1.1. Ideal and material in language

1.2. Social and biological in language

1.3. Social and mental in language

1.4. Social and individual in language

Language functions

Literature

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The essence of language

It is believed that understanding the essence of language is associated with the answer to at least two questions:

Is language ideal or material?

whether language is biological, mental, social or individual phenomenon

In the history of linguistics, different answers to these questions are known [Girutsky, p. 29].

1. Language is a phenomenon biological, natural, independent of humans ( August Schleicher(Schleicher, 1821–1868), "German Language"):

“Languages, these natural organisms organized in sound matter..., manifest their properties of a natural organism not only in the fact that their growth occurs according to certain laws. The life of a tongue does not differ significantly from the life of all other living organisms - plants, animals. Like these latter, it has a period of growth from the simplest structures to more complex forms and a period of aging" [ Schleicher A. Die deutsche Sprache. Stuttgart, 1869. S. 3; cit. from: Vendina, p. 22].

2. Language is a phenomenon mental arising as a result of the action of a collective or individual spirit.

2.1. Supporters socio-psychological direction tried to explain the essence of language based on the social nature of the human psyche.

The founder of this approach Wilhelm von Humboldt(vonHumboldt, 1767–1835) believed that language is an expression folk spirit, by which he understood the spiritual and intellectual activity of the people, the originality of the “national” consciousness.

W. Humboldt's ideas about language as an expression of the national spirit found original development in the works of outstanding linguists of the second half of the 19th century. ( G. Steinthal,A. A. Potebnya,W. Wundt). The essence of language, in their opinion, is hidden in the psychology of the people. Moreover, language is a product of the human spirit that differs from both logical and psychological categories. If categories logic are essentially results thinking, A psychological categories are a reflection spiritual a person's life as a whole, then language– a specific product of the history of the spiritual life of the people [Alefirenko, p. 22–23].

2.2. Theorists individual psychological direction (youngogram-tism) K. Brugman,A. Leskin,G. Osthof,G. Paul and others argued that language exists only in the minds of individuals. According to G. Paul (1846–1921), “there are as many separate languages ​​in the world as there are individuals” (this idea is reflected in the concept of “idiolect” - an individual variety of language), and German, Latin and other languages ​​are only abstractions of linguistic science" [Cit. from: Alefirenko, p. 23]. At the same time, they did not deny a common language: it is something average, a total of individual languages ​​(uzus) [Krugosvet].

Despite the well-known shortcomings and erroneous ideas about the essence of language, both directions of psychologism in linguistics had a fruitful influence on the formation of modern psycholinguistics. This became possible thanks to the stable orientation of Russian language science, primarily F. F. Fortunatov, I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay and L. V. Shcherba, towards the “factor of the speaking person” [Alefirenko, p. 23–24].

3. Language is a phenomenon social, which arises and develops only in a team. Ferdinand de Saussure(1857–1913): “Language is a social element of speech activity, external to the individual, who by himself can neither create language nor change it” [ Saussure F. Works on linguistics. M., 1977, p. 110; cit. from: Vendina, p. 22].

In modern linguistics, an explanation of the essence of language from the standpoint of a single direction (biological, psychological or social) seems clearly unsatisfactory. The nature of language is as complex as the person himself, whose specific activity it is. And in a person they are closely intertwined biological,mental And social factors[Alefirenko, p. 27, 32].

IN present time language is understood as a complex combination

ideal and material,

social (public) and individual,

biological and mental [Girutsky, p. 29; Grechko, s. 270].

When discussing this problem use

data from genetics, psychophysiology, neuropsychology, etc.,

data on speech ontogenesis (individual development of the body) of a person (in particular, the results of studying children's speech)

This approach to understanding the essence of language looks more convincing, although it is represented not so much by reliable conclusions as by assumptions and heated discussions [Alefirenko, p. 27].

Introduction

Language and thinking are inextricably linked, no one doubts this. Language, as the most important sign system, is a necessary condition for the emergence of thinking, the form of its existence and the method of functioning. In the process of development of the human community and its culture, thinking and language develop into a single speech-and-thought complex, which serves as the basis of most cultural formations and communicative reality.

