Human consciousness is organically connected with tongue as a way of their existence. Animals have the first signaling system, on the basis of which they form conditioned reflexes. In humans, in addition to the first signaling system, there is second signaling system – speech, language, a specifically human system of communication, communication, and information transfer. Compared with the sound and gestural ability of animals to transmit information distinctive feature language is manifested in the fact that the processing of signs (for example, the speed of reading, speaking, writing, etc.) is not inherited, but acquired in the process of human socialization. As a way of existence of consciousness, speech is in a complex functional relationship with it. They do not exist without each other: consciousness reflects reality, and language designates and expresses what is essential in this reflection. Language combines the ideal basis (information) and the way it is transmitted through material carrier. The development of consciousness, the enrichment of its information richness develops speech, but, on the other hand, the development of speech as an improving way of existence of consciousness develops consciousness. Language influences the style of thinking, its manner, techniques and methods.

Language is more conservative than consciousness: the same linguistic shell, word, concept can express different contents of thought, which hinders its development and gives it some compulsion. By improving his language, a person improves his consciousness, and, conversely, disdaining the operation of linguistic symbols, using limited lexicon, we conserve thinking, limit it to the available intellect.

There are different types of speech: oral, written and internal. The thought process is always carried out through one type of speech or another, even if this speech does not find direct, sensorily observable expression. Complex neurophysiological processes of mutually coordinated activity of the brain and speech apparatus are at work here. Every nerve impulse, entering speech apparatus from the brain, reproduces in it a concept or a corresponding series of concepts adequate to the signal. It is the concepts that are primary elements speech, and since concepts are formed as a result of certain generalizations, then thinking and consciousness are always a process of generalized reflection of reality. That is, thinking is always conceptual and this is what fundamentally differs from earlier forms of reflection, including complex psychological forms. It is language as a way of existence of consciousness, as the “immediate reality of thought” that characterizes special quality consciousness as the highest form of reflection of reality, irreducible to its preconscious forms.

But information circulating at the level of consciousness functions not only through oral or written speech, i.e. natural language. Consciousness also realizes itself in other sign systems, in various artificial and symbolic languages ​​(musical, mathematical, Esperanto, cybernetic, dance, colors, gestures, etc.).

Signs – these are material objects, processes and actions that play the role of a “substitute” for real things and phenomena. They are used to acquire, store, transform and transmit information . A sign system can be called a human language if it satisfies the following requirements:

It must have semantics and grammar, contain meaningful elements and rules for their meaningful connection;

It must constantly develop, not only under the influence of improving human activity, but also as a result of self-development, i.e. expand consciousness according to certain rules based on final semantic units to create an unlimited number of informative messages;

Messages formed in a particular language should not depend on the presence of the designated objects.

Sign systems arose and are developing as a special material form in which thinking is carried out and information processes in social life are recorded, for example in science and technology.

Natural language is the most common sign system. Among non-linguistic signs there are: copy signs; sign signs; signs-signals; signs-symbols. Sign systems of artificial languages ​​have become widespread at the modern level of development of consciousness: code systems, formulas, diagrams, diagrams, etc. Moreover, any sign has meaning and significance only in one system or another.

The special intensification and information density of modern development of society not only gives rise to new languages ​​and sign systems, but also sciences about them. In the last century, a new scientific discipline has emerged on the principles of the structure and functioning of sign systems - semiotics.

A reflection of the extreme intensification of information connections in the functioning of society and the need to master new forms and methods of obtaining, processing, storing and transmitting it was the emergence of a scientific direction - computer science. But, in any case, the key measure of the existence of consciousness remains the system of concepts of natural language, which has been formed over millions of years.

Concepts not only denote phenomena, but also express thoughts about objectively existing objects, their connections and relationships. The word is both the bearer of our knowledge about the world, and the “mediator” between thought and subject. From here, concretizing the special role of language in consciousness and its relative independence, we can identify a number of basic functions of language.

1. Denoting. By its content, a word is always connected with an object. Only if there is this connection can it serve as a means of coordinating actions in the process of cognition and practice. It is with the help of words ideal images differentiated, concepts are formed. It becomes possible to abstract from specific things, their properties and relationships by operating with concepts and words. The word, in essence, “replaces” the object in consciousness.

2. Cumulative. Language makes it possible to “abbreviated”, “condensed” ideal reproduction of reality, as well as storage, transmission and practical use of the information contained in it. The word reflects in a condensed form what is essential in the phenomenon. In this generalizing function, language acts as an accumulator of knowledge and consolidates (materializes) the social memory of humanity.

3. Communicative. In this function, language acts as a means of communication between people. Information can only be used by society in the form of language (natural or artificial). The communicative function of language in the history of society has changed qualitatively twice, and in each case this led to a more effective consolidation social experience, revitalization of activities and material and spiritual culture. The first such qualitative leap was the invention of writing. The second is happening before our eyes at the base rapid development computer technology, information science, cybernetics.

4. Expressive. Everything reflected in a person’s consciousness by means of language is, to one degree or another, connected with his interests and needs. Hence, his certain emotional and sensory attitude towards surrounding phenomena is inevitable, which is impossible to express otherwise than with the help of language.

5. Interactive.. This function is due to the fact that with the help of language a person always addresses himself or another person, and explicitly or implicitly his speech contains a question, proposal, request, complaint, order, threat, etc., that is, speech always has an impact a certain impact on the listener encourages one or another action.

Language is the most common way of social functioning of the mind. Signs of the second signaling system animals can also use it, but sounds and gestures indicating various phenomena and states used by animals to transmit information to their relatives do not form language in the proper sense of the word. Taking into account the fact that a person is surrounded by things and phenomena, as a rule, created or transformed by him, they can also be considered as certain signs or thoughts that act as an objectified form of ideal existence.

So, the world of man is the world meanings, often hidden from a person and inaccessible to his direct perception. The task of consciousness is to reveal meanings, to reveal the content and meaning of signs coming from the outside world, to transform them into a meaningful, informational image. As a result of this process, a person’s thought ceases to be his subjective, individual property and begins to live according to its own laws, acquiring relative independence. Characterizing the relative independence of consciousness, it should be noted: 1) Consciousness does not develop as mirror reflection material world, it is a transformed reflection, including all previous experience. 2) Consciousness, existing through concepts, goes beyond the framework of concrete sensory images. Within the framework of consciousness, reflection moves from sensations and perceptions to concepts, judgments and conclusions, which are characterized by creative reflection, analysis and synthesis of sensual of this material. 3) The relative independence of consciousness is also manifested in the fact that it reveals a certain conservatism in relation to developing social practice. Firstly, consciousness in materialized ideal forms(monuments of literature, architecture, art) preserves the memory of the spiritual culture of past generations. Secondly, certain ideas, beliefs, ideological and ethical predilections, etc., which no longer correspond to the changed reality, are consolidated, reproduced and stored in the consciousness. On the other hand, especially in scientific thinking, consciousness is capable of getting ahead and anticipating real events, and on the basis of creativity, forming fundamentally new combinations of the interrelations of reality that mobilize human activity and are realized in it.

