5, t. 29, p. 246.

The theory of reflection is consistent with the teachings of I.P. Pavlova about two signaling systems. In accordance with this theory, a person uses two signaling systems in his knowledge of the world. The first signaling system gives consciousness only sensations, it turns on at the first stage of cognition, when objects and phenomena of the external world affect our senses, causing us certain sensations (visual, auditory, taste, etc.), animals also have this signaling system , the second signaling system is turned on at the second stage of cognition, it becomes the basis for the formation of concepts, judgments, conclusions, when the perception of the external world occurs through the influence of words, i.e. “based on impressions of reality, based on these first signals,” wrote I.P. Pavlov, - humans have developed second signals in the form of words; the word constituted the second, specifically our signaling system of reality; it was the word that made us human.” 1 Thus, it is the second signaling system that underlies linguistic communication. The second signaling system developed in the process of human labor, therefore it is possessed only by man as a rational being in need of a means of communication, i.e. in language. “With the help of the second signaling system, which underlies the mechanism of thinking, speech and all conscious work activity, a person has acquired the ability to “move away from reality”, to consciously record the results of cognitive and speech-cognitive activity in the content of nominative units.” 2 It is the second signaling system that ensures the transition from living contemplation to abstract thinking and from it to practice, i.e. to the formation of concepts, judgments, conclusions that are expressed in words. 1 Pavlov I.P. Op. ,T. III, p. 568.2 Ufimtseva A.A. Lexical meaning. M., 2002, p. 71.

The word allows you to designate not just one specific object, but a whole series of homogeneous objects, i.e. it unites objects based on a common feature or function into classes, categories, groups, which contributes to the formation of a person’s concepts about things and phenomena of the external world.

Control questions:

1. What points of view exist on language and its essence?

2. What are the most important functions of language do you know?

3. Is there a connection between language and society? What is the influence of society on language and language on society? What is language policy?

4. What is the social differentiation of language?

5. How do concepts such as language and speech relate?

1. Arutyunova N.D. Language // Encyclopedia “Russian Language”. M., 1997.

2. Marx K., Engels F. German ideology. Op. Ed. 2, t.Z.

3. Maslov Yu.S. Introduction to linguistics. M., 1998.

4. Panfilov V.Z. The relationship between language and thinking. M., 1971.

5. Reformatsky A.A. Introduction to linguistics. M., 1967.

6. Rozhdestvensky Yu.V. Lectures on general linguistics. M., 1990.

7. Engels F. Dialectics of nature. M., 1950.

/ Kasevich V.B. "Elements of General Linguistics"

§ 1. Language exists the most important means transmission and storage of information: the bulk of information circulating in society exists in linguistic form.

The transmission of information is one of the most essential types and aspects of communication between people, therefore, according to V.I. Lenin, “language is the most important means of human communication” (Complete Works. Vol. 25, p. 258). It follows, in turn, that the central function of language is the function of communication, or communicative.

§ 2. It is known that there is another characteristic of language as the immediate reality of thought, as pointed out by K. Marx. Another function of language is emphasized here, namely reflective: thinking, i.e., a person’s reflection of the world around him, is carried out primarily in linguistic form. In other words, we can say that the function of language is to generate (form) information. How do these two functions of language relate?

It can be argued that the communicative function, or the communication function, is primary, and the reflection function is secondary, while both functions are closely related. In fact, the reflection of the external world in itself does not require a linguistic form: relatively developed forms of reflection of the external world are already present in animals; the need for a linguistic form for the “products” of reflection arises precisely because these results of reflection of mental activity need to be communicated, transmitted to other members of the human collective. The exchange of individual experience and coordination of actions become possible thanks to language, which is precisely a tool that allows the results of individual mental activity to be “cast” into universally significant forms.

The above simultaneously means that the reflective function of language itself is brought to life by its communicative function: if there were no need for communication, there would, generally speaking, be no need for a person to reflect the external world in a linguistic form.

§ 3. Since the reflection of the external world is to some extent high levels always acts as a generalization in relation to the objects of reality and their properties, one can say, following L.S. Vygotsky, that in language the “unity of communication and generalization” is realized. This means that, on the one hand, language provides communication; on the other hand, the results of mental activity, activity to generalize the properties of reality, are developed and consolidated precisely in the linguistic form. “Every word generalizes” (V.I. Lenin, Complete Works. Vol. 29, p. 246), in other words, every word is the result of the abstracting work of thought (word tree means “tree in general”), and, conversely, an abstract concept common to all members of a given collective requires the presence of a word for its existence.

We can say that language, together with labor, created man: “First labor, and then, along with it, articulate speech were the two most important stimuli, under the influence of which the monkey’s brain turned into the human brain” (F. Engels. Dialectics of Nature. - K. Marx, F. Engels. Works. Ed. 2. T. 20, p. 490).

Without language, communication is impossible, and therefore the existence of society is impossible, and hence the formation of the human personality, the formation of which is conceivable only in a social collective. Outside of language, there are no generally valid concepts and, of course, the existence of developed forms of generalization and abstraction is difficult, i.e., again, the formation of a human personality is virtually impossible.

§ 4. The communicative function of language presupposes a semiotic aspect of its consideration, which will be discussed below. The study of the reflective function of language is closely related to the problem of “language and thinking”. This problem is not specifically considered here (see the chapter “On Psycholinguistics”), but some comments in this regard need to be made.

§ 4.1. The first remark relates to the so-called Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, according to which a person’s thinking is determined by the language he speaks and cannot go beyond this language, since all a person’s ideas about the world are expressed through his native language. Opponents of this hypothesis point out that both a person’s thinking and indirectly his language are determined by reality, the external world, therefore assigning language the role of a determining factor in the formation of thinking is idealism.

The determining role of external reality in the formation of human thinking, of course, is not subject to discussion, it is indisputable. At the same time, however, one should take into account the activity of the processes of reflection of reality by a person: a person by no means passively captures the material that the external world “supplies” to him - this material is organized and structured in a certain way by the perceiving subject; a person, as they say, “models” the external world, reflecting it through the means of his psyche. This or that method of modeling is determined by human needs, primarily social and production. It is quite natural that these needs, associated with the conditions of existence, may be different for different historically established communities of people. To some extent, the methods of modeling reality also differ accordingly. This manifests itself primarily in language. Consequently, the specificity of language here - contrary to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - is rather secondary, in any case it is not primary: it cannot be said that the specificity of language determines the specificity of thinking.

This is the case in phylogenesis, that is, in the history of the formation and development of man (and his language). However, in ontogenesis, i.e. in individual development person, the situation is somewhat different. Each person acquires knowledge about the world, about external reality - he reflects external reality to a very large extent not directly, but “through” language. A textbook example: the emission and absorption spectrum of light waves, which determines color, is, of course, the same everywhere, and the physiological abilities of representatives of different ethnic groups for color perception do not differ; however, it is known that some peoples have, for example, three colors, while others have seven, etc. It is natural to ask the question: why, say, every Shona African (the southeastern group of Bantu languages) learns to distinguish exactly three primary colors, no more and no less? Obviously, because in his language there are names for these three colors. Here, therefore, language acts as a ready-made tool for one or another structuring of reality when it is reflected by man.

Thus, when the question arises why in general in a given language there are so many names for colors, types of snow, etc., the answer is that the Russians, French, Indians, Nenets, etc. for their practical activity during the previous centuries (possibly millennia), roughly speaking, it was “necessary” to distinguish precisely the varieties of corresponding objects, which was reflected in the language. Another question is: why does each member of a linguistic community distinguish so many colors, etc., etc.? Here the answer is that this or that way of perceiving external reality is to a certain extent “imposed” on a specific individual by his language, which in this regard is nothing more than the crystallized social experience of a given collective, people. From this point of view, therefore, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is quite reasonable.

The above, of course, does not mean in any way that a person is generally incapable of cognizing something for which there is no designation in his language. The entire experience of the development of various peoples and their languages ​​shows that when the production and cognitive evolution of society creates the need to introduce a new concept, the language never prevents this - to denote a new concept, either an already existing word is used with a certain change in semantics, or a new one is formed according to the laws of the given language. Without this, in particular, it would be impossible to imagine the development of science.

§ 4.2. The second remark that needs to be made in connection with the problem of “language and thinking,” even in the most condensed consideration of it, concerns the question of how close, how indissoluble the connection between language and thinking is.

First of all, it must be said that in ontogenesis (in a child), the development of speech and intellectual development are initially carried out “in parallel”, according to their own laws, while the development of speech turns out to be more connected with the emotional sphere, with the establishment of “pragmatic” and emotional contact with others. Only later, by the age of two, the lines of speech and intellectual development“intersect”, enriching each other: a process begins as a result of which thought receives a linguistic form and the opportunity to join through language to the experience accumulated by society; Now language begins to serve not only the needs of elementary contact, but also, with the development of the individual, complex forms of self-expression, etc.

Consequently, there is a certain autonomy of language and thinking from a genetic point of view (i.e., from the point of view of their origin and development), and at the same time their close relationship. /8//9/

By own experience Everyone knows that thinking does not always occur in an expanded verbal form. Does this mean that we have evidence (albeit intuitive) of the independence of thinking from language? This is a complex question, and so far only a preliminary answer can be given.

Much depends on how we interpret the concept of “thinking.” If this term for us means not only abstract thinking, but also the so-called thinking in images, then it is quite natural that this latter - imaginative thinking - should not necessarily be verbal, verbal. In this sense, nonverbal thinking is obviously quite possible.

Another aspect of the same problem is associated with the existence of such types of thinking where the speech form is used, but appears, as it were, reduced: only a few, the most important elements remain from it, and everything that “goes without saying” does not receive speech form. This process of “compression” of linguistic means resembles a common practice in dialogues, especially in a well-known situation, when much that is accepted as known is omitted. This is all the more natural in mental monologues, or “monologues for oneself,” that is, when there is no need to worry about achieving understanding on the part of the interlocutor.

Such condensed speech, shaping thinking, is called inner speech. It is important to emphasize that inner speech is still a reduced “ordinary” speech, arises on its basis and is impossible without it (inner speech is absent in a child who has not yet sufficiently mastered the language).

LITERATURE

K. Marx, F. Engels and V. I. Lenin on the problems of language. - V. A. Zvegintsev. History of linguistics of the 19th–20th centuries. in essays and extracts. Part 2, M., 1960.

Vygotsky L. S. Thinking and speech. M., 1934.

General linguistics. Forms of existence, functions, history of language. Ed. B. A. Serebrennikova. M., 1970 (Chapter V)./9//10/

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L.V. Balkova

Language as a special form of reflection and cognition of certainty

The article examines spatio-temporal certainty in physical and grammatical understanding, as well as ways of its reflection in language in the process of creating types of grammatical models.

Keywords: space, time, spatiotemporal certainty, language, physical and grammatical characteristics of spatiotemporal certainty.

Turn of the XX-XXI centuries. - a time of changing paradigms of scientific thinking and changing the natural science picture of the world. Until the beginning of our century, science was dominated by the Newtonian-Cartesian mechanistic system of thinking that emerged in modern times, based on the theories of I. Newton and R. Descartes, who owned the idea of ​​the fundamental duality of reality: matter and mind are different substances parallel to each other. It followed that the material world can be described objectively, without including in the description the human observer with his specific position, with his subjectivity. The modern picture of the world, as a refutation of the mechanistic approach, presupposes an inextricable connection between the subject and the object of knowledge, based on the unity of consciousness and matter, which largely determines the transdisciplinary nature of the development of science. Language is given a special place in the knowledge of objective reality, because it allows us to consider how ideal objects, reflected in consciousness, acquire material form.

Ludwig von Wittgenstein (1889-1951) wrote back in the middle of the last century that only the totality of the study of objective reality, thinking and language will constitute the main analytical activity in science. Many concepts and methods of linguistics have long been used in mathematical logic, computer science, cognitive science and others.

sciences In linguistics, an approach based on the understanding of language as a substance interconnected with objective reality was used by scientists such as I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay, I.G. Koshevaya, G.P. Melnikov, B. Lee Whorf, A.A. Potrebnya, E. Sapir, I.I. Sreznevsky, F. de Saus-sur, W. Chafe and others. In their works, when describing linguistic phenomena, they used terms and categories common in physics and computer science, such as a sign, a member of a certain sign system, code, coefficient, index, functional dependencies, functions, stability, consistency, etc.

I.G. Koshevaya concludes that “language, refracting the meaning of the finite and infinite in its sign systems, acts as a specific means of reflecting objective space-time relations, which as forms of existence of matter are limitless.” This approach is based on the relationship between language and the spatio-temporal certainty reflected in it. From this point of view, the determining grammatical meaning have characteristics of certainty, space and time, which are realized in grammatical categories and structures (abstract or concrete), each of which is “a consequence of the universal process of reflection,” and language, being “a system of specific reflection of the world, acts as a tool for revealing patterns in such disciplines distant from it, such as mathematics and physics."

The above allows us to consider Determination and the associated categories of Space and Time as transdisciplinary concepts that open up the possibility of creating a “coordinate system” that can be used within several disciplines to solve a specific research or practical problem. The center of the “coordinate system” can be either a physical or a philosophical object, for example, a person at the moment of speech or a quantum particle. In each individual case, the physical or philosophical characteristics of these categories will influence their implementation in objective reality or in specific grammatical rules and structures.