The problem of the emergence and development of language, as well as its role in the process of human development, has worried all generations of philosophers, and at the present stage of philosophy we can talk about the most interesting theories in the philosophy of language (L. Wittgenstein, E. Cassirer, K. Aidukevich).

The role of language in the formation of civilization and its significance for human cognitive and creative activity determined the relevance of this work.

The concept and essence of language

The concept of language in various philosophical systems.

Language is a sign system used for the purposes of communication and cognition. The systematic nature of a language is expressed in the presence in each language, in addition to the dictionary, of syntax and semantics. The nature and meaning of a linguistic sign cannot be understood outside the linguistic system.

All languages ​​can be divided into natural, artificial and partially artificial. The first arise spontaneously in the process of communication between members of a certain social group (for example, ethnic languages); the latter are created by people for special purposes (for example, languages ​​of mathematics, logic, ciphers, etc.). The languages ​​of natural sciences and humanities are classified as partially artificial. A characteristic feature of artificial languages ​​is the unambiguous certainty of their vocabulary, rules of formation and meaning. These languages ​​are genetically and functionally secondary in relation to natural language; the first arise on the basis of the second and can function only in connection with it.

There are two opposing points of view on the question of the relationship of language to reality. According to the first of them, language is a product of arbitrary convention; in the choice of its rules, as in the choice of the rules of the game, a person is not limited by anything, due to which all languages ​​that have a clearly defined structure are equal in rights (“the principle of tolerance” by R. Carnap). In accordance with the second point of view, language is connected with reality and its analysis makes it possible to reveal some general facts about the world.

The conventionalist concept of language was accepted by many representatives of the philosophy of neopositivism. It is based on an exaggeration of the similarity of natural languages ​​with artificial ones and on an erroneous interpretation of a number of facts concerning these languages.

Thinking is one of the forms of reflection of reality. Language, which is an instrument of thinking, is also connected by its semantic side with reality and reflects it in a unique way. This is manifested in the conditionality of the development of language by the development of human cognition, in the socio-historical genesis of linguistic forms, in the success of practice based on information obtained through language.

A very common thesis is that our knowledge about the world depends on the language used in the process of cognition. Various forms of this thesis are led by ideas about language as one of the forms of manifestation of the “spirit of the people” (W. Humboldt) or the realization of the inherent human ability of symbolization (E. Cassirer), a statement about the distortion of the results of direct knowledge in the process their expressions (A. Bergson, E. Husserl). The principle of the inevitable dependence of the picture of the world on the choice of conceptual apparatus, together with the provision of the absence of restrictions in this choice, constitutes the essence of “radical conventionalism”, adopted by K. Aidukevich.

The provisions on the connection of language with thinking and reality make it possible to find the correct solution to the question of the role of language in knowledge. Language is a necessary tool for a person to display reality, influencing the way of its perception and cognition and improving in the process of this cognition. The active role of language in cognition is that it influences the level of abstract thinking, the possibility and method of asking questions about reality and obtaining answers to these questions. The statement that language is an active factor in the formation of our picture of the world does not mean, however, that language “creates” this picture, nor that it determines the fundamental boundaries of the possibilities of knowledge. Language not only influences cognition, but is itself formed in the process of cognition of reality as a means of adequately reflecting it.

Philosophers and logicians have repeatedly drawn attention to errors arising from the misuse and imperfection of natural language, and called for caution in its use. The most radical of them demanded the creation of some “perfect” language (G. Leibniz, B. Russell). Modern linguistic philosophy has given the position that language should be the subject of philosophical research the form of the statement that language is the only, or at least the most important, subject of such research. Philosophy turned out to be reduced to “criticism of language,” the task of which is to make vague and confusing thoughts clear and clearly demarcated from each other. Within the framework of linguistic philosophy, two directions have emerged: one of them aims at the logical improvement of natural language and the replacement of its individual fragments with specially constructed languages ​​(reconstructionism); the second focuses on the study of the ways in which natural language functions, tries to give the most complete description of its properties and thereby eliminate the difficulties associated with its incorrect use (descriptionism).