Comparative analysis qualitative characteristics of human consciousness and the psyche of animals confirms the thesis about the socio-historical, socially transformative nature of consciousness and language, both in the genetic and functional aspects. Human consciousness can neither arise nor function outside of society. Known to science cases of discovery of human cubs, isolated by chance from society and “raised” in the environment of animals, indicate the impossibility of forming consciousness outside of society, outside of communication and the exchange of social information.

Thus, the system within which consciousness arises and develops is the practical activity of people aimed at transforming reality. To regulate relations between people during work and in other types of interaction, it took means created by people themselves, not given to them by nature: traditions and customs, norms-imperatives and norms-taboo, forms of social inheritance and family regulation, expressed through language. Thus, people create a “second nature”, a special social environment life, means of production, social relations, spiritual culture. The experience of this creative activity is reflected in consciousness, determining its consistent development along with the historical enrichment of this experience itself.

Since people carry out their activities together, each new generation assimilates the ideas, concepts, views, etc. already established in society. It is with the advent of consciousness that humanity acquires a means of consolidating and developing its historical and individual experience, while in animals, species experience is transmitted hereditarily, and individual experience is lost for subsequent generations. Consciousness thus turns out to be a universal, necessary and universal way of organizing and expressing a person’s relationship to the world, another person and himself.

Consciousness not only arises historically as a social phenomenon, but also becomes possible only as a product of joint labor activity. The intertwining of the actions of each individual person into a joint collective activity on every historical stage development of society leads to the fact that the individual’s consciousness acquires a transpersonal, transindividual character. Formed public consciousness– a set of ideas, concepts, teachings, mass psychological processes, having their own logic of functioning and development, different from individual consciousness.

The ability to reflect the surrounding world is most clearly manifested in living beings. However modern science came to the conclusion that this property of living matter has more deep foundation. This question was posed by V.I. Lenin on a dialectical-materialistic basis. In his work “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism,” Lenin expressed the idea that all matter has the property of reflection, akin to sensation.

Reflection is seen in any act of interaction. When, say, two absolutely elastic ball, then one ball hitting another ball with a certain force transfers a certain amount of energy to the latter and expresses its state through a change in energy and the direction of movement of the second ball. Having received a certain amount of energy, the second ball reflects the state of the object that influenced it, the state of the first ball.

However, at the mechanical level, reflection is extremely simple and elementary. Any impact experienced by a body is expressed in it in mechanical characteristics: mass, speed, force, inertia, direction, etc. It is episodic and random, the result of the interaction - a reflected change, “trace” or information - is not fixed and leaves no trace disappears after a certain period of time. The reflection in these cases is not localized and diffuse.

More complex is the so-called physical form reflections. In every act of physical interaction, the body participates as an organic whole and at the same time as a collection of a large number of molecules. External influence is divided into individual elementary reflected changes, which are simultaneously combined into holistic changes in the body. In accordance with the structural nature of the reflection substrate, the “trace” becomes dissected, differentiated structural view. At the level of the physical form of movement, reflection becomes localized.

At the same time, the physical form of reflection is also limited. In the process of reaction, external influences are remade in accordance with the body’s own nature. Those aspects of the influencing object that are inherent in the reflection substrate are adequately reproduced. On the contrary, when qualitatively dissimilar objects interact, a transition occurs from one form to another - for example, heat into electricity - as a result of which the internal similarity of the reflection and the original becomes distant.

Even greater qualitative diversity is reflected at the level of the chemical form of movement. A chemical element has the ability to change under the influence of an influencing substance and in accordance with its nature. In the process of a chemical reaction, a new quality arises. Therefore, the preservation and accumulation of reflected changes occurs through the consolidation of these changes with a new quality.

The presence of reflectivity in bodies inanimate nature thus prepares the appearance of irritability and sensations that arise in living matter.

The reflection of the external world in animals and humans occurs on the basis of living matter, as a result of which it acquires special specific features, which are as follows:

1) Reflection takes on a particularly developed form, since living matter has very rich and complex properties.

2) In inanimate nature, reflection is merged with the general process of interaction of an object with the environment. In living matter it is isolated and specialized special kind reflection, different from assimilation and dissimilation. The main and special function of this type of reflection is signaling about changes in the external environment.

3) The reflection of external conditions by organisms does not have a self-sufficient significance and serves as a means of adaptation to the environment.

4) With the formation of living protein, high-quality new form reflections - irritability, from which, in the course of the development of living organisms, even higher forms emerge - sensation, perception, representation, thinking.

The forms of reflection observed in the field of inanimate nature are distinguished by amazing uniformity and constancy, for example, the interaction of two solid bodies colliding with each other or the interaction of those entering into a connection chemical elements over vast periods of time remain essentially the same. There are no such phenomena as the interaction of the body and the environment, the body’s adaptation to environment and so on.

Completely different relationships exist in the field of living nature. The fundamental law of the development of organic nature is the law of the unity of the organism and the conditions of its existence. The external environment is the most important factor determining the nature of a living organism. The adaptability of an animal organism to the conditions of its existence is here an expression of the correspondence of the functions and structure of the organism and all its organs to the given environmental conditions. A change in living conditions necessarily causes a change in the functions of the body, the emergence of inherently new adaptation reactions.

Thus, the desire to exist, the struggle for self-preservation, observed in the field of organic nature, turns into a powerful stimulus that necessitates adaptation to the environment.

In turn, changes in the environment often act as the reason for the appearance of new properties and qualities in the organism. The desire to adapt to the environment often leads to the emergence of more advanced forms of living organisms. Let us explain this situation with some specific examples.

At the lowest level of the animal kingdom, notes I.M. Sechenov, sensitivity is evenly distributed throughout the body, without any signs of division and separation into organs. So, for example, such lower organisms Like jellyfish, nerve cells have primitive versatility. The same nerve cells are able to distinguish between chemical, temperature and mechanical stimuli. Where sensitivity is evenly distributed throughout the body, it can serve the latter only when influence from the external world acts on the feeling body by direct contact.

At some stage of development, which modern biological science cannot indicate with precision, irritability, i.e., the elementary physiological means of adapting the organism to the external environment, becomes insufficient, since the organism finds itself in some other conditions of existence.

This fused form begins to be more and more dismembered into separate organized systems of movement and feeling: the place of contractile protoplasm is now taken by muscle tissue, and evenly distributed irritability gives way to a certain localization of sensitivity, which goes along with the development of the nervous system. Even further, sensitivity specializes, so to speak, qualitatively - it breaks down into so-called systemic feelings (hunger, thirst, sexual, respiratory, etc.) and into activity higher authorities senses (vision, touch, hearing, etc.).

In the process of development of living beings, sensation usually occurs when the body has become able to differentiate stimuli not only by intensity, but also by quality. “The further step in the evolution of feeling,” notes I.M. Sechenov, “can be defined as the combined or coordinated activity of special forms of feeling among themselves and with the motor reactions of the body. If the previous phase consisted of grouping into different directions units of feeling and movement, then the subsequent one consists in grouping (of course, even more diverse) these same groups among themselves.

Armed with specifically different instruments of sensitivity, the animal must necessarily receive extremely diverse groups of simultaneous or series of sequential impressions, and yet even at this level of development, feeling as a whole must remain for the animal an instrument of orientation in space and time, and, moreover, orientation, obviously , more detailed than that of which less gifted animal forms are capable. This means that it is necessary either to harmonize among themselves those individual elements that make up a sensory group or series, or to divide it into elements - otherwise feeling should have remained a chaotic random mixture.”

“The environment in which the animal exists is also a factor determining organization. With a uniformly distributed sensitivity of the body, excluding the possibility of moving it in space, life is preserved only if the animal is directly surrounded by an environment capable of supporting its existence. The area of ​​life here is, of necessity, extremely narrow. On the contrary, the higher the sensory organization through which the animal is oriented in time and space, the wider the sphere of possible life encounters, the more diverse the environment acting on the organization and the methods of possible adaptations.”

The dissected and coordinated feeling ultimately develops into instinct and reason. “The complication and improvement of the ability of reflection in living organisms occurs on the basis of the appearance and development of a special reflection substrate: initially a special sensitive substance, then sensitive cells, nerve cells and the nervous system reaching highest level development in humans. In connection with the emergence of a special substrate of reflection - the nervous system - arise special conditions, caused by external influences - nervous excitement and braking, special forms reflective activity - conditional and unconditioned reflexes, specific patterns of reflective activity - irradiation and concentration, mutual induction, etc.”

Thus, the ability of reflection in living organisms goes through three main stages in its development. The first stage is irritability, i.e. the ability of bodies to respond with a reaction to external influences, which is mediated by the state of tissue excitation; then, based on irritability, a sensation arises, from which the evolution of the psyche begins, as a higher form of reflection compared to irritability. With the transition to work and the emergence of man, the highest form of mental activity—consciousness—emerges and develops.

The ability to reflect the surrounding material world is one of the most important prerequisites for the emergence of human language, since acts of communication, as will be shown later, are based on a person’s reflection of the surrounding reality. At the same time, it should be noted that the implementation of these reflection processes would be impossible if a person did not possess a number of special properties, the manifestation of which is ensured by the ability of reflection.

Serebrennikov B.A. General linguistics - M., 1970.

Language is traditionally viewed as a tool and means of understanding reality. Due to its complexity and versatility, the topic “Language and Cognition” is being developed from different points of view in modern areas of linguistics and philosophy.

V. Humboldt was the first to express the idea that language is the main tool for reflecting and cognizing reality: “Man surrounds himself with a world of sounds in order to reflect and process the world of objects.”

In Russian linguistics, he dealt with the problem of language and cognition A.A.Potebnya. He revealed the deep, constantly operating mechanism of cognitive processes inherent in language that occurs in verbal thinking. A number of questions raised by Potebnya about the anthropomorphism of cognition, about the subjective and objective in cognition, about the influence of the means of cognition on the results of cognition, about the cognitive role of verbal thinking were reflected in heated discussions in science of the 20th century.

The acquisition and consolidation of new knowledge occurs in the practical activity of a person, which includes speech activity. Hence, cognitive role language must be considered in unity with the practical activities of man. As an instrument of knowledge and a natural sign system, language consolidates the results of knowledge in any area of ​​human activity. But the subject of linguistics cannot be mental achievements in certain areas of knowledge.

Linguistics is interested in studying that side of language which ensures the reflection and consolidation in signs of the results of the activities of the speaking group.

In linguistics, the view has spread that the meanings of words in a common language are “naive concepts”, and the semantics of a language is a “naive picture of the world”. Meanwhile, the concepts enshrined in language and the linguistic picture of the world are far from naive; Many scientists have written about this. The result of the development of the thought and speech of the people was deposited in the semantics of the commonly used language.

The first classification of objects and phenomena of the world is in language. The concepts of common language reach a high degree of abstraction and elaboration. The meanings of commonly used words do not break semantic connections with the corresponding scientific categories: time, space, consciousness, thinking, reason, movement, conscience, pressure. Formation of categories such as subject, substance, object, object goes into common language.

Language is designed in such a way that its entire mechanism serves to reflect and understand reality.

Cognition of reality with the help of language is carried out in the process of everyday speech activity of people exchanging new information with each other in various works of literature.

Researchers point to language's own heuristic capabilities. With the help of language, a person can understand and assimilate new content, new concepts, create ideas about phenomena and objects that he has never seen, heard or knew anything about. Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote: “The sentence must give us a new meaning in old expressions.”

Man as a subject of cognition confronts the surrounding world. A person can penetrate into this world and cognize it only by subjective means. Language is a subjective means of reflecting and understanding reality. This does not exclude the presence of objective content in it. An abstraction formed with the help of language is not divorced from reality. The material for abstractions are sensual forms of reflection of reality, directly related to it.

The subjectivity of language is manifested in the nature of the reflection of reality. With its individual signs, language divides what in reality and in sensory perception exists as a unity. Offer " flies White bird ", consisting of three words, corresponds to one object. Both in reality and in sensory perception, signs are not separated from objects. Language and our thinking isolate its features from an object and thereby make them separate, independent entities. This isolation allows you to operate them in different connections and relationships with many other objects and phenomena. And, conversely, a word can represent many different objects and phenomena as a single whole: forest, country, people, population, crowd, totality. With the help of language, the analysis and synthesis of reflected objects and phenomena of reality is carried out, and this is a necessary path to understanding their essence.