Here the question arises about the correspondence of the content of these concepts in physical and linguistic understanding, the answer to which involves a comparison of physical and grammatical characteristics and a description of these phenomena of objective reality in order to search for correspondence at various levels of restrictive connections: phonetic, semantic, lexical, grammatical, syntactic and textological . In other words, it is necessary to consider how the properties of matter associated with space-time

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certainty, such as finitude/infinity, absoluteness/relativity, constancy/variability, statics/dynamics, extremity/ultimacy, centrifugality/centripetalism, thanks to the reflective function of language, are realized in grammatical, speech and textological characteristics. The determining factors of external influence, in this case, are Certainty, Time and Space, which, being inextricably interconnected, are refracted in human thinking through the categories of quantity, quality and limitation. With the help of these categories, physical reality is reflected in linguistic reality.

Let us recall the theory of quantum uncertainty by W. Heisenberg and entropy as the degree of information uncertainty, which, according to Shannon’s formula, is characterized by elimination at quantum level. The informational meaning of quantum entropy was explained in Ben Schumacher’s work on the quantum state of data, published in the journal “Physical Reviews” in 1995. It was he who introduced the concept of “entropy inequality” as the ratio of transmitted and received information, corresponding to the linguistic interpretation of the relationship between sign and meaning. Certainty, thus, is revealed as the amount of transmitted and received information that has certain qualitative characteristics, which scientists have learned to describe mathematically.

Determination at the level of philosophy represents an objective, natural interdependence of the phenomena of material and spiritual world and is interconnected with such a concept as determinism. Its central core is the position of the existence of causality, which is reflected in such a physical and grammatical phenomenon as functional dependence, presented in linguistics as a regulator of the content side of meaning, starting from the semantic-phonetic complex and ending with the speech complex and text, including the speech situation.

Determination at the grammatical level is revealed in different aspects, for example, as the delimitation of an action according to the nature of its occurrence in time and space through qualitative and quantitative limitation, i.e. there is a certain quantitative limit up to which this action or the phenomenon retains its qualitative properties. The meaning of spatiotemporal definiteness is a means of distinguishing grammatical characteristics.

Methods grammatical expression certainties presented in the levels of restrictive connections, which we will talk about later, the total

but form a grammatical category of certainty / uncertainty, reflecting the dialectical contradiction of unity opposite sides phenomena: the opposition of certainty and uncertainty.

In contrast to certainty, Uncertainty has a limitless and open character, for example, the uncertainty of multiplicity (such as movables), abstract multiplicity that does not correlate with singularity (tables). The boundless nature of uncertainty, its perspective orientation and infinity, including space-time, is contrasted with the finiteness of certainty. If at the level of correlation Certainty is associated with the characteristics of perception and the nature of the perceived information, then at the level of the language system it finds expression in the levels of restrictive connections (semantic, lexical, lexico-grammatical, grammatical, text). Let's look at this with some examples.

1. At the semantic level, certainty finds expression, for example, in the ultimate character semantic meaning verbs expressing perception, the presence of a limiting potential in the semantic-phonetic complex, in the semantic fields of gravity (the center of the field is a high degree of certainty), the transitivity of the verb, which reflects the limit and depends on the semantic meaning of the root.

2. At the lexical level, associated with the disclosure of the restrictive potential of sematic-phonetic complexes, it is expressed in single-root vocabulary units of static, process, limitative and quantitative groups of vocabulary (to catch - catching, to see - seeing, to put - putting).

3. At the lexico-grammatical level, certainty can be expressed in the presence of certain restrictive elements (ing endings and postpositions, for example, off: He asked for the latter to be sent off at once). In nominative, when we name something, we express certainty, which is inextricably linked with Space and Time, because These categories, first of all, allow us to determine something. The very division of lexical units according to the “noun/verb” principle reflects the delimitation of objects and their actions. The name is more definite than the action.

4. At the grammatical level, certainty is represented by such categories as modality, limitation, salience, parcellation, constancy, reality, perfection, transitivity of the verb, a type that, including the concept of unreal ultimateness in its attainment/unattainment, is opposed in the oppositions of perfection / imperfection, uttermost / infinite, perfect / imperfect). In particular, the dichotomous opposition

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nominal and verbal ultimacy acts as an expression of the general idea of ​​limitation. Determination as ultimate or limitative is reflected in the aspectual nature of semantic-phonetic complexes that separate positive and negative charges.

5. At the syntactic level, it can be stated that the presence of an object on a verb, including a complex one, largely depends on the finiteness of the verb. The relationship between the unsaturated intransitive verb and an object, on the one hand, and a single-root terminal verb, on the other. When we say “walk in the desert,” “sail the sea,” “drive through the city,” we emphasize spatial location. The object does not restrict its development by any limiting actions. The action indicated by the non-finite verb develops unlimitedly: I believe John to be sailing over the world. I believe that John is sailing around the world on a yacht.

6. At the text level, or at the speech level, certainty is present, for example, in the process of entropy during a communicative act, when a displacement of universally constant values ​​occurs, in recurrent centers as independent lines of a certain text segment, semantic cores and the author’s perspective as a specific unity of central links with the far periphery.

The characteristics of Certainty in its physical understanding (relativity/absoluteness, known/unknown, finitude/infinity) can be supplemented by characteristics as a grammatical category (ultimacy/infinity, abstractness/concreteness). In both cases, the nature of certainty is determined by the contrast or opposition of its qualities, the relationship with space and time, as well as the subjectivity of perception. physical characteristics Definitions are interconnected with the methods of its grammatical expression, which affects the formation of such grammatical categories, as limitativity.

So, Certainty, from the point of view of quantum physics, is understood as “entropic equality”, which has a finite, limiting character, tending to one point, primarily in time and space. Grammatically, it is revealed in a slightly different way, for example, as the refraction of the finite and the infinite, the determination of the specific significance of each sign, the expression of the general idea of ​​limitation and “measure” and “limit”, but “entropy equality” reflects the process of entropy in speech, also in linguistics it can be interpreted as a correspondence between sign and meaning, etc. Certainty has direct

a vital relationship with such forms of existence as Information and Language, which acts not only as a way of transmitting information, but also as information and a way of various forms of existence of matter.

The current level of development of science allows us to conclude that the intersection of physical and linguistic understanding of such substances as Space, Time and Certainty is the source of knowledge of their essence. The development of quantum information science involves the study of the informative properties of language, which are inextricably interconnected by these concepts, presented in many grammatical and philosophical categories. Spatiotemporal coordinates are the starting point of analysis for a number of existing and future disciplines, such as linguistic computer science or physical linguistics. It is obvious that the role of language in understanding the world will steadily increase, because it represents a special phenomenon that refracts the world isomorphically through the prism of phonetically and grammatically organized vocabulary signs.

Various grammatical phenomena examined for interaction with the concept of Determination made it possible to observe how physical reality is reflected in grammatical reality, how language fixes this category in its structures and categories. If Language is a “form”, then its “basic concepts” are “facets” of this form, which have a transdisciplinary nature. Space is a form of existence of matter, Time is a form of movement of matter, Certainty is a form of manifestation general condition matter, which is inextricably linked with such a concept as Information. Language, therefore, acts not only as a way of transmitting information or as a way of storing it, but also as information.

The task of modern linguistics is not only to identify sets of invariant units of the internal structure of language (such as phonemes, tonemes, intonemes, morphemes, lexemes, schemes for constructing phrases and sentences), but also to determine the basic laws of their interaction and their systemic characteristics. The proposed approach largely determines the applied significance of linguistics and its role in the formation of the so-called block of basic concepts.

Bibliography

1. Heisenberg W. Steps beyond the horizon. M., 1987.

2. Wittgenstein L. Several notes on logical form / Transl. and note.

Yu. Artamonova // Logos. 1995. No. 6. P. 210-216.

3. Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary. St. Petersburg, 1990.

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4. Koshevaya I.G. About language as a special means of reflecting reality // Theoretical and applied aspects of linguistics / Ed. E.I. Dibro howl. M., 2013.

5. Koshevaya I.G., Sviridova L.K. Grammatical structures and categories in English. M., 2010.

6. Koshevaya I.G. Stylistics of modern English. M., 2011.

CONSCIOUSNESS, COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE

Consciousness and communication are two interdependent, interconnected moments. Only with the help of consciousness is their joint activity, its organization and coordination carried out, knowledge, values, and experience are transferred from one person to another, from the older generation to the younger. On the other hand, consciousness arises and functions due to the need for interaction between people.

Consciousness, communication and language are inseparable from each other. The joint activity of people (social production, labor or communication in the broad sense of the word) requires a certain sign system with the help of which communication between people is carried out. Speech becomes a way that especially mediates the mechanism of interaction between people and allows the content of consciousness to be transferred from person to person.

Language is an instrument of consciousness, and the form in which the entire content of consciousness is recorded, expressed, and transmitted. With the help of language as a system of signs, the objectification of consciousness occurs. Inner world the subject is expressed in the external world. Language also reveals a person’s self-awareness (inner speech).

The inextricable connection between language and consciousness lies in the fact that consciousness is a reflection of reality, and with the help of language thinking and consciousness itself receive their adequate expression. Language is an instrument of thought.

Language arises simultaneously with the development of human society in the process of joint labor activity and with the emergence of consciousness. “Speech is as ancient as consciousness, language is practical, existing for other people and only thereby existing also for myself, real consciousness, and, like consciousness, speech arises only out of necessity, from the urgent need to communicate with others people."

Language is a sign system. It is a means of communication and expression of thinking, as well as a specific way of storing and transmitting information, a means of organizing and managing human activity.

From the point of view of the relationship between communication and speech, one of the important functions of the latter is communicative. It reveals the social nature of consciousness and speech. Language as a sign system functions on the basis of the second signal system, its distinctive feature is that sign processing skills (for example, speech speed, reading, writing, etc.) are not inherited, but acquired, developed in the process of human socialization.

As a rule, languages ​​are divided into artificial and natural. Artificial ones are created for special types activities, for example, in art - the language of symbols and artistic images. Natural languages ​​were formed with the formation and development of human communities. For example, national languages ​​- English, French, Ukrainian, etc. arose in the process of formation of these nations.

The biological prerequisite for the emergence of language is the development of a sound form of signaling in higher animals. As a result of the evolutionary transition from animal ancestors to humans, the formation of labor activity, speech is formed. With its help, it becomes possible not only to identify one’s emotional condition, but also to embody in sound form the content of consciousness, accumulated material and spiritual experience.

CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE HIGHEST FORM OF REFLECTION. The concept of ideal

Display is a general property of matter. Movement is nothing more than the universal way of being of matter. Movement itself is interpreted as interaction, and reflection is the property of material systems to reproduce in their changes the properties of other systems interacting with them.

Consciousness as one of the forms of reflection arises at a certain level of development of matter. It is based on information display that appears in living nature. It is a type of mapping in which any system is able to use its results for its actions in the external environment or as the ability to actively use the results of external influence.

The information display is of a signaling nature. A living organism perceives environmental factors to realize its needs and established programs to ensure life. Factors and the state of the external environment are not directly related to the existence of the organism, that is, they do not satisfy its biological needs, but act as a signal, indicating the onset of a situation, making them satisfy. Thus, the mechanism of information display is mediated by the internal program of the body. For example, darkness does not satisfy the food needs of night hunters, but the onset of darkness signals the start of the hunt.

Information display is selective. Not all phenomena, the total influence of the external environment, are perceived, but only those factors that are important for the implementation of the internal program of the body.

Information display occurs at that level of development of living things when the organism has a certain freedom of action, at least the ability to change its position in space, that is, movement in the environment.

A high level of information display can be considered advanced reflection. It is defined as the body’s ability to change its state, to be ready to respond to influence external factors in future. For example, some plants secrete poison against insects even when the insects are feeding on a neighboring plant. The higher the degree of development of a living organism, the better developed its ability for advanced reflection.

Levels of information display.

1. Irritability is a reaction in response to the influence of environmental factors. It appears in the simplest single-celled organisms and regulates adaptive behavior.

2. Sensitivity - the ability to feel. It provides for the presence of sense organs, nervous system. As a level of display, sensuality is characterized by the fact that the body reacts to external environmental phenomena that are directly biologically neutral for it. He also receives perceptions of reality, which, on the one hand, differentiate its properties, and on the other - essential and significant. Sensuality is the initial form of the psyche.

3. Mental image. It is the basis and mechanism of orientation and research activity, which is inherent in already highly developed animals. With the help of a mental image, the external world, its properties and processes, especially new and changing ones, are reflected. Therefore, there is a modeling of objective reality and behavior in it on the internal plane, in the mental image of the subject. After that - the projection of the image onto the objective world and control over the action of the subject in external reality.

By its nature, a mental image is a functional reality. It arises as a result of the interaction between the subject and the object of reflection. The content of a mental image is primarily a reflection of the properties of objective reality, and without an object full image impossible. On the other hand, the image is impossible without the subject of reflection, since this reflection is not in the world of objects, but in the psyche of the subjects.

This relationship between subject and object reveals the essence of the ideal. The ideal is nothing more than material, but transformed, reflected in the psyche. The ideal is a reflection of the material, that is, the world of objects, but it exists in the subject reflection, as the content of a mental image.

The ideal is the epistemological opposite of the material. Material is the object itself and its properties, objective reality. The ideal is an image of objective reality, that is, subjective reality. The ideal is the epistemological essence of consciousness, defined in materialist philosophy ontologically unique with matter, but in its properties, epistemologically opposite to it.

Lecture No. 2

I. Social essence of language.

II. The difference between language and other social phenomena.

III. Functions of the language.

IV. Language and speech.

V. Language and thinking.

I. The question of the essence of language has several mutually exclusive solutions in the history of linguistics:

1. language is a biological, natural phenomenon that does not depend on humans. This point of view was expressed, for example, by the German linguist A. Schleicher.

Recognizing language as a natural (biological) phenomenon, it should be considered on a par with such human abilities as eating, drinking, sleeping, etc. and consider it inherited, inherent in human nature itself. However, this contradicts the facts. Language is acquired by a child under the influence of speakers.

2. language is a mental phenomenon that arises as a result of the action of the individual spirit - human or divine.

A similar opinion was expressed by the German linguist W. Humboldt.

This statement is hardly true. In this case

humanity would have a huge variety of individual languages.

3. language is a social phenomenon that arises and develops only in a collective. This position was substantiated by the Swiss linguist F. de Saussure. Indeed, language arises only in a collective due to the need for people to communicate with each other.

Different understandings of the essence of language gave rise to different approaches to its definition: language is thinking expressed by sounds(A. Schleicher); language is a system of signs in which the only essential thing is the combination of meaning and acoustic image(F. de Saussure); language is the most important means of human communication(V.I. Lenin); language is something that spontaneously arises in human society And developing system articulate sound signs, serving for communication purposes and capable of expressing the entire body of knowledge and ideas about the world(N.D.Arutyunova).

Each of these definitions emphasizes different points: the relationship of language to thinking, the structural organization of language, the most important functions, etc., which once again demonstrates the complexity of language as a system that works in unity and interaction with consciousness and thinking.

II. From the point of view of the science of society, language has no analogues. It is not only unique, but in a number of significant ways it differs from all social phenomena:

1. language, consciousness and social nature of work activity

form the foundation of human identity.

2. the presence of language is a necessary condition for the existence of society throughout the history of mankind. Any other social phenomenon in its existence is limited in chronological terms: it is not originally in human society and is not eternal. So, for example, the family did not always exist, there was not always private property, the state, money, etc. Language originally will exist as long as society exists.

3. the presence of language is a necessary condition for material and spiritual existence in all spheres of social space. Any social phenomenon in its distribution is limited to a certain space, for example, science does not include art, and art does not include production, etc. Language is used in all spheres; it is inseparable from all manifestations of human existence.

4. language is dependent and independent of society. On the one hand, the social division of society is reflected in language, i.e. the national language is socially heterogeneous. But, on the other hand, social dialects of a language do not become special languages. Language preserves the unity of a people in its history.

5. the uniqueness of language as a form of social consciousness is that through language it is carried out specifically human form transfer of social experience.

6. language does not relate to ideological or ideological forms of social consciousness, in contrast to law, morality, politics, religion and other types of consciousness.

III. Being a social phenomenon, language has the properties of social purpose, i.e. certain functions.

The most important functions of the language are the functions communicative And cognitive.

Communicative ( lat. communicatio"communication" ) function– the purpose of language to serve as the main means of human communication. The derivatives of this function are the following:

contact-making (phatic) function– the function of attracting the attention of the interlocutor and ensuring successful, effective communication;

appellative(lat. appellatio"appeal, appeal" )function – function of calling, incitement to action;

conative(lat. conatus"tension, effort") function – function of assessing the communication situation and focusing on the interlocutor;

voluntary(lat . volens"willing") function – influence function associated with the will of the speaker;

epistemic(ancient Greek) episteme"knowledge") or cumulative (lat. cumulare"accumulate") function - the function of storing and transmitting knowledge about reality, cultural traditions, history of the people, national identity.

Cognitive(lat. cognoscere"to know") or epistemological(Greek gnoseos"cognition") function– the function of being a means of obtaining new knowledge about reality and consolidating the results of knowledge in language, the function of thinking. This function of the language connects it with mental activity of a person, the structure and dynamics of thought are materialized in units of language.

Derivatives of this function:

axiological(Greek axios"valuable") function – the function of forming an assessment of objects in the surrounding world and expressing them in speech;

nominative(lat. nominatio"naming") function – function of naming objects of the surrounding world;

predicative(lat. praedicatio"utterance") function – function of correlating information with reality, etc.

In addition to the main functions of language, they sometimes distinguish emotional or expressive function - purpose of being a means of expressing human feelings and emotions; poetic function - creation function artistic image by means of language; metalinguistic function - function of being a means of exploring and describing language in terms of the language itself.

IV. Extremely important for the development of linguistics was the distinction between the concepts of “language - speech - speech activity”. As the history of linguistics shows, these concepts were often not distinguished. W. Humboldt also spoke about the need to differentiate them: Language as a set of its products differs from individual acts of speech activity.(Humboldt von W. On the differences in the structure of human languages ​​and its influence on the spiritual development of mankind // W. von Humboldt. Selected works on linguistics. M., 1984, pp. 68-69).

The theoretical justification for this position was given by F. de Saussure and L.V. Shcherba.

A Swiss linguist wrote about it this way: In our opinion, the concept of language does not coincide with the concept of speech activity in general; language is only a certain part – indeed, the most important part – of speech activity. It is a social product, a set of necessary conventions adopted by the team to ensure the implementation and functioning of the ability for speech activity that exists in every native speaker...(F. de Saussure. Works on linguistics // Course of general linguistics. M., 1977, p. 47).

According to Saussure, in their existence these phenomena are interconnected, but not reducible to each other.

L.V. Shcherba proposed to distinguish three aspects of language: speech activity (i.e. the process of speaking and understanding), the language system (i.e. the grammar of the language and its dictionary) and linguistic material (i.e. the totality of everything spoken and understood in the act of communication) .

Language and speech, forming a single phenomenon of human language, are not identical to each other. Language is a system of signs used by humans to communicate, store and transmit information. Speech- specific speaking, flowing in time and clothed in sound or written form. Speech is the embodiment, the realization of language.

Language and speech each have their own characteristics:

1. language is a means of communication, speech is the type of communication produced by this means;

2. the language is abstract, formal; speech is material, it concretizes everything that is in language;

3. language is stable, passive and static, while speech is active and dynamic, characterized by high variability;

4. language is the property of society, it reflects the “picture of the world of the people speaking it,” while speech is individual;

5. language has a level organization, speech – linear;

6. language is independent of the situation and setting of communication, while speech is contextually and situationally determined.

7. speech develops in time and space, it is determined by the goals and objectives of speaking and the participants in communication; language is abstracted from these parameters.

Concepts language And speech are related as general and particular: the general (language) is expressed in the particular (speech), while the particular is the form of existence of the general.

Speech activity – a type of human activity that is the sum of the acts of speaking and understanding. It - in the form of speech actions - serves all types of activities, being part of work, play and cognitive activities.

V. The problem of language and thinking is one of the most complex and controversial in the theory of linguistics. In different periods of the history of the science of language, it was solved differently: representatives of some directions (for example, logical) identified these concepts; supporters of others (psychological) tried to resolve this issue on a hierarchical plane, justifying the primacy of either thinking in relation to language, or language in relation to thinking; representatives of structuralism believed that the structure of language determines the structure of thinking and the way of knowing the external world.

A scientific solution to the question of the relationship between language and thinking gives reflection theory, according to which thinking is the highest form of active reflection of objective reality, carried out in various forms and structures (concepts, categories, theories), in which the cognitive and socio-historical experience of mankind is fixed and generalized.

This theory considers language and thinking in a dialectical unity: the tool of thinking is language, as well as other sign systems.

Attitude "language - thinking" studies cognitive linguistics. Cognitive scientists consider a single mental-lingual complex as a self-organizing information system, operating on the basis of the human brain. This system provides perception, understanding, evaluation, storage, transformation, generation and transmission of information. Thinking within the framework of this system is a process of thought generation that constantly occurs in the brain, based on the processing and transformation of information received through various channels. In order for thinking to take place, it must have certain tools that would ensure the division of the flow of impulses coming to the brain from the senses. Language acts as such a tool. The main function of language in relation to thinking is to separate information, i.e. in the form of subject images and meanings.

When studying thought processes speech production, relationships are established between logical and language categories in speech: “concept (representation) – word, phraseological unit”; “judgment (inference) - proposal.”

Concepts how a form of abstract thinking is realized in speech through words and phrases (phraseologisms), and such forms of thought as judgments and inferences have as their material shell Various types sentences of human speech.

Nominative units of language (words and phrases) are not just a way of materializing ideas and concepts, but reflect specific, standardized forms of knowledge about objects and phenomena of the objective world, accumulated as a result of social practice. These types of knowledge are called concepts. Concepts are the smallest units of information based on objective images of the surrounding world.

The centuries-old process of formalizing and expressing thoughts through language also determined the development in the grammatical structure of languages ​​of a number of formal categories, partially correlated with logical categories (categories of thinking). For example, the formal categories of a noun, adjective, numeral correspond to the semantic categories of an object or phenomenon, process, quality, quantity.

Thus, language as a sign system is the material support of thinking; it materializes thoughts and ensures the exchange of information. Thinking reflects reality, and language expresses it. The connection between these phenomena allows language to carry out communicative and cognitive functions: language not only conveys messages about objects and phenomena of the external world, but also organizes knowledge about the world in a certain way, dividing and consolidating it in consciousness.