The analysis of language is not, however, the only task of philosophy and cannot be reduced to clarifying its logical structure. Language is connected with thinking and reality and cannot be understood without this connection. It must be seen in the context of a range of problems related to cognition and communication; Not only the logical, but also the epistemological and social problems of language are important.

The question of the essence of language, of course, is among the most important issues of modern linguistics and all disciplines that are in one way or another connected with it. It is of primary importance for such a subject as the philosophy of language. However, debates on this issue are still ongoing in scientific circles. Therefore, this essay will consider several approaches and systems of views on the nature of language.

1. Naturalistic (biological) approach to language

The development of a naturalistic approach to language is associated with the name of the outstanding German researcher August Schleicher (1821-1868). Schleicher’s naturalistic philosophy of language is most clearly set out in such works as “Darwin’s Theory and the Science of Language” 1863, “The Importance of Language for the Natural History of Man” 1865. According to the basic position of the naturalistic direction, linguistics is adjacent to the naturalistic sciences. The difference between the natural and historical sciences lies in whether the will of people can or cannot influence the object of science: in the natural sciences, laws that do not depend on the will of people prevail; in historical sciences it is impossible to avoid subjectivity. In his work “Darwin’s theory and the science of language,” Sh. directly indicated that “the laws established by Darwin for plant and animal species are applicable, at least in their main features, to the organisms of languages.” The influence of Darwin's theory is most clearly manifested in Schleicher's transfer of the concept of the struggle for existence in the plant and animal world into language. Sh is convinced that in the present period of human life, the winners in the struggle for existence are predominantly the languages ​​of the Indo-Germanic tribe. Sh. transfers into languages ​​the law of variability of species established by Darwin. In his opinion, those languages ​​which, in the expression of botanists and zoologists, would be species of the same genus, are recognized in linguistics as children of one common basic language, from which they arose through gradual change.

Schleicher also sees the closeness of language to natural organisms in the ability of language to evolve. In this regard, Schleicher states: “The life of language does not differ significantly from the life of all other living organisms - plants and animals.” Like these latter, it has a period of growth from the simplest structures to more complex forms and a period of aging, during which languages ​​move further and further away from the highest stage of development achieved and their forms suffer damage.

With all its shortcomings, the naturalistic direction in linguistics should be considered as a stage in the progressive movement of the science of language. The desire of representatives of this direction, in particular Schleicher, to apply the exact methods of natural sciences to the study of language should be considered valuable. Erroneous in Schleicher's concept. and his followers, there was a too straightforward translation into the language of the laws inherent in biological organisms, which actually grow, develop, and then become decrepit and die. Languages, of course, also arise, develop and sometimes die. But this death is not biological, but socio-historical in nature. A language dies only with the disappearance of the society that speaks it, the collective of people.
However, despite the erroneous nature of the naturalistic concept in linguistics, one should always take into account the fact that the comparison of language with a living organism contributed to the establishment of a systemic view of language as an object with its own structure.

2. 1. Functions of the tongue according to Bühler

The Austrian psychologist, philosopher and linguist Karl Bühler, describing in his book “Theory of Language” the various orientations of language signs, defines 3 main functions of language:

1) the function of expression, or the expressive function, when the state of the speaker is expressed.

2) The function of appeal, appeal to the listener, or appellative function.
3) The function of representation, or representative, when one says or tells something to another,

2. 2. Functions of language according to Reformed

There are other points of view on the functions performed by the language, for example, as A. A. Reformatsky understood them.

1) Nominative, that is, words of language can name things and phenomena of reality.
2) communicative; Suggestions serve this purpose.

3) Expressive, thanks to it the emotional state of the speaker is expressed.
Within the framework of the expressive function, we can also distinguish the deictic (indicative) function, which combines some elements of language with gestures.

3. Language and speech

What are the grounds that allow us to distinguish language and speech as opposite terms? The presence of a norm in a language makes it possible to define the difference between language and speech as the difference between the norm and deviation from the norm. The norm of speech is based on an ethical principle. The very fact of distinguishing between what is within the norm is correct and what is outside the norm is incorrect represents society’s opinion of what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. The ethical principle allows us to separate what is approved and protected by society from what society condemns and fights against.

The presence in language of phenomena fixed by custom and deviating from custom, called usage, makes it possible to define the difference between language and speech as the difference between the generally accepted, fixed in custom, widespread and non-generally accepted, random, non-common. From this point of view, language is something that unites the speech of significant masses of people who form a given group, i.e., something that represents a usage, custom, general skills, something that is characterized by widespread use. Speech is that in which the speaking of individual individuals who form a given collective differs, that which represents occasionality, an incident, an incident, an event, that which is characterized by low prevalence.

Language is a naturally occurring (at a certain stage of development of human society) and naturally developing sign system. Language has certain functions. The function of language is the role, purpose of language in society. Linguists identify about 12 functions of language, two of which are basic – communicative and cognitive. Communicative is a function of communication, cognitive is a thought-formative function, it is also called expressive, epistemological, representative (in a figurative expression, “language is the clothing of thoughts”).

Communicative function. Language is the most important means of communication, but not the only one. There are other means of transmitting information: gestures, facial expressions, works of art, scientific formulas. But all these are auxiliary means, their capabilities are limited: music conveys feelings, not thoughts, mathematical symbols convey the content only of mathematical concepts, etc. Language is a universal means of communication. The communicative function is manifested in the following areas of human activity: 1) in establishing contact, 2) in storing and transmitting the traditions and culture of the people, i.e. language communicates between generations.

Cognitive the function is found in the following areas of human activity: 1) in naming objects and phenomena of the surrounding world; 2) in the ability to evaluate these phenomena.

To these two most important ones add emotional function, which manifests itself in the fact that language is a means of expressing feelings, and metalinguistic function (language is a means of scientific description of oneself).

Sign essence of language. A sign is a material object that acts as a representative of another object. These are traffic lights and road signs. Each sign has two sides: a material shell (visual or auditory image) and an internal one (content, what it means, what it actually corresponds to). This two-sidedness of the sign in language is called “dualism of the linguistic sign” (the term was proposed by Sergei Osipovich Kartsevsky). The most famous linguistic sign is the word. A word has two sides: external (sound series or graphic image) and internal (what the word means). Without a signifier, without content – ​​it’s just a scale. So, we can type a series of letters on the keyboard “prol”. This is not a sign, this is not a word, because... it is not correlated with any object in the world around us. And without a signifier, a sign also does not exist; without a signifier it is a vague thought.

In addition to the word, there are other signs in the language - units of language. These units are characterized by different properties, between which it is often difficult to find common ground (for example, morpheme and text), therefore several levels are distinguished in the language: the level of sounds, the level of morphemes, the level of words, the level of sentences. Each level unites units of the same type - all sounds, all morphemes, all words, all sentences. The law of compatibility operates in language - units of the same level are combined: sound with sound, word with word and so on. As a result, a higher level unit arises (combining phonemes creates morphemes, morphemes are combined into words, etc.). It is believed that a hierarchical (from the gr. hieros sacred + arche power) type of connection is established between units of different levels, implying the arrangement of the elements of the whole from higher to lower. There are two types of hierarchy possible: connection and subordination. The hierarchy of subordination is that the place in the lower ranks is determined by the form of dependence on the upper (for example, social hierarchy). A connection hierarchy is possible: one part, connecting to another, interacts with it and together forms a whole. Language is a model of connection hierarchy: the smaller manifests its functions in the larger.

Not all units are bilateral, but only units, starting with the morpheme. Sound (phoneme) is a unit that has no content; it does not correspond to any reality in the surrounding world. Let's see what the content of other units is. Morphemes: for example, the suffix TEL - a person by action, “the one who …” - reader (one who reads), teacher (one who teaches), prefix C - movement from top to bottom: run away, move out, fly off, etc. . The sentence reflects the situation, the “scene”: “A man is walking,” “It’s getting light.”

Thus, essence language is that it is sign system. Since this is a “system of systems”, a complex, grandiose system, it is impossible to study the language “in general”. For the convenience of the study, sections of linguistics are distinguished: phonemes are studied in phonology, morphemes in morphemics, sentences in syntax. The word, as the most complex linguistic unit, is considered at all levels of the language: from the point of view of meaning (this is one of the most important aspects of the word) it is considered in lexicology, and as a part of speech - in morphology, from the point of view of functioning as a member of a sentence - in syntax. The main, main sections of the language are phonology, lexicology, morphology and syntax. Morphology and syntax are combined into one general section called grammar.

Social nature language. Language is a social phenomenon. Numerous definitions of language emphasize its social function. This means that by its nature, language is a social phenomenon. The social nature of language is manifested in its functions. The interaction of language and society is revealed in the fact that language arises, functions and develops only in society; In addition, the social differentiation of society is reflected in language.

Society is heterogeneous, it is divided into men and women; young and old; educated and poorly educated; living in different regions of Russia. Not all differences between people are significant for language. The main ones are territorial differences. Territorial varieties of language are called dialects. Different regions have different names for the same phenomena: wolf - biryuk, squirrel - veksha, beet - beet. Social varieties of language are called jargons. The two main ones are youth and student ( college, dorm, etc.). Thieves' argot has long existed (bugbear, picker, family, etc.). For people of the same profession, there are professional languages, in which terms and professional words play a large role: steering wheel - “steering wheel” and under. The speech of men and women also differs. Thus, men are characterized by stretching of consonants ( dur-r-cancer), and for women, vowel stretching ( Well oh-oh-very funny). Women's speech is characterized by verbosity, greater emotionality compared to men's speech, and a tendency to exaggeration and hyperbolization. Male speech is characterized by the use of abusive language to express a positive assessment, which is uncharacteristic for women; women more often resort to euphemisms, women's speech is characterized by evasiveness and uncertainty, and, by all accounts, illogicality. To express many meanings, women more often use intonation, and men use vocabulary.

Language is not the only social phenomenon. Social phenomena include religion, politics, sports, art, etc. Language is the most democratic of social phenomena. Not all members of society are required to be politicians, athletes, paint, etc. But ignorance of the language puts a person outside of society, he becomes a “Mowgli”.

Thus the whole language is divided into nationwide, the one that is included in the language stock of most native speakers, and limited use: those linguistic means (practically words) that are known only to people connected by a non-linguistic community (territory, profession, age, etc.).

One should not think that everything in language is determined by its social nature. Social factors influence language indirectly. Society can most actively influence the vocabulary (for example, the language is constantly updated with new words: stapler, bifilife, hacker, user etc.). But the number of phonemes, types of declension, structural types of sentences, etc. does not depend on social phenomena.

The concept of “modern Russian literary language””.

“Modern language” – this term is understood in different ways. A broad understanding includes the era from Pushkin to the present day. Indeed, over the past 200 years, the language has not undergone significant changes in phonetic, morphological and syntactic structure, and lexical changes have not been so significant that we need to translate the literature of Pushkin’s era. At the same time, the language lives and develops, and the living language of our contemporaries is the form that exists in the second half of the twentieth century. Therefore, the narrow understanding of “modern language” is from the 50s of the twentieth century to the present day. Average understanding - from M. Gorky to the present day (the entire twentieth century).

“Russian language” is the language of the Russian nation, but due to historical processes, the Russian language is also native to people who are not Russian by nationality. There are many bilinguals in the Russian Federation who have two native languages ​​in which they can think almost identically. Historically, on the territory of the former Russian Empire, the Russian language began to play the role of a language of interethnic communication.

The Russian language is part of the eastern group of Slavic languages, the common ancestor of which was the Proto-Slavic (Common Slavic) language. The closest relatives of the Russian language are the Ukrainian and Belarusian languages, which are also included in the eastern group of Slavic languages.

“Literary language” is a standardized language, the highest form of the national language. Literary language is universal; scientific essays and journalistic works are created on its basis; it underlies business speech and fiction. The literary language is based on the concept of norm. Language norm- these are the most common of the existing ones, entrenched in the practice of exemplary use, and best performing their function, language variants. Language means are considered normative if they are characterized by 1) regular use; 2) compliance of this method of expression with the capabilities of the Russian language system; 3) public approval, with writers, scientists, and the educated part of society acting as judges. Norms are fluid and historically changeable (for example, the word “coffee” in the 19th century was used in the neuter gender, and in the 20th century – in the masculine gender; use in the neuter gender is also acceptable).

The main collection of norms is dictionaries, reference books and textbooks. Spelling norms (orthographic) are reflected in spelling dictionaries, pronunciation norms - in spelling dictionaries. There are dictionaries of compatibility (“Training dictionary of compatibility of the Russian language”, etc.). Stylistic norms are presented in the form of stylistic marks in explanatory dictionaries ( simple, bookish, colloquial and under.). The branch of linguistics whose subject is the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries is called lexicography.

Literary language is characterized by a number of features:
1. It is a codified variety of the Russian language, usually associated with a written form of communication; it is focused on fixation and is, as it were, designed for recording and reproducing what is recorded. The leading form of literary language is written, although it is also found in oral form. The formation of the oral form of literary speech dates back to the beginning of the 19th century and continued throughout the 20th century.

2. Literary speech serves as a means of realizing the entire complex of knowledge accumulated by native speakers of the Russian language in connection with progress in the field of material and spiritual culture; This is why literary speech has an ever-expanding scope of application: it is used in all types of human activity and thereby serves as a means of communication over a larger territory compared to other forms of the Russian language.

3. Literary speech is characterized by a system of norms that qualify as exemplary; That is why such norms appear in the minds of native speakers as generally binding, and literary speech itself is perceived as opposed to dialectal and socially limited.
4. Literary speech represents a variety of the Russian language, which is reflected in the polishing and improvement of “raw” material in acts of speech activity.

5. The system of norms of the Russian language is subject to codification; it is instilled in the learning process, distributed through textbooks, dictionaries, etc.

6. Literary speech is characterized by selectivity. The selection of linguistic means is perhaps the most important of the laws of development.

There are two FORMS of language - oral and written. Oral is the original form, this is the form in which any language originally exists. The written form arose from the need of society to convey information to distant interlocutors or to another generation. The oral form of speech is characterized by spontaneity and unpreparedness. This speech is perceived immediately, directly by the organs of hearing; it exists as “speaking” with its characteristic melody, rhythm, and intonation. Oral speech is focused on momentary perception, on the interlocutor and is built taking into account his reactions. Oral speech is direct, expressive, it uses various means of updating the verbal form: intonation, timbre and strength of voice, repetition, violation of word order, distortion of the sound side of the word, etc. All this is aimed at strengthening the influencing factor of the utterance and raising the emotional tone of speech activity.

Written speech is focused on perception by the visual organs, so this speech can be referred to more than once. Written speech is different in that the very form of speech activity reflects the conditions and purpose of communication. The selection of words, expressions, syntactic structures, the arrangement of words in the structure of sentences - all this is subject to stylistic restrictions. Thus, scientific texts are distinguished by the fact that they are characterized by the use of terms, detailed structures of complex sentences, etc. In the texts of official business correspondence, there is a standardization of the form of presentation, language formulas of legal practice, etc.

Written and oral speech is carried out in dialogical and monological form. Dialogue involves spontaneity, a direct reaction to the words of the interlocutor, the use of non-verbal means of communication (gesture, facial expressions, posture, facial expression, eyes, etc.), changing the topic, using short and incomplete sentences, the possibility of asking again, clarification during communication. A monologue presupposes preparedness, structural organization (it is especially important to think through the beginning and end of the speech), lack of orientation towards the interlocutor, i.e. impossibility of changing or restructuring the topic, etc.

The question of the essence of language is one of the most difficult in linguistics. It is no coincidence that it has several mutually exclusive solutions:

Language is a biological, natural phenomenon, independent of man (Schleicher)

Language is a mental phenomenon that arises as a result of the action of the individual spirit - human or divine (Humboldt)

Language is a psychosocial phenomenon that has a “collective-individual” or “collective-psychic” existence, in which the individual is at the same time general, universal (Baudouin de Courtenay)

Language is a social phenomenon that arises and develops only in a community (F. de Sussure)

There is no doubt that language is a social phenomenon: it arises and develops only in a team 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 (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 practical, existing for other people and only thereby existing also for myself, real consciousness (K. Marx, F. Engels); language is the most important means of human communication (V.I. Lenin); language is a system of articulate sound signs that spontaneously arises in human society and develops, serving for the purposes of communication and capable of expressing the entire body of human knowledge and ideas about the world (N.D. Arutyunova).

Question 2. Language as a social phenomenon

Language is always the property of the collective. In the vast majority of cases, a group of people speaking the same language is an ethnic group. The languages ​​of some ethnic groups are also used as a means of interethnic communication. Thus, the Russian language is the national language of Russians and at the same time the language of interethnic communication of a number of other nations and nationalities. Russian language is also one of the world languages. The language of an ethnic community, as a rule, is not absolutely uniform throughout the territory of its distribution and in all areas of its use. The language of an ethnic community, as a rule, is not absolutely uniform throughout the territory of its distribution and in all areas of its use. It reveals certain internal differences: a more or less unified literary language usually contrasts with noticeably different local dialects, as well as professional and other varieties of language that reflect the internal division of a given linguistic community.

Question 3. Basic theories of the origin of language. Since antiquity, many theories of the origin of the self have developed. 1) The theory of onomatopoeia - received support in the 19th century. The essence of the theory is that people tried to imitate the sounds of nature with their speech apparatus. Contradicts practice. There are few sounding words; you can only onomatopoeize the sounding word, which is how to call the voiceless word. There are more sound-like words in the developed self than in the primitive one, because in order to imitate one must have perfect command of the speech apparatus, which a primitive person with an undeveloped larynx could not do. 2) The theory of interjections – XVIII century. I came from interjections - modif animal cries, accompanied by emotions. 3) The theory of labor cries - XIX century. I arose from shouts that accompanied collective work, however, these shouts are a means of rhythmizing work, they are an external technical medium during work. They are not communicative, not nominative, not expressive. 4) The theory of social contract (Ser. XVIII) And Smith proclaimed it to be the first possible way of thinking. This theory does not provide anything to explain the primeval I because in order to reach an agreement, another I is needed. The reason for the defectiveness of all the above theories is that? the emergence of the Self is carried out in isolation from the origin of man and the formation of primary human collectives. 5) The theory of gestures is also untenable, since gestures are always secondary for people who have the sound I. There are no words among gestures and gestures are not connected with concepts. Everything is like a theory that ignores the Self as a phenomenon of society. From Engels's main provisions about the origin of the Self: the origin of the Self cannot be scientifically proven, one can only build hypotheses, only linguistic data are not enough to resolve this issue.

Question 4 Language as a system of signs.

Language is considered as a system of signs. A sign can be defined as a kind of material unit that creates language as a phenomenon. In relation to language, the term sign can be defined by the following points:

1. The sign must be material, that is, it must be accessible to sensory perception, like any thing.

2. The sign has no meaning, but is aimed at meaning, that’s why it exists.

Question 5. Language, its main functions .Relationship of language and thinking.Language and speech. Language is the most important means of human communication (a naturally occurring and naturally developing system of objectively existing and socially fixed linguistic signs that correlate conceptual content and typical sound). Functions of language: 1) Communicative - the main social function of language. Communication is the transmission of a message from one person to another for one purpose or another. Communication occurs as a result of the communicative activity of two or more persons in a certain situation and in the presence of a common means of communication. 2) Information storage: language acts as a form of reflection and storage of knowledge about reality 3) Expressive - language acts as a medium for expressing feelings and emotions.4) Metalinguistic - language acts simultaneously as both a medium and an object of study. 5) Cognitive - (cognitive) language acts as an element of thinking, with the help of which a thought is formed. 6) Aesthetic - language acts as a medium for expressing the creative potential of a person, correlated with aesthetic categories ..

Question 6 Properties of a linguistic sign

1. Arbitrariness: the connection through which the signifier is connected to the signified is arbitrary, that is, not conditioned by anything. Thus, the concept of “sister” is not associated with the sequence of sounds soeur or sister; it could be expressed by any other sound shell. Arbitrary - that is, unmotivated, there is no logical connection. There are words associated with the concept (onomatopoeic factor). There are languages ​​with a greater or lesser degree of motivation.

2. The linear nature of the signifier: the signifier is perceived by ear, therefore it has extension, one-dimensionality, that is, it is linear. “This is a very significant sign, and its consequences are incalculable.” Signs perceived aurally differ significantly from visual signs, which can have several dimensions.

3. Variability/immutability of the sign. Speakers cannot make changes to the language. The sign resists change, since its character is determined by tradition. In particular, due to:

* arbitrariness of the sign - protection from attempts to change it;

* plurality of characters;

* complex nature of the system;

* resistance to collective inertia towards innovation.

Language provides few opportunities for initiative; revolutionary changes in language are impossible, since at any given moment language is the business of everyone.

However, time has an influence on language, so from this point of view the linguistic sign is changeable.

Often changes in the signifier lead to changes in the signified.

Question No. 7 The concept of a linguistic sign in F. de Saussure (signified and signifier)

Language is a system of interconnected and interdependent signs.

Language for most people is essentially nomenclature - a list of names, each of which for most people corresponds to one specific thing. For example: “tree” - arbor, “horse” - equos (lat.)

Saussure: “This opinion is erroneous, since it presupposes the existence of ready-made concepts that precede words. This idea says nothing about the nature of the name (sound or mental), and allows one to think that the connection connecting names and things is something simple, but this is very far from the truth. Nevertheless, this point of view brings us closer to the truth, since it points to the duality of language, to the fact that it is formed by the union of two components.”

“A linguistic sign connects not a thing and its name, but a concept and an acoustic image. Moreover, the acoustic image is not a material sound, a purely physical thing, but a mental imprint of the sound, an idea received about it through our senses.”

Language is a system of signs in which the only essential thing is the combination of meaning and acoustic image, both of these elements being equally mental.

In nomenclature, a thing and a name are directly connected, but in language there are intermediate links: a sign is connected with a thing through a concept and with a material shell through an acoustic image. In this case, the acoustic image is the signifier, and the concept is the signified.

Question 8. Structure and system of language

Question 9. Levels and units of language

Units of language are elements that are uniform and indecomposable from the point of view of a certain level of text division (phonological, morphological, etc.) and opposed to each other in a system corresponding to a given level. Under the indecomposability of E. I. one should understand that it is indivisible into smaller units of the same kind; this does not exclude the fact that at another level it may correspond to a combination of units of “lower rank.” Thus, a word (in the terminology of some linguists - a lexeme), considered as a “unit of naming” (for example, “hand”), is not decomposable into smaller units that have an independent nominative function, although the specific word forms with which it is represented in a sentence (“hand” , “hands”, “hand”, etc.), can, from another point of view, be considered as a combination of smaller significant elements (“ruk-a”, “ruk-i”, “ruk-oh”, etc. ). The number, types (and, accordingly, names) of E. i., distinguished by different linguistic concepts, are different. It is widely referred to as E. i. the basic unit of expression (phoneme) and the simplest sign unit (morpheme or moneme). The terminology relating to the units of the content plan is more diverse (See Content Plan) (cf. Sememe, plerema, Morpheme, grammeme,

Elements of a language system that have different functions and meanings. Sets of basic E. i. in the narrow sense of this term they form a definition. “levels” of the language system, e.g. phonemes - phoneme level, morphemes - morpheme level, etc. (see Levels of language). The term "E. i.> in a broad sense denote a wide range of heterogeneous phenomena that are the object of study of linguistics. There are material units that have a permanent sound shell, for example. phoneme, morpheme, word, sentence, etc., “relative-material> units having a variable sound shell, for example. models of the structure of words, phrases, sentences, and units of meaning (for example, semes, etc.), constituting the semantic (ideal) side of material or relatively material units and not existing outside of these units

Question No. 10 Functions of language units.

Language, as the most important means of communication and generalization, fulfills its social purpose thanks to the flexibility of its units, the multidimensionality and dynamism of the language system and its categories.

Different units of language participate in different ways in performing the functions of language, in expressing and transmitting messages. Nominative and predicative units of language are used directly in the act of speech of the message.

Words and sentences. Nominative units are not only individual significant words (house, walk, five, good, quickly, etc.), but also compound names and phraseological units (railway, with all my heart). Predicative units are various kinds of sentences.