Subjectivism also manifests itself in the formation of words.

The choice of the characteristic taken into the name is determined by the person’s approach to the designated object, interest in it, specific social, cultural, living conditions. But this subjectivity is corrected by the meaning of the word, which contains many characteristics of the designated object. Between these poles - from a single feature, taken as the basis of the name, to a multitude of cognizable signs, collective knowledge moves.

The form of language plays a primary role in the knowledge of reality. It is in the form that two “meet” and interact opposing friends friend of the world - subjective and objective.

Genetically, the elements of the form of language reflect the established relationship between man and reality. Because of this, they cannot but be isomorphic to reality itself. The form itself is subjective, but thanks to it, elements of objective content can be alienated and assimilated from the stream of thought. Form allows one to penetrate into the objective world and cognize it.

Cognition of reality is an endless movement through a subjective path towards an objective state of affairs.

The expression of subjectivity is humanoidness, anthropomorphism of cognition. Man's ways of understanding reality cannot but be humanoid; language is permeated with humanoid elements.

A sentence is constructed as a connection, an identity of subject and predicate. A.A. Potebnya noted: “We call a subject a thing as a cognizing and acting thing, that is, first of all, our self, then every thing that is likened in this regard to our self. We can express the action of the subject, that is, imagine it, only in a human form: it rains like man walking. Every subject is a likeness of our self, every action is a likeness of our action.”

In modern linguistics, the question of the influence of the national language on knowledge of the world remains debatable. Some scientists believe that the quality of a thought depends on the means of its creation and expression. Therefore, the nature of thought, its depth, the possibilities of reflection and knowledge of reality directly depend on language. Since there is no language at all, but there are national languages ​​and their varieties, then the knowledge and reflection of reality in language is national. Each language has its own organization and division of the world. In related languages, division and organization will be more similar.

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Introduction

1. About the concepts of “language” and “national language”

2. Language as a reflection of national thinking

2.1 Relationship between language and thinking

2.2 Language and way of thinking of the people

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Language is the beginning of everything. When starting a task, we first comprehend it in words. The beginning of the 21st century is characterized in linguistics by significant changes and new directions in the study of language at various levels.

In particular, the problem of the relationship between culture, language and consciousness is comprehensively discussed: all kinds of studies are carried out on the linguistic picture of the world among native speakers specific language, associative dictionaries are created different languages, providing rich material for studying the peculiarities of the perception of reality within a particular culture, a linguocultural direction is being formed in the study of language as an exponent of a special national mentality.

The problem of the relationship and interconnection of language, culture, and ethnicity is an interdisciplinary problem, the solution of which is possible only through the efforts of several sciences - from philosophy and sociology to ethnolinguistics and linguoculturology.

For example, questions of ethnic linguistic thinking are the prerogative of linguistic philosophy; the specifics of ethnic, social or group communication in the linguistic aspect are studied by psycholinguistics, etc.

A characteristic feature of the development of modern humanities is the turn of the problems of fundamental research towards anthropocentrism, which is manifested, in particular, in the growing interest in the problems of the relationship between language and thinking, including the national language and national thinking.

In a word, the idea expressed at the beginning of the last century by L.V. Shcherba that “the world that is given to us in our direct experience, remaining the same everywhere, is comprehended” becomes relevant in various ways in different languages, even in those spoken by peoples representing a certain unity...” In this work we will consider language as a reflection of national thinking.

1. About the conceptI"language" and "national language"

First of all, let’s look at what “language” and “national language” are.

Language, a system of discrete (articulate) sound signs that spontaneously arose in human society and is developing, intended for communication purposes and capable of expressing the entire body of human knowledge and ideas about the world.

The sign of spontaneity of emergence and development, as well as the limitlessness of the scope of application and possibilities of expression, distinguishes language from so-called artificial or formalized languages ​​that are used in other branches of knowledge (for example, information languages, programming language, information retrieval language), and from various systems alarms created based on language(for example, Morse code, traffic signs, etc.).

Based on the ability to express abstract forms thinking(concept, judgment) and the property of discreteness associated with this ability (internal division of the message) language qualitatively different from the so-called languageanimals, which is a set of signals that convey reactions to situations and regulate the behavior of animals in certain conditions.

Language is an integral and the most important part any national culture, a full acquaintance with which necessarily involves not only the study of the material component of this culture, not only knowledge of its historical, geographical, economic and other determinants, but also an attempt to penetrate into the way of thinking of the nation, an attempt to look at the world through the eyes of the bearers of this culture, with their "point of view".

It is language that is the main unifying feature of a nation, since no common ideas, cultural values ​​and joint economy can exist without a common understanding of the verbal signs used in communication.

Language arises simultaneously with the nation, is its creation, and also the organ of the nation’s original thinking. As the founder of linguistics W. Humboldt wrote, “language is breath, the very soul of a nation.”

Most of the circumstances accompanying the life of a nation - habitat, climate, religion, government, laws and customs - can be to a certain extent separated from the nation itself. And only language exists as a living, native language only in the consciousness of a nation. It is in the language that all national character, in it as a means of communication of a given people individuality disappears and the common appears.

The presence of a single national language provides society with ease of communication in a variety of areas of activity - from the domestic sphere to the industrial sphere.

The national language, first of all, creates convenience for the everyday life of every person. In whatever city a person finds himself, he can easily ask any question and understand the answer, without resorting to knowledge of other languages, without experiencing difficulties due to differences in pronunciation or meaning of words, which would be inevitable when communicating in a dialect.

The national literary language has uniform standards for all speakers of it, no matter in what region they live. The presence of a single national language creates great convenience for official business correspondence between institutions and enterprises and ensures clear interaction between central and local authorities.

A common language is necessary for the rapid dissemination of technical achievements, the development of production, and the economic integrity of the country. From technical documents The highest level of terminology unity is required, so it is fixed by special standards. A true and deep understanding of works of literature is impossible without good knowledge national language.

The national language is a means of development of all types of art, its unity is of great importance for education, for the media, in a word, for the entire life of the nation.

Summarizing what has been said, we note that in relation to the nation, language plays a consolidating role, i.e. maintains its unity, serves as a means of creating a national culture and transmitting it to next generations.

2. Language as a reflection of national thinking

The language of a people is the most important component of its national culture, which is formed together with the formation of an ethnic group, being a prerequisite and condition. The vast number of languages ​​in the world reflects the endless variety of ways of thinking.

2.1 Relationship between language and thinking

language thinking sound communication

Acquaintance with any culture and its study will always be incomplete if in the field of view of the person who turns to this culture there is no such fundamental component as the mindset of the nation, the national logic of worldview and worldview.

Each person belongs to a specific national culture, including national traditions, language, history, and literature. As E. Sapir wrote: “Language is a guide that is becoming increasingly important as a guiding principle in scientific study culture." Sapir E. The position of linguistics as a science. - In the book: V.A. Zvegintsev. History of linguistics of the 19th and 20th centuries in essays and extracts, part II. - M., 1960. - P.177 and 186.

Language is closely related to the thinking and consciousness of a person as a whole. Thinking, which, although it may occur in figurative or intuitive form,as its highest and universal form it has a verbal, linguistic form.

By necessity, thinking is always associated with units of language; without them, thought cannot achieve distinctness and clarity, and an idea cannot become a concept. The word arises on the basis of a person’s subjective perception of objects in the external world; it is an imprint not of the object itself, but of its image created by this object in our consciousness.

A thought perceived by language becomes an object for our soul and therefore produces an influence on it from the outside. Thought, becoming a word, comes into contact with the outside world. Thus, language connects the external world of a person with the internal one in both directions.

Language is one of those phenomena that stimulates human spiritual power to permanent activity. The need of thinking for a concept and the resulting desire to understand it must precede the word, which is an expression of complete clarity of the concept. Therefore, the rules of speech communication recommend that a person first clearly understand his thoughts, make sure the words he chooses are accurate, and only then speak out loud. You should not take part in the discussion of topics on which a person does not have sufficient knowledge. Also, you should not use words in your speech that exact value which a person is not sure.

Thinking develops and is updated much faster than language, but without language thinking is only a “thing for itself”, and not expressed in language thought is not that clear, distinct thought that helps a person comprehend the phenomena of reality; it is rather a foresight rather than knowledge itself.

If thinking cannot do without language, then language without thinking is impossible. We speak and write thinking, we try to express our thoughts more accurately and clearly in speech. Even a reciter reading someone's work, or a newscaster reading the latest news, does not just make sounds like parrots, but speaks. The same applies to quotes, the use of proverbs and aphorisms in ordinary speech; they are not invented by the speaker, but their choice, the meaning put into them, is a trace and consequence of the speaker’s thoughts.

The thinking of a person (both an individual and the entire human race) is in constant development, opening up more and more new aspects of the surrounding world. The increasing complexity of knowledge about the world requires language to be increasingly flexible in denoting new concepts about objects, properties of objects, phenomena and relationships.

In order to provide thinking with the proper linguistic means, the language has to improve its vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, new meanings of words are formed in the language, new words are created, words that are similar in sound are differentiated in meaning, and the stylistic differentiation of vocabulary is consolidated. In grammar, language can give new meanings syntactic constructions, fix some phrases as stable phrases, turning them into phraseological units or analytical forms of expressing morphological meanings.

The success of all verbal and mental activity depends on how quickly, flexibly and successfully the language responds to new needs of thinking.

The success of a person’s verbal thinking depends on how well that person speaks his native language, how well he understands the meaning of words and grammatical structures. The individual always has good opportunity develop your linguistic ability by turning to the collective experience of the nation through penetration into the depth of the meanings of words, into the riches of the native language.

The success of a nation’s verbal thinking depends on the level of culture in a given society, on the degree of processing literary language and the degree of prevalence of the literary language in the speech of individual members of the linguistic community, on the level of mutual understanding of the intelligentsia and other social groups.

A language that quickly responds to the needs of thinking contributes to an even greater flowering of thought, makes it possible to make major intellectual discoveries and spread high culture in wide public circles. If a language fails to find convenient and generally understandable ways to express more complex thoughts, it becomes a brake on the path of understanding the world and the dissemination of knowledge in this society. The fault for this, of course, is not the language, but the attitude of the speakers towards it, disrespect for classical literary tradition, philological science and humanities in general, indifference to issues of speech culture, cultivation of idle, aimless chatter, a frivolous, thoughtless attitude to the word. Thus, thinking is the source of the development of language, and language, in turn, influences the course of development of thinking. This is the thought-forming role of language.

2.2 Language andway of thinking people

Based on the fact that every language is a means of thinking, and these means turn out to be different for people speaking different languages, we can assume that the “picture of the world”, i.e. The mentality of representatives of different human communities is different: the greater the difference in language systems, the greater the difference in “pictures of the world.”

If we talk about language as a way of national worldview, then it should be noted that a word is not an image of a thing, it is distinguished by its ability to represent a thing with various points view that it has its own sensual image. This quality of the word makes language not just a sign system, but a special, universal form of worldview for a particular nation.

Language reflects the way of life and the characteristics of the character of the people, their thinking. Here's a simple example. In the minds of most Russians, life in Europe is a complete fairy tale. Europe is heaven on earth and everyone lives there like Hollywood stars- in pleasures and luxury. Therefore, girls from Russia willingly marry Europeans. But very often living together It doesn’t work out with a foreigner. Why? It seems like I went to courses and mastered a foreign language. Foreign language she studied, but she did it, guided only by the desire to master new communicative capabilities, not knowing about the connection of language with the culture and character of the people. Language is the way of life and culture of a person, the style of his behavior. Yes, Europe has a high standard of living, but nevertheless luxury, unjustified expenses, and the desire for idleness are alien to Europeans. They live in abundance, but economically. In an international family, it is much more difficult to achieve mutual understanding: very often cultural differences, stereotypes of behavior and thinking, and the lack of a common language pose an insurmountable wall.

Language plays a special role in the development of personality. Man, it's spiritual world, is largely determined by the language in which he grew up. American explorer Indian languages ​​Benjamin Whorf put forward a hypothesis according to which a person dismembers and cognizes nature in the direction suggested by his native language. Indeed, how do we, residents of the middle zone, designate types of ice? Strong and weak. But in the language of the Sami, who live on the Kola Peninsula, there are about 20 names for ice and 10 for cold!

Undoubtedly, language reflects both the way of life and the way of thinking of the people. A Russian wife sees the world differently than a French husband, because she thinks in Russian. The language we speak not only expresses our thoughts, but also largely determines their course. Language influences the content of human thinking. Two people of different nationalities can become eyewitnesses of the same phenomenon, but what they see is only a kaleidoscope of impressions until consciousness organizes it. Ordering occurs through language. Therefore, observing the same phenomenon, a Russian and a Frenchman see different things and give different assessments.

People who speak different languages ​​look at the world with different eyes. A Frenchman cannot perceive and feel the world the same way as a Russian, because he has different linguistic means. As the Russian writer Sergei Dovlatov said, “90% of a person’s personality consists of language,” and one cannot but agree with this.

In an era of active interethnic communication the problem of the relationship between language and thinking, language and culture, the spirit of the people becomes especially acute. Issues such as the essence of language, its functional palette, historical purpose and fate are closely intertwined with the fate of the people. Unfortunately, until now, studies of linguistic phenomena in linguistics are, as a rule, very narrow in nature. In general, language continues to be viewed only as a tool for exchanging information. Aspects of the relationship between language and thinking, language and national culture have not yet become the subject of study by our linguists. The complexity of the language problem is caused by its breadth - it has, as we see, not only linguistic, but also cognitive, and through them moral and political aspects. The problem of language is not limited to issues of linguistics and extends to philosophy and politics, since language is organically connected with national culture, psychology and spirituality; language is an exponent of the worldview or mentality of a people, its system of values, traditions, and customs.

Since the meanings of words are associated with concepts, a certain mental content is fixed in the language, which turns into a hidden (internal) part of the meaning of words, to which speakers do not pay attention due to the automaticity of language use. Language could not serve as a means of communication if the meaning of each word in each case of its use became a subject of dispute. At the same time, language is a national means of communication, and reflects not the worldview of any social group, but common features perception of the world by the entire speaking group, i.e. nation. Thus, the languages ​​of different peoples reflect their national culture, a national view of the world.

W. Humboldt wrote that “different languages ​​are for nations the organs of their original thinking and perception" and that " big number objects are created by the words denoting them and only in them does it find its being.” Humboldt V. Selected works on linguistics. - M., 1984. - P.324. Those. objects of the real world do not themselves become objects of thinking, they cannot get inside thought, they are presented to thinking in a language that, although it develops itself by the power of thought, inevitably has a form and represents the world in a certain form. Perception and understanding of not only abstract phenomena, but also specific items depends on which of the many possible ways the language has designated them.

Language always acts as an intermediary between the world and man, painting a person a certain linguistic picture of the world. All this does not mean that a person is a prisoner of the national language. Above the linguistic worldview is built the social worldview of social groups, the individual worldview of a person. The linguistic picture of the world is complemented by the cultural, religious, philosophical, scientific picture of the world. However, creating these paintings requires intellectual effort from a person. “The path from the real world to the concept and further to verbal expression is different among different peoples, which is due to differences in history, geography, the peculiarities of life of these peoples and, accordingly, differences in the development of their social consciousness.” Ter-Minasova S.G. Languages intercultural communication. - M., 2000. - P.40. It turns out that language reflects reality not directly, but through two stages: from the real world to thinking and from thinking to language. And although thinking was ahead of language, its results, taking shape in language, are somewhat modified (thought cannot be entirely reflected in words). Therefore, language becomes a separate participant in communication and further development thinking, it cannot be a simple casting mold for thought, it can simultaneously hide part of the thought and supplement the thought with linguistic associations.

Thus, the language of the people is essential component its national culture, which is formed together with the formation of the ethnos, being a prerequisite and condition for its existence.

The above has practical significance.

Firstly, it is necessary to take care of the native language, which preserves the national cultural tradition and passes on the moral values ​​of the people to new generations.

Secondly, only knowing the riches of your native language well can you easily navigate new information constantly coming to a person, distinguish between words and the content behind them. Sometimes seemingly brilliant, attractive words carry emptiness or even harmful advice for a person. On the other hand, seemingly simple, ordinary words can be filled with deep and intelligent meaning.

Conclusion

Thus, language is an integral part of national culture. Language is closely related to the thinking and consciousness of a person as a whole.

National characteristics of thinking and behavior are recorded in the signs of the language and are thereby reflected in it. Language, in turn, influences the understanding of the world and in the process of organizing the process of learning, education, and development, it is necessary to rely on these characteristics of the students.

Being associated with the thinking and psychology of a person, his life and public consciousness, the history of peoples and their customs, reflecting the national specifics and culture of peoples, being a form of expression for literature and folklore as forms of art, being the main source of knowledge about inner world people, having a certain sensory perceptible form language is a source of indirect data for humanitarian and natural sciences: philosophy, logic, history, ethnography, sociology, jurisprudence, psychology and psychiatry, literary criticism, computer science, semiotics, theory of mass communication, brain physiology, acoustics, etc.

Bibliography

1. Bogus, M.B. Language and mentality in the educational process / M.B. Bogus // Fundamental Research. - 2008. - No. 1 - P. 86-88.

2. Ilyenkov, E.V. On the relationship between thinking and language / E.V. Ilyenkov // Almanac “East”. - 2003. - No. 9.

3. Kornilov, O.A. Language pictures of the world as derivatives of national mentalities / O.A. Kornilov. - M.: KDU, 2002. - 350 p.

4. Maslova, V.A. Introduction to cognitive linguistics / V.A. Maslova. - M.: Flinta, 2007. - 296 p.

5. Melnikova, A.A. Language and national character. The relationship between the structure of language and mentality / A.A.Melnikov. - St. Petersburg: Rech, 2003 - 237 p.

6. Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary - Ed. E.F. Gubsky. - M.: Publishing house Tsifra, 2002. - P.263.

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Language is a naturally occurring and developing system of signs in human society, clothed in sound ( oral speech) or graphic (written speech) form. Language is capable of expressing the totality of human concepts and thoughts and is intended for communication purposes. Outstanding Russian linguist A.A. Potebnya said: “Language is always as much an end as a means, as much created as it is used.” Language proficiency is an integral feature of a person, and the emergence of language coincides with the time of human formation.

The naturalness of occurrence and limitless possibilities for expressing the most abstract and complex concepts distinguish language from the so-called artificial languages , that is, languages ​​developed specifically for special purposes, for example, programming languages, languages ​​of logic, mathematics, chemistry, consisting of special symbols; traffic signs, marine alarms, Morse code.

The term “language” itself is ambiguous, since it can mean 1) any means of communication (for example, programming languages, body language, animal language); 2) natural human language as specific property person; 3) national language ( Russian, German, Chinese); 4) the language of a group of people, one or more people ( children's language, writer's language). Until now, scientists find it difficult to say how many languages ​​there are in the world; their number ranges from 2.5 to 5 thousand.

There are two forms of existence of language corresponding to the concepts language and speech , the first should be understood as a code, a system of signs existing in the minds of people, speech as the direct implementation of language in oral and written texts. Speech is understood as both the process of speaking and its result - speech activity recorded by memory or writing. Speech and language form a single phenomenon of human language in general and each specific national language, taken in its specific state. Speech is embodiment, realization a language that reveals itself in speech and only through it embodies its communicative purpose. If language is a tool of communication, then speech is the type of communication produced by this tool. Speech is always concrete and unique, in contrast to the abstract and reproducible signs of language; it is relevant, correlated with some life event, language is potential; speech unfolds in time and space, it is determined by the goals and objectives of speaking, the participants in communication, while language is abstracted from these parameters. Speech is infinite both in time and in space, and the system of language is finite, relatively closed; speech is material, it consists of sounds or letters perceived by the senses, language includes abstract signs - analogues of units of speech; speech is active and dynamic, the language system is passive and static; speech is linear, but language has a level organization. All changes that occur in language over time are caused by speech, initially take place in it, and then become fixed in the language.

Being the most important means of communication, language unites people, regulates their interpersonal and social interaction, coordinates them practical activities, participates in the formation of concepts, forms the consciousness and self-awareness of a person, that is, plays a vital role important role in the main spheres of human activity - communicative, social, practical, informational, spiritual and aesthetic. The functions of language are unequal: fundamental are those whose implementation predetermined its emergence and constitutive properties. The main one is considered communicative function language, which determines its main characteristic - the presence of a material shell (sound) and a system of rules for encoding and decoding information. It is precisely thanks to the ability of language to perform a communicative function - to serve as an instrument of communication, human society develops, transmits information in time and space that is vital, serves social progress and establishes contact between different societies.

Serving as an instrument for expressing thought is the second fundamental function of language, which is called cognitive or logical (as well as epistemological or cognitive). The structure of language is inextricably linked with the rules of thinking, and the main significant units of language - morpheme, word, phrase, sentence - are analogues of logical categories - concepts, judgments, logical connections. The communicative and cognitive functions of language are inextricably linked, since they have common ground. Language is adapted both for the expression of thought and for communication, but these two most important functions are realized in speech. They, in turn, are closely related to more specific functions, the number of which varies. Thus, the famous psychologist and linguist K. Bühler identified three most important functions of language: representative – the ability to designate extra-linguistic reality, expressive – the ability to express the internal state of the speaker, appellate – the ability to influence the addressee of speech. These three functions are inextricably linked with the communicative one, as they are determined based on the structure of the communication process, the structure of the speech act, necessary components which are the speaker, the listener and what is being communicated. However, expressive and representative functions are closely related to cognitive functions, since when communicating something, the speaker comprehends and evaluates what is being communicated. Another famous scientist is R.O. Jacobson - identified six unequal functions of language: referential or nominative , which serves to designate the surrounding world, extra-linguistic categories; emotive , expressing the attitude of the author of the speech to its content; conative , which determines the orientation of the speaker or writer towards the listener or reader. The scientist considered these functions to be basic. Closely related to the conative function magic function , designed to influence the listener’s psyche, inducing in him a state of meditation, ecstasy, serving the purpose of suggestion. The magical function of language is realized using certain techniques: spells, curses, incantations, divination, advertising texts, oaths, oaths, slogans and appeals, and others.

IN free communication people is being implemented phatic, or contact-establishing function. The phatic function of language is served by various etiquette formulas, appeals, the purpose of which is to initiate, continue and terminate communication. Language serves not only as a tool for people to communicate, but also as a means of understanding the language itself; in this case it is implemented metalinguistic function, since a person gains knowledge about language through the language itself. The idea that the message, in its form in unity with the content, satisfies the aesthetic sense of the addressee, creates the poetic function of language, which, being fundamental for a literary text, is also present in everyday speech, manifested in its rhythm, imagery, metaphor, and expressiveness. By mastering any language, a person simultaneously assimilates the national culture and traditions of the people who are native speakers of this language, since the language also acts as a guardian national identity people, their culture and history, which is due to such a special function of language as cumulative . The peculiar spiritual world of the people, its cultural and historical values ​​are enshrined both in the elements of language - words, phraseology, grammar, syntax, and in speech - the set of texts created in this language.

Thus, all functions of language can be divided into main ones - communicative and cognitive (cognitive) and secondary ones, which are distinguished insofar as they create the main types of speech acts or specific types of speech activity. Basic functions languages ​​mutually determine each other when using language, but in individual acts of speech or texts they are revealed in varying degrees. Particular functions are connected with the main ones, so the contact-establishing function, conative and magical functions, as well as the cumulative function are most closely related to the communicative function. The most closely related to the cognitive function are nominative (naming objects of reality), referential (representation and reflection in the language of the surrounding world), emotive (evaluation of facts, phenomena and events), poetic (artistic development and comprehension of reality).

Being the main instrument of communication between people, language manifests itself in speech activity, which is one of the types social activity person. Like any social activity, speech communication conscious and purposeful. It consists of individual acts of speech, or speech (communicative) acts, which are its dynamic units. The following elements must be involved in a speech act: the speaker and the addressee, who have a certain fund of general knowledge and ideas, the setting and purpose of speech communication, as well as the fragment of objective reality about which the message is being made. These components form the pragmatic side of speech activity, under the influence of which the coordination (adaptation) of the utterance to the moment of speech is carried out. To perform a speech act means to utter articulate sounds belonging to a commonly understood language; construct a statement from the words of a given language and according to the rules of its grammar; provide the statement with meaning and relate it to the objective world; give your speech purposefulness; influence the addressee and thereby create a new situation, that is, achieve the desired effect with your statement.

The informative orientation of communicative acts is very diverse and can be complicated by additional communicative tasks. With the help of speech acts, you can not only convey some information, but also complain, brag, threaten, flatter and others. Some communicative goals can be achieved not only with the help of speech, but also non-verbal means , for example, facial expressions, gestures - an invitation to enter, sit down, a threat, a request to remain silent. Other communicative goals, on the contrary, can only be achieved with using verbal means - oath, promise, congratulation, since speech in this case is equivalent to the action itself. According to the purpose of the statement, various types of communicative acts are distinguished: informative, reporting; motivating; etiquette formulas; expressing emotional reactions to what is reported.

Speech activity is the object of study by linguists (psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, phonetics, stylistics), psychologists, physiologists, specialists in higher nervous activity, communication theory, acoustics, philosophers, sociologists, and literary scholars. In linguistics, there seem to be two main areas of research: in one, language systems are studied, in the other, speech. Linguistics of speech studies typified phenomena that are associated with participants in communication and other conditions of communication; it breaks down into two interacting areas: text linguistics and theory of speech activity and speech acts. Text linguistics studies the structure of speech works, their division, methods of creating text coherence, the frequency of occurrence of certain language units in certain types of text, the semantic and structural completeness of the text, speech norms in different functional styles, the main types of speech - monologue, dialogue, polylogue), features of written and oral communication. The theory of speech activity studies the processes of speech production and speech perception, the mechanisms of speech errors, the goal setting of communication, the connection of speech acts with the conditions of their occurrence, the factors that ensure the effectiveness of a speech act, the relationship of speech activity to other types of human social activity. If the theory of text is inextricably linked with literary criticism and stylistics, then the theory of speech activity is developed in interaction with psychology, psychophysiology and sociology.

However, not all languages ​​are capable of performing a communicative function and participating in speech activity. Thus, languages ​​that have fallen out of use and are known on the basis of written monuments or records that have survived to our time are called dead. The process of extinction of languages ​​occurs especially in those countries where speakers of original languages ​​are pushed into isolated areas and, in order to be included in the general life of the country, must switch to its main language (English in America and Australia; Russian in Russia). Special role The use of a non-native language in boarding schools, colleges and other secondary and higher educational institutions plays a role in speeding up this process. Many languages ​​of the Far North, North America, Australia has become or is becoming dead; they can be judged mainly on the basis of descriptions compiled before their extinction.

When a language becomes extinct in the last stages of its existence, it becomes characteristic only of certain age and social groups: the language is preserved longest by the older age group, with whose physical death it dies. A dying language can also be used by preschool children, but when taught in a non-native language, they can almost completely lose their native language, switching to a common one. of this region or country language. This process, facilitated by the spread of the main language by the media, leads to the rapid extinction of minor languages ​​in the second half of the twentieth century. In earlier eras, the main factors for the extinction of languages ​​could be mass destruction conquered peoples during the creation of large empires, such as the ancient Persian or the imposition of the main language of the Byzantine and Roman empires.

Dead languages ​​often remain in living use as a language of worship for thousands of years after they have been displaced from other spheres of communication. So, Catholic Church uses Latin to this day, Christians in Egypt use Coptic, Buddhists in Mongolia use Tibetan language. A rarer case is the simultaneous use of a cult language as a class and literary language, as Sanskrit was used in ancient india, Latin in medieval Europe, Church Slavonic language in medieval Rus'. The population of these regions is colloquial use used living languages for the most part dialects, and Latin, Sanskrit or Church Slavonic were used as the languages ​​of the church, science, culture, literature and interdialectal communication. In exceptional social conditions, it is possible for a dead cult language to become a spoken language, as happened in Israel. The Hebrew language fell out of use in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. and remained the language of religious practice and spiritual and secular literature high style. However, in the second half of the 18th century. it begins to revive as a language of educational and fiction literature, and from the second half of the 19th century. Hebrew also becomes a spoken language. Currently, Hebrew is the official state language in Israel.

The need for communication between representatives of different ethnic and linguistic groups gives rise to language contacts, as a result of which the interaction of two or more languages ​​occurs, influencing the structure and vocabulary of these languages. Contacts occur through constantly recurring dialogues, constant communication between speakers of different languages, in which both languages ​​are used either simultaneously by both speakers, or separately by each of them. The results of contacts have different effects on different levels of language, depending on the degree to which their elements enter the global integral structure. The results of contacts have different effects at different levels of language. The most common result of such contacts is the borrowing of a word from one language to another. One of the necessary conditions for the implementation language contacts is bilingualism, or bilingualism. Due to bilingualism, the mutual influence of languages ​​occurs. According to the latest data from neurolinguistics, language contacts are carried out within each of the bilingual speakers in such a way that one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex speaks one language, while the other hemisphere understands or knows to a limited extent the second language. Through interhemispheric communication channels, the forms of one of the languages ​​in contact are transmitted to the other hemisphere, where they can be included in the text spoken in another language or have an impact indirect influence on the structure of this text.

In certain areas of distribution of a language, linguistic changes can occur in different directions and lead to different results. Initially minor changes in the language of two neighboring areas can accumulate over time, and eventually mutual understanding between people speaking these languages ​​becomes difficult and sometimes impossible. This process is called differentiation language development. The reverse process—the gradual erasing of differences between two variants of a language system, ending in complete coincidence—is called integration. These opposite processes occur constantly, but various stages history, their relationship is not the same, each new era brings something new to these processes. Thus, the fragmentation of the tribe caused the fragmentation of languages. Over time, the separated parts of the tribes began to speak differently than their former relatives: a process of differentiation of languages ​​took place. If the main occupation of the population is hunting or cattle breeding, the process of differentiation occurs slowly, since the nomadic way of life forces individual clans and tribes to collide with each other; this constant contact of related tribes restrains centrifugal forces, prevents endless fragmentation of the tongue. The striking similarity of many Turkic languages ​​is the result of the past nomadic lifestyle of many Turkic peoples; the same can be said about the Evenki language. Agriculture, or life in the mountains, greatly contributes to the differentiation of languages. Thus, in Dagestan and northern Azerbaijan there are 6 relatively large nations and more than 20 small ones, each speaking their own language. In general, in the absence of developed economic exchange and the dominance of a subsistence economy, the processes of linguistic differentiation prevail over the processes of integration.

Thus, many changes in language, in particular those arising as a result of language contacts, are carried out initially in speech, and then, repeated many times, they become a fact of language. Key figure V in this case is a native speaker of a language or languages, a linguistic personality. Language personality refers to any speaker of a particular language, characterized on the basis of an analysis of the texts he produces in terms of the use of language units in them to reflect his vision of reality and achieve certain goals as a result of speech activity. The linguistic personality or the person speaking is the central figure of modern linguistics. The very content of this term contains the idea of ​​​​obtaining knowledge about the individual and the author of texts, who are distinguished by their own character, ideas, interests, social and psychological preferences and attitudes. However, it is impossible to study each individual individually, so knowledge about the speaker is usually generalized, the typical representative of a given linguistic community and the narrower speech community included in it, the aggregate or average speaker of a given language, are analyzed. Knowledge about a typical speaker of a language can be integrated, as a result of which it is possible to draw conclusions about a representative of the human race, an integral property of which is the use of sign systems, the main of which is natural human language. The complexity of the approach to the study of language through the prism of a linguistic personality is that language appears as a text produced by a specific individual, as a system used by a typical representative of a specific linguistic community, as a person’s ability to generally use language as the main means of communication.

Researchers come to the linguistic personality as a linguistic object in different ways: psycholinguistic - from studying the psychology of language, speech and speech activity in normal and altered states of consciousness, linguodidactic - from analyzing the processes of language learning, philological - from studying the language of fiction.