The structure of the language language as a system. Structure and system of the language
LANGUAGE AS A SYSTEM AND STRUCTURE
1. The concept of a system. language system.
2. The concept of structure. The structure of the language.
3. Constitutive and non-constitutive units of language. Selection problem
language units.
4. Levels of language structure and their units.
The concept of a system. language system.
A systematic approach to the study of reality is one of the fundamental methodological principles modern science. system such a set of elements is called, which is characterized by: a) regular relations between elements; b) integrity as a result of this interaction; c) autonomy of behavior; and d) non-summation (non-additivity) of the properties of the system in relation to the properties of its constituent elements. New qualities of the system, in comparison with the qualities and properties of the elements included in it, are created by the transformation of the elements in their interaction. In turn, the actual position of the element, its essence can be understood only by considering it in the system, in interconnection with other elements of the system. Therefore, a systematic approach contributes to the objective reflection and knowledge of the phenomena of reality.
The scientific study of reality in the broad sense of the word (of nature and man) consists in the discovery of laws and regularities. This cannot be done without systematizing the studied facts, that is, without establishing regular connections between them. Therefore, even the earliest experiments in the scientific study of language were attempts to systematize linguistic facts on one basis or another.
Traditional grammar from the time of its formation in one way or another dealt with the systemic relations of distinguished units, as a result of which
were their classifications. Such traditional systemic connections include, for example, the division of words into parts of speech; the allocation of certain categories in the parts of speech (types of verbs, types of conjugation; gender, types of declension of nouns). The idea that language is not a simple set of means of communication was expressed by ancient Indian researchers Yaska, Panini, ancient Greek philosophers of the Alexandrian school Aristarchus, Dionysius Thracian.
Wilhelm von Humboldt, Fyodor Ivanovich Buslaev, Alexander Afanasyevich Potebnya, Ivan A. Alexandrovich Baudouin de Courtenay emphasized the internal systemic organization of the language. An important role in the development of the doctrine of the language system was played by the ideas of I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay on the role of relations in language, on the distinction between statics and dynamics, the external and internal history of the language, and his allocation of the most common units of the language system - phonemes, morphemes, graphemes, syntagms .
But a systematic approach to language became a generally accepted methodological requirement after the release of the “Course of General Linguistics” F. de Saussure. The merit of Saussure is seen not in the fact that he discovered the systemic organization of the language, but in the fact that he elevated systemicity to a fundamental principle. scientific research. In the teachings of F. de Saussure, the system of language is considered as a system of signs.
Its internal structure is studied by internal linguistics, the external functioning of the language system is studied by external linguistics. Saussure compares language to a chess game. The main thing in the game is systemic relations, the functions that the pieces perform. In case of loss of a piece, such as a knight, you can replace it with any other object - matchbox, cork, a piece of sealing wax. The game will not change from this, the material itself plays a secondary role. Similar is observed in the language. The main thing is the role of the sign in the system, and not its material essence, which can be changed or even replaced by another, for example, by writing.
In Saussure's concept of systemic language, the concept of significance occupies an important place. A linguistic sign, for example, a word, has not only a meaning, but also significance, which the sign acquires as a result of its relations with other signs of the language. The significance of a linguistic unit is determined by its place in the language system, its connections with other units in this system. For example, the significance of the "three" will be different in the three-point, five-point, ten-point rating systems. The significance of the plural will be greater in a language with two forms of number, singular and plural, than in a language with singular, plural, and dual. The significance of the past tense forms will be different in languages that have a different number of such forms. In modern Russian, the significance of the past tense forms is greater compared to the Old Russian language, since it has only one form of the past tense.
Saussure and Baudouin's concepts of consistency served as a methodological basis for the formation of structural trends in modern linguistics. The extreme absolutization of the relations of linguistic units is characteristic of Copenhagen Linguistic School(Louis Hjelmslev, Viggo Brendahl). In the views of the orthodox representatives of this direction of relations, the connections between the units of the language are abstracted from material carriers - sounds. The main thing is the system of relations, while their material substrata are a secondary and even accidental thing. Language is a network of relations, a relational framework or construct, indifferent to the nature of its material expression.
In studies of the late XX - early XXI century Viktor Vladimirovich Vinogradov, Vladimir Grigorievich Gak, Victoria Nikolaevna Yartseva the non-rigidity, the asymmetry of the language system, the unequal degree of systemicity of its various sections are emphasized. Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov, Tatyana Vyacheslavovna Bulygina reveal the differences between the language and other semiotic systems. Mikhail Viktorovich Panov explores the "antinomies of development" of the language system, Georgy Vladimirovich Stepanov, Alexander Davidovich Schweitzer, Boris Andreevich Uspensky- patterns of functioning of the language system in society, Lev Semenovich Vygotsky, Nikolai Ivanovich Zhinkin- the interaction of the language system with the activity of the brain.
There are different types of systems. Language is a secondary complex material-ideal system. The language system has character traits, some of which are still the subject of controversy:
1) recently it has become generally accepted that language is a sign system. The transmission of information is carried out by the deliberate activity of people, so language is a secondary semiotic system.
2) linguists are unanimous in the opinion that the language system combines heterogeneous components (phonemes, morphemes, words, etc.) and therefore belongs to the category of complex systems.
3) sharp disputes are raised by the question of the sphere of existence of the language, the materiality or ideality of the sign. Scientists who call language an ideal system proceed from the fact that language as a system is encoded in the human brain in the form of ideal formations: both acoustic images and the meanings associated with them. However, this kind of code is not a means of communication, but a language memory. Language memory is the most important, but not the only condition for the existence of language as a means of communication. The second condition is the material embodiment of the ideal side of the language in material units. The idea of the unity of the material and the ideal in language was most consistently developed in the works of Alexander Ivanovich Smirnitsky.
4) representatives of the structural direction consider the language system as closed, rigid and uniquely conditioned. This raises objections from adherents of comparative historical linguistics. Comparatives, if they recognize language as a system, then only as an integral, dynamic, open and self-organizing system. This understanding of the language system is dominant in Russian linguistics. It satisfies both traditional and new areas of language science.
The language system is formed by the following factors:
1) the presence of minimal, further indivisible components. The components of a language system are called elements and units of a language. As constituent parts of the units of the language, the elements of the language are not independent; they express only some properties of the language system. Units of a language, on the contrary, have all the essential features of a language system and, as integral formations, are characterized by relative independence.
2) the presence of structure. Structure due to its stability (statics) and
variability (dynamics) is the second most important system-forming factor in the language.
3) the third factor in the formation of a language system is the properties of the language
units, by which is meant the manifestation of its nature, internal
content through relationships to other units. Differ internal
(own) and external properties of language units. Internal properties
depend on the internal connections and relationships established between
uniform units. External properties depend on external relations and
relations of linguistic units (for example, their relationship to reality, to
thoughts and feelings). These are properties to name something, designate,
indicate, express, distinguish, represent, influence.
1. The concept of the system and structure of the language
The preservation of the language is explained by the stability of its sound and grammatical structure. In other words, the stability of a language relies on its consistency and structure.
Terms system and structure often replace each other, but they do not coincide in all meanings.
AT " explanatory dictionary Russian language": word system(Greek origin, lit. “the whole of its constituent parts”), the word structure(lat. origin., "structure, location")
System and structure language implies that the language has internal order, organizing parts in whole.
Consistency and structure characterize the language and its units as a whole from different angles. Under structure the unity of heterogeneous elements within the whole is understood. System- this is the unity of homogeneous interdependent elements.
The language is characterized by a complex structure of interrelated and heterogeneous elements. The structure of the language includes different elements and their inherent functions. It is formed by the following levels (tiers):
Ø phonetic,
Ø morphological,
Ø lexical,
Ø syntactic,
Ø ( text),
Ø ( cultural).
The concept of the last two levels / tiers was introduced into scientific use relatively recently, however, not all scientists are of the opinion that these levels should be considered as part of the linguistic analysis of the language system. Indeed, these two levels / tiers take us beyond the limits of the actual language system in the traditional linguistic sense and connect the language directly with the society and culture in which the language functions.
2. Language units (elements of levels) and their functions
units phonetic tiers are phonemes (sounds) – material incarnations of the language; they implement two main functions: perceptual(perception function) and significative, or distinctive(the ability to distinguish between significant elements of the language - morphemes, words, sentences, cf.: that, mouth, cat, steel, table, etc.).
Units morphological tiers - morphemes - express concepts
a) root(real), compare: [-table-] [-earth-], etc.;
b) foliar 2 kinds: values signs, compare: [-ost], [without-], [re-], and values relations, cf .: [-y], [-ish], etc., for example, sit-y, sit-yish, table-a, table-y.
This is - semasiological function expressions concepts, but not naming. Morpheme does not name, only word has nominative function. By naming something, we turn a morpheme into a word. For example, the root red- expresses the concept certain color, but redness (noun) names the phenomenon. Therefore, it is believed that the morpheme, as the smallest meaningful unit of the language, has a meaning, but this meaning is connected, it is realized only in combination with other morphemes. True, this statement is fully true for affixes, and only partially true for root morphemes (see the example above).
Units lexical level - tokens (words) - they call things and phenomena of reality, they perform a nominative function. The lexical level of the language system is special in the sense that its units are considered the basic units of the language. At the lexical level, the most complete semantics. A number of linguistic disciplines are engaged in the study of the lexical composition of the language: lexicology, phraseology, semantics, semasiology, onomastics and etc.
Units syntactic level - phrases and suggestions - perform communicative function, that is, necessary for communication. This level is also called constructive-syntactic or communicative-syntactic. We can say that the basic unit of this level is offer model. Is engaged in the study of the proposal syntax.
The elements of all levels in the language form a unity, which is expressed in the fact that each lower level is potentially the next highest and, conversely, each higher level consists of at least one lower level. For example, a sentence may consist of one or more words, a word may consist of one or more morphemes, and a morpheme may consist of one or more phonemes.
Language units are formed at a lower level and function at a higher one.
For example, a phoneme is built at the phonemic level, but functions at the morphemic level as a semantic unit.
This property of language units links language levels into a single system.
Within each level / tier of the linguistic structure (phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactic), its units form their own separate system, that is, all elements of this level act as members of the system. The systems of individual tiers of the language structure form the general system of a given language.
3. Basic types of relations between language units.
To talk about the relationship between language units, it is necessary to introduce and define the following concepts: language units, language category, level/tier, language relations.
Language units- its permanent elements, differing from each other in structure, purpose and place in the language system.
According to their purpose, language units are divided into:
Ø Nominative - word (lexeme)
Ø Communication - offer
Ø Linear - phonemes and morphemes, forms of words and forms of phrases
Language categories– groups of homogeneous language units; categories are combined on the basis of a common categorical attribute, usually semantic. For example, in the Russian language there are categories of tense and aspect of the verb, case and gender, categories of collectiveness, animation, etc.
Level (tier ) language - a set of units and categories of the same type of language: phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactic.
Language relations- the relationship between the tiers and categories of the language, its units and their parts.
The main types of relationships between language units: paradigmatic, syntagmatic and hierarchical.
paradigmatic relations (Greek paradigm - example, sample) are relations that unite language units into groups, categories, categories. Elements that are in paradigmatic relationships constitute a class of phenomena of the same type. Paradigmatic relations are relations of choice.
For example, the consonant system, the declension system, and the synonymic series rely on paradigmatics. When using the language, paradigmatic relations allow you to select the desired unit, as well as form words, their forms by analogy with those already available in the language, for example, case forms of one word, synonymous series.
Syntagmatic relations unite units in their simultaneous sequence. These are relations of units arranged linearly, for example, in the flow of speech. On syntagmatic relations, morphemes are built as combinations of phonemes, words as sets of morphemes and syllables, phrases and sentences as sets of words, complex sentences as a collection of simple sentences.
Hierarchical relations connect the levels of the language with each other, these are the relations of structurally simpler units to more complex ones (remember: units are formed at a lower level, but function at a higher one).
All these types of relations in the language system are not isolated, they determine each other to one degree or another.
4. Phonology. Basic concepts of phonology
Initially, speech sounds were defined as sound formations that corresponded to letters: letters were "pronounced", they were "hard" and "soft", "vowels" and "consonants". With the development of linguistics in the 19th century, it made it possible to take a different look at the relationship between letters and sounds, since by that time sufficient material had accumulated to compare the sounds of modern and ancient languages, as well as the sounds of related languages.
Speech sounds are complex in nature, therefore, within the framework of linguistics, separate phonetic disciplines have emerged over time that study various aspects of speech sounds: phonetics phonology(functional phonetics).
Phonetics studies the sound structure of the language: the sounds of speech and the rules for their combination into words in the flow of speech, the inventory of language sounds, their systemic properties, sound laws. The sphere of interest of phonetics also includes syllable, stress, and intonation.
As a natural phenomenon, the sound of speech can be considered in three aspects:
Ø acoustic(under study speech acoustics);
Ø articulatory (articulatory phonetics);
Ø functional (phonology).
Phonology studies the sounds of speech in their functional or social aspect. What matters here is not the physical quality of speech sounds. But their functions are in the language system.
From this point of view, speech sounds are a way of materializing morphemes and word forms, acting as a unity of sound and meaning.
The multidimensionality of the sound of speech caused the ambiguity of the main phonetic terms speech sound and phoneme.
The sound of speech- an acoustic phenomenon, an articulatory complex necessary for pronouncing a specific sound, a unit of the sound system of a language.
Phoneme- the smallest unit of the language, it does not have its own meaning and serves only to distinguish the sound shells of words. This is the sound unit of the language, i.e. the sound of speech in the system of phonemes of a given language. The number of phonemes in a language is small, in any language of the world it is limited to a two-digit number.
The description of units of the phonetic level began long ago, even before the formation of linguistics as a science. To date, this level of the language system can be considered as extremely described. As already mentioned, phonetic level units are characterized by phonetics(acoustic and articulatory) and phonology(functional phonetics).
The creator of the doctrine of the phoneme is Ivan Alexandrovich Baudouin de Courtenay. He laid the foundations of phonology. His teaching is based on two basic principles:
Ø phoneme - a set of articulatory and acoustic representations;
Ø Phonemes themselves have no meaning, but they also perform a semantic-distinctive function (significative).
The idea of the phoneme was picked up by other scientists. The representative of the Prague linguistic school, Russian scientist Nikolai Sergeevich Trubetskoy in 1939 wrote the book "Fundamentals of Phonology". From this point on, phonology becomes a separate linguistic discipline.
For Nikolai Sergeevich Trubetskoy and other scientists of the Prague Linguistic School, the phoneme is a unit opposition capable of distinguishing morphemes or words.
The core of Trubetskoy's phonological concept is meaningful phoneme function. Sounds are combined into phonemes not by articulatory or acoustic proximity, but by functional community. If, depending on the position in the word, sounds are pronounced differently, but perform the same function, form the same words, they are considered as varieties of the same phoneme. Hence:
Ø phoneme - the shortest language unit that serves to distinguish between the material shell of a word and morphemes;
Phoneme is a complex sound unit, a set of different acoustic and articulatory properties, which manifests itself in different ways in the sound chain and performs a significative function in different ways.
The central concept of the teachings of Nikolai Sergeevich Trubetskoy is phonological oppositions , sound oppositions capable of differentiating the meaning of the words of a given language. For example, the opposition of consonants on the basis of sonority / deafness in Russian.
Phonological oppositions form the phonological systems of particular languages.
There are only 12 pairs of differential features (DP) in all languages of the world. Different types of sounds are characterized by different pairs of DPs. For example, vowels are characterized by rise, row, labialization. In different languages, DP pairs are different, there is a certain set of DP for phonemes of a given national language. For example, in Russian DP, the length/shortness of vowels does not “work”, i.e. is not essential, and in English this feature distinguishes meanings, i.e. is significant, cf.:
Ø Russian: sonority/deafness, noisiness/sonority, hardness/softness, front/rear tongue;
Ø English: longitude / brevity, labiality / non-labiality;
Ø French: nasal/non-nasal, etc.
Each phoneme is a bundle differential signs , which distinguish phonemes from each other and contribute to the recognition of words and morphemes. Phonemes also have non-essential ones ( non-integral) signs that are not used to distinguish phonemes of the language.
The conditions under which phonemes are pronounced are called positions .
The concept of a phoneme is closely related to the concept positions, i.e. the position of the sound in a word or morpheme. Strong positions are singled out, in which the phoneme realizes all its differential features, and weak ones, in which some of these features are lost. The system of strong and weak positions in the Russian language can be represented as follows.
In a strong position, the phoneme realizes all its differential features, in a weak one it neutralizes (loses) some of them.
Phonemes appear in options and variations.
Variation is a positional variation of the same phoneme ( m and r - w and R).
Options are common positional varieties of different phonemes ( ro h– ro with ).
Only in strong positions is the system of phonemes of a given language revealed.
All phonemes of a particular language form it phonological system , i.e. they are interconnected, interdependent and united by a common meaningful function.
The phonetic systems of different languages differ:
Ø the number of phonemes (English - 44, Russian - 41, French -35, German - 36);
Ø the ratio of vowels and consonants (Russian - 6 vowels:: 35 consonants; English - 12 vowels:: 8 diphthongs:: 17 consonants; French - 18 vowels:: 17 consonants; German - 15 vowels:: 3 diphthongs:: 18 consonants) ;
Ø specific laws of phoneme compatibility in the flow of speech (in different languages (in Russian, despite the small number of vowel phonemes, their occurrence in speech is almost half of the phonemic composition).
5. Main phonological schools
Further development of the ideas of Ivan Alexandrovich Baudouin de Courtenay and Nikolai Sergeevich Trubetskoy in Russia led to the formation of the main phonological schools: Moscow (MFSh) and Leningrad (LFSH).
Representatives of the IPF (R.I. Avanesov, P.S. Kuznetsov, A.A. Reformatsky, V.N., Sidorov, etc.) consider the phoneme as the shortest sound unit, which is the elements of the sound shell of significant units of the language (lexemes and morphemes). At the heart of the IDF concept is the concept positions, i.e. the conditions for the use and implementation of phonemes in speech (see above). Here, a strong position is considered as favorable for identifying the functions of phonemes, and a weak position as unfavorable. Phonemes perform two functions: recognition (perceptual) and discrimination (significative). Depending on the function, in the same weak positions, completely different results will appear: a perceptually weak position gives variations, and a weak significative position gives options.
LFSH (L.V. Shcherba, L.R. Zinder, N.I. Matushevich, etc.) considers the phoneme as sound type associated with specific phonetic representations. According to LFS, a phoneme is not only a bundle of differential features, but a specific sound unit.
The theoretical disagreements between the IPF and the LFS are connected precisely with this difference in the understanding of the phoneme. So, in the words oak, roses, pond, etc. representatives of the first school will see variants of phonemes [b], [h], [e], and representatives of the second school will see phonemes [p], [s], [t]. From the point of view of the ISF soft sounds, , are not independent phonemes, since they never occur in the same with solid sounds positions, and from the point of view of LFS, these are phonemes that are acoustically different from solid ones.
However, what these two phonological schools have in common is that they
Ø recognize the social nature of the phoneme;
Ø rely on the connection of phonetics and phonology;
Ø consider the phoneme as a unit of language;
Ø proceed from the presence of a phonological system of a particular language and its historical variability.
6. Grammar. Major grammatical traditions
Morphology and syntax are parts grammar – sciences about grammatical structure language , which means:
Ø ways and means of changing lexical units (morphology);
Ø construction of sentences from lexical units in speech, according to the expressed thought.
Morphology is the study of the grammatical form of a word and its structure. Morphology deals with the study of units of the morphological level. She offers classifications of morphemes, describes their characteristics and the laws of functioning in the language.
Syntax- the doctrine of the rules for the compatibility of units in a sentence and the relationship between them. Learns how to build phrases and sentences.
The modern provisions of grammatical theory have been greatly influenced by the Greco-Latin tradition, since ancient scholars have made a great contribution to the development of grammatical problems.
Plato tried to classify the parts of speech on a logical basis, he singled out the name and the verb. The verb is what refers to the action, the name is the designation of the one who performs this action.
Aristotle studied sentence structure. He believed that a sentence expresses a thought. In addition, Aristotle was engaged in the analysis of parts of speech: name, verb and union. He introduced the concept of the case of a name or verb, by which he understood the indirect forms of these parts of speech.
In the 2nd century BC. in ancient Greece, the Alexandrian grammar school was created, whose representatives are Aristarchus of Samothrace, Apollonius Diskol, Dionysius Thracian. The Alexandrians define a word as the smallest meaningful part of coherent speech, and a sentence as a combination of words that expresses a complete thought. This school developed in detail the doctrine of the parts of speech. Dionysius distinguished 8 parts of speech: name, verb, adverb, participle, pronoun, article, preposition, union. Apollonius studied syntactic properties and functions of parts of speech. But the Alexandrians have not yet reached the understanding of the need to analyze the morphological structure of the word.
Roman grammar generally followed the rules of Greek grammar, using them to analyze the Latin language. The development of Latin grammar became very important in the Middle Ages, when Latin became the language of religion, science and education.
In the 17th-18th centuries, developments appeared in the field of grammatical differences in European languages (English, French, German, Russian). "Russian Grammar" by Mikhailo Vasilyevich Lomonosov appeared in 1757.
In the development of linguistic thought of the 17th century, a special position is occupied by the so-called "General and Rational Grammar", or the grammar of Port-Royal, written by the abbots of the monastery of Port-Royal A. Arnaud and C. Lanslo. The philosophical basis of this grammar is the ideas of Rene Descartes, who emphasized the omnipotence of the human mind, which should serve as a criterion of truth.
The purpose of the Port-Royal Grammar was to study logical principles, underlying all the languages of the world, i.e. the existence of language was investigated in terms of the ability to express logically correct thought. The authors proceeded from the identification of logical and linguistic categories and set themselves the task of identifying universal categories found in all languages.
Universal grammars created on the material of different languages are, in essence, an attempt to comprehend the structure of the language.
Grammar as a linguistic science studies the form and content, structure and functioning of grammatical units and categories. The complex nature of grammatical units and categories has led to the emergence of various approaches to their study. These approaches underlie the classification of grammar types. Main types of grammars:
Ø formal grammar studies, first of all, grammatical forms, their structure, groupings according to parts of speech and rules of inflection (paradigms), combinations (syntactic links). The main units of grammar are the word-formation and inflectional model, the form of the word and phrase;
Ø functional grammar studies the potential functions of language units and categories and their functioning within one state of the art language. Functional grammar is characterized by the consideration of language units in the interaction of grammatical and lexical units of a language within a schematic and real context;
Ø Abstract linguistic grammars are opposed to speech, communicative grammars, in which the object of study is speech communication, speech activity.
7. Grammar categories
The set of grammatical forms expressing the same or mutually opposed meanings is grammatical category . For example, all cases make up the category of cases. The sets of grammatical categories in different languages do not match.
Grammatical form- this is the unity of grammatical meaning and grammatical means expressing this meaning. Grammatical forms are such varieties of words that, having the same lexical meaning, differ in grammatical meaning. Grammatical forms form paradigms , which are a set of grammatical forms, established in a certain order.
8. Properties of the word. Lexicology
The vocabulary of a language is called vocabulary(Greek: lexicos - vocabulary, logos - teaching).
Lexicology- a branch of linguistics that studies the patterns inherent in the entire vocabulary of a language, as well as the features of various groups of words. Since the word has many different sides, a number of sections of lexicology stand out.
Ø Semasiology - studies the meanings of words (meaning structure, semantic oppositions, semantic features, etc.).
Ø Onomasiology - studies the process of naming.
Ø Onomastics - proper names. It is divided into anthroponymy (the study of people's names), toponymy (the study of geographical names), ethnonymy, etc.
Ø Phraseology - stable phrases.
Ø Etymology - the origin of words.
Ø Lexicography - the science of methods for describing vocabulary and principles for compiling dictionaries, etc.
Lexicology can be synchronic and diachronic (historical), as well as general and particular.
The totality of all the words of a language vocabulary (vocabulary). In developed languages, there are hundreds of thousands of words. Dictionary V.I. Dahl contains 200,000 words, the Big Academic Dictionary (BAS) - 120 thousand, Modern dictionary Russian language - 500 thousand. Not a single person uses all the words: in the vocabulary stands out main fund words (words active use). For a particular person, they differ active and passive vocabulary. The child's vocabulary is approx. 3 thousand words, a teenager - approx. 9 thousand words, and an adult - 11-13 thousand.
The word is one of the basic units of language. Unlike other units, it has nominative function - naming function.
Many definitions of the word can be formulated, but none of them can be exhaustive. All definitions will differ depending on the aspect in which the word is considered (for example, from the point of view of graphics, a word is a chain of graphemes between two spaces). In order to define a word, it is necessary to highlight its main features.
Word- This:
Ø sound unity according to the laws of phonetics of a given language;
Ø grammatical unity according to the laws of grammar of a given language;
Ø a significant unit of the language that has a nominative function;
Ø has positional independence (i.e., it is characterized by the absence of a rigid linear connection with neighboring words, cf.: The weather is warm today – The weather is warm today);
Ø has syntactic independence (i.e. the ability to receive syntactic function member of a proposal or a separate proposal).
Thus, the word is a phonetic, grammatical and lexical unity. Please note that these characteristics represent different sides of the word from the point of view of different levels of the language system.
Not all words have the same ratio of these characteristics.
Can be given working definition the words : This the minimum relatively independent unit of a language that has lexical and grammatical relatedness and is freely reproduced in speech to build an utterance .
The word as a unit of language (in the system) is called lexeme . The lexeme is the “ideal word”. In speech we are dealing with allolexes(variants of implementation of a separate lexeme), or word forms, cf. Man is man's friend(3 words, but 2 lexemes).
Every word is a unity of sound and meaning. The connection between sound and meaning is arbitrary, it is fixed by social practice. In the meaning of the word, the connection of the language with the outside world is manifested. However, lexicology describes the words, but not items the surrounding world.
Lexical meaning- this is what the given word means, this meaning is correlated with the concept and refers the word to a certain section of the lexical-semantic system of the language. grammatical meaning - this is the belonging of the word to a certain grammatical category, determines the compatibility of the word and the ways of its modification.
Core lexical meaning- a mental reflection of one or another phenomenon of reality, an object or a class of objects. The object denoted by the word is called denotation .
Alexander Afanasyevich Potebnya spoke about the immediate and future meaning of the word, and also pointed out the dialectical unity of the linguistic and extralinguistic content of the word.
Distinguish denotative and connotative meaning of the word. Denotative meanings are specific ( dog, green), abstract ( joy honestly), imaginary ( mermaid). Connotative meaning is the emotional, expressive, evaluative and stylistic characteristics of a word (cf.: dog – little dog).
Lexical meanings are specific and individual, i.e. each lexical meaning belongs to one word, but in relation to the subject, each lexical meaning turns out to be generalized.
Lexical meanings are classified depending on the relation to objects and phenomena of reality:
Ø Nominative ( house, birch) signal ( this one, he)
Ø Straight ( head, hand) portable (time running)
Ø concrete abstract
By the nature of the subject relatedness, the meanings are own(single) and common nouns(general).
Lexical meaning is based on concept: a generalized thought about a given subject or phenomenon. different types words correlate with the concept in different ways, although each concept can be expressed by a word or phrase. But the word is not the same as the concept. The concept is a category logic. We can say that the meaning is wider, and the concept is deeper. For example, one word can have several meanings, i.e. relate to several concepts; one concept can be denoted by several words; a concept can be expressed by a compound name.
The relationship between sound and meaning arises by chance, but once it has arisen, it becomes mandatory for all speakers of a given language.
The lexical meaning may contain inner shape (motivation , i.e. an indication of the reason why this meaning turned out to be expressed by this particular combination of sounds (for example, onomatopoeic words, or such as moon rover, airplane etc.).
Not all words retained their motivation. Each language has its own reasons for motivation. Wed: windowsill, airplane. Over time, the word undergoes a process deetymologization (i.e. forgetfulness of motivation; cf. cabbage from caput- head). In the case of speculation of motivation, such a phenomenon arises as false (folk) etymology; compare: semi-clinic, semi-ver, caterpillar etc.
The entire vocabulary of a language can be considered as a system whose structure is determined by the types of lexical meanings and lexico-grammatical categories of words. So, all words can be categorized parts of speech in accordance with their lexical and grammatical relatedness. Depending on the relationship of lexical meanings, polysemantic the words, homonyms , synonyms , antonyms , paronyms etc. From the point of view of changing the language in the lexical composition, there are neologisms (new words that have appeared in the language are the result of different kind borrowings or changes in the semantic structure of words existing in the language - a computer, dealer), historicisms (words naming obsolete realities - chain mail, sandals), archaisms (obsolete words – eyes, cheeks).
The concept of the systemic nature of the language and its structure came to the science of language at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. In this way, linguistics to some extent reflected the general trend in the formation of scientific knowledge (cf. the emergence of ideas about the system in other sciences: the theory of the origin of species by Charles Darwin, the system of chemical elements by Dmitry Mendeleev, etc.).
It should be added that the language system is in the process of constant change. True, different levels of language change in different ways, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The lexical level turns out to be the most mobile: new words and new meanings appear, some words go out of use, etc.
Thus, the language system, on the one hand, tends to change, and on the other hand, it must maintain integrity, otherwise the language will cease to fulfill its functions, since people will no longer understand each other. These are two opposite processes that affect the system, so it is customary to say that the language system is always in the state relative equilibrium.
TASKS ON THEME 5
Questions and practical tasks
1. Why do you think people came from understanding the connections between objects and phenomena of the surrounding reality to describing these connections in accordance with the principle of systemicity in the 19th century?
2. What examples of systemic description from other sciences can you give?
3. Why is it said that language is a “system of systems”?
BUT. Draw a diagram of the language system. Try to show on this diagram all types of relationships between language units.
B. Solve the problem.
Suggestions given
The elephant surprises everyone with its big ears.
He was driving on a dusty road.
· I knew her as a little boy.
He was reading a book on a warm evening.
· The rocket pierced the clouds with black lightning.
He dug up the bed with a sharp shovel
· I knew him as a little boy.
· I considered him a complete fool.
· He left Kursk by evening train.
In these sentences, the instrumental case of the last noun has different meanings. To find out this difference, it is enough to remake (transform) these sentences so that their meaning is preserved, but instead of a turnover with instrumental case, they contained some other grammatical construction (it is allowed to transform the entire sentence, and not just the turnover with instrumental case).
With these transformations, try to distinguish as many (all?) of these sentences from each other as possible.
Come up with your own suggestions for a similar task.
AT. Solve the problem.
Given the words too and also. Find: a) such a sentence with the word too, where instead of too cannot be used also(the sentence becomes invalid); b) such a proposal, where instead of also cannot be used too; c) a sentence where these words are interchangeable.
G. Comment on Jean Aitchison's statement. What does the author want to draw our attention to?
LITERATURE
1. Rozhdestvensky V.S. Lectures on general linguistics.
2. Khrolenko A.T. General linguistics.
3. Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary.
4. Stepanov Yu.S. Fundamentals of linguistics.
System- a set of interrelated and interdependent elements and relationships between them.
Structure- this is the relationship between elements, the way the system is organized.
Any system has a function, is characterized by a certain integrity, has subsystems in its composition, and itself enters into the system more high level.
Terms system and structure often used as synonyms. This is inaccurate, because although they denote interrelated concepts, they are in different aspects. System denotes the relationship of elements and a single principle of their organization, structure characterizes internal organization systems. The concept of a system is connected with the study of objects in the direction from elements to the whole, with the concept of structure - in the direction from the whole to the constituent parts.
Some scholars give these terms a specific interpretation. So, according to A.A. Reformatsky, the system is the unity of homogeneous interdependent elements within one tier, and the structure is the unity of heterogeneous elements within the whole [Reformatsky 1996, 32, 37].
The language system is hierarchically organized, it has several tiers:
- - Phonological
- - Morphological
- - Syntactic
- - Lexical
The central place in the language system is occupied by the morphological tier. The units of this tier - morphemes - are elementary, minimal signs of the language. Units of phonetics and vocabulary belong to the peripheral tiers, since phonetic units do not have the properties of a sign, and lexical units enter into complex, multi-level relationships. The structure of the lexical tier is more open and less rigid than the structures of other tiers; it is more susceptible to extralinguistic influences.
In the Fortunatov school, when studying syntax and phonology, the morphological criterion is decisive.
The concept of a system plays an important role in typology. It explains the relationship of various phenomena of the language, emphasizes the expediency of its structure and functioning. Language is not just a collection of words and sounds, rules and exceptions. To see the order in the variety of facts of the language allows the concept of the system.
Equally important is the concept of structure. Despite the common principles of arrangement, the languages of the world differ from each other, and these differences lie in the originality of their structural organization, since the ways of connecting elements can be different. This difference in structures just serves to group languages into typological classes.
The systemic nature of the language makes it possible to single out the core on which the entire linguistic typology is built - the morphological tier of the language.
A typical language is a complex structure of interrelated heterogeneous elements. In order to determine which elements are included in the structure of the language, consider the following example: two Romans argued who would say (or write) a shorter phrase; one said (wrote): Eo rus - I'm going to the village, and the other answered: I - go. This is the shortest statement (and spelling) that can be imagined, but at the same time it is a completely complete statement that makes up a whole remark in this dialogue and, obviously, has everything that is characteristic of any statement.
What are these elements of the utterance?
1) i is the sound of speech (more precisely, a phoneme), i.e. a sound material sign accessible to perception by the ear, or i is a letter, i.e. graphic material sign, accessible to the perception of the eye;
2) i is the root of the word (in general, a morpheme), i.e. an element expressing some concept;
3) i is a word (a verb in the form of an imperative mood in the singular), naming a certain phenomenon of reality;
4) I is a sentence, i.e. an element that contains a message.
Small i, it turns out, contains what makes up a language in general: 1) sounds - phonetics (or letters - graphics), 2) morphemes (roots, suffixes, endings) - morphology, 3) words - vocabulary and 4) sentences - syntax.
There is nothing else in the language and cannot be.
Why is such a strange example needed to clarify the question of the structure of the language? In order to make it clear that the differences in the elements of the structure of the language are not quantitative, as it might seem if we took a long sentence, broke it into words, words into morphemes and morphemes into phonemes. In this example, this danger is eliminated:
All levels of the structure of the language are "the same" i, but each time taken in a special capacity.
Thus, the difference between the elements of the structure of the language is qualitative, which is determined by the different functions of these elements. What are the functions of these elements?
1. Sounds (phonemes) are material signs of the language, and not just audible sounds. The sound signs of a language have two functions: 1) perceptual - to be an object of perception and 2) significative - to have the ability to distinguish between higher, significant elements of the language - morphemes, words, sentences: sweat, bot, mot, that, dot, notes, lot, pine, pine, pine, etc.
2. Morphemes can express concepts:
a) root - real (table-), (earth-), (window-), etc. and b) non-root two types: the values of the features (-ost), (-without-), (re-) and the values of the relations (-y), (-ish), I sit - you sit, (-a), (-y) table, table, etc.; this semasiological function, the function of expressing concepts. They cannot name morphemes, but they have a meaning; (red-) expresses only the concept of a certain color, and you can name something only by turning the morpheme into a word: redness, red, blush, etc.
3. Words can name things and phenomena of reality; it is a nominative function, a function of naming; there are words that perform this function in their pure form - these are proper names; ordinary common nouns combine it with the semasiological function, since they express concepts.
4. Offers are for communication; this is the most important thing in verbal communication, since language is an instrument of communication; this function is communicative; since sentences consist of words, they have both a nominative and semasiological function in their constituent parts.
The elements of this structure form a unity in the language, which is easy to understand if you pay attention to their connection: each lower level is potentially the next higher one, and, conversely, each higher level consists of at least one lower level: thus, a sentence can minimally consist of one word (. It's getting light. Frost.); the word is from one morpheme (here, here, metro, cheers); morpheme - from one phoneme (Sh-i, f-a-t).
Within each circle or tier of the linguistic structure (phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactic) there is its own system, since all elements of this circle act as members of the system.
A system is a unity of homogeneous and interdependent elements. The systems of separate tiers of the language structure, interacting with each other, form the general system of a given language.
The concept of "system" in linguistics is closely related to the concept of "structure". Structure in the literal sense of the word is the structure of the system. Structures do not exist outside systems. Therefore, systemicity is a property of the language, and structurality is a property of the language system.
The structure, or structure of the language, is determined by the number of units distinguished in it, their location in the language system and the nature of the connections between them. Language units are heterogeneous. They differ quantitatively, qualitatively and functionally. Sets of homogeneous language units form certain subsystems called tiers or levels.
Language structure is a set of regular connections and relationships between linguistic units, depending on their nature.
Relations- this is such a dependence of language units, in which a change in one unit does not lead to a change in others. The most important in the structure of the language are:
a) hierarchical relationships, which are established between heterogeneous
language units (phonemes and morphemes, morphemes and lexemes), when
a unit of a more complex subsystem includes lower units;
b) oppositional attitudes when units or their properties, signs
opposed to each other (for example, the opposition of consonants in
hardness-softness, opposition "vowels-consonants").
Links of language units- a special case of their relationship. Communication is such a dependence of language units in which a change in one unit causes changes in others. A striking example of the connection of language units can be the agreement, control and adjunction distinguished in grammar.
There are hierarchical, horizontal and vertical language structures.
Hierarchical structure is a system of levels (tiers): the level of phonemes, the level of morphemes, the level of lexemes, the syntactic level. There are no syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations between the levels. The multilevel structure of the language corresponds to the structure of the brain that controls the mental mechanisms of verbal communication.
The brain is the most complex hierarchical structure that implements control, starting from the lowest levels to the highest.horizontal structure reflects the property of language units to be combined with each other. The horizontal axis of the language structure represents syntagmatic relations. Syntagmatic refers to the relations of units in speech in direct linear connections and combinations in different areas of the language system. Syntagmatic relations are especially common in syntax (cf.: syntagma, phrase, sentence). Word valence plays an important role in syntagmatics.
Valency(lat. Valentia - "strength") in the broad sense of the word is called
the ability of a language unit to enter into relations with other units of a certain order. Like the property of an atom to form a certain number of bonds with other atoms, a word is able to enter into bonds with a certain number of words in other parts of speech. This property of words, by analogy with the property of atoms, was called the valency of the word.
Initially, the valence properties of the verb were investigated. Depending on how many necessary participants (actants) enter into connection with the verb when it is used, monovalent verbs are distinguished ( Father is sleeping), divalent ( The teacher takes the book), trivalent ( A friend gives me a vase). There are verbs with zero valence, that is, verbs that do not require obligatory participants in their use ( It's getting dark).
Valence can be mandatory or optional. Mandatory, obligatory valence is called when the use of a word requires the use of other participating words. Sometimes these participating words are present in the statement implicitly, implicitly, but they can be restored. For example, I'm not well.
Under optional, facultative valency is understood as the ability of a word to have connections with words that are not structurally necessary when using this word. The use of this word and in the absence of such words-participants will be grammatically correct: It's getting dark fast.Vertical structure reflects the connection of language units with the neurophysiological mechanism of the brain as the source of its existence. The vertical axis of the language structure is the paradigmatic relationship between the units of the system. Associative-semantic relations of homogeneous language units are called paradigmatic, as a result of which they are combined into classes, groups, categories, that is, into paradigms.
Paradigmatic relations reflect the inherent, historically developed properties of a language unit. Reflection of paradigmatic relations are systems of conjugation of verbs, types of declension of nouns or adjectives; polysemy, synonymy, hyperonymy, hyponymy in vocabulary. In vocabulary and morphology, paradigmatic relations are most developed.
Paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations are an essential feature of all units of the language, which serves as proof of the isomorphism of its system. Isomorphism is evidence that the language is based on certain general principles and conditions for its organization. That is why language units of different levels reveal a certain similarity in material and ideal nature, in their relations between units of the same level and units of different levels.
In linguistics, there are two models of the structure of the language: level and field.
1. Level model of the language system.
Level of language structure- a class or superparadigm of linguistic units that have similar features and are equally related to other units. The doctrine of language levels was developed in American descriptivistics. Language levels are located in relation to each other according to the principle of ascending or descending complexity of units. The relations between the levels of the language system are not reducible to a simple hierarchy - subordination or entry. In the direction from the lower levels of the language to the higher, the number of units increases (there are more morphemes than phonemes, and there are more words than morphemes), the complexity of the structure of units increases, the complexity of their paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations increases, and the degree of their variability increases.
The units of the lower level in the higher level do not remain the same. Higher-level units have new properties that cannot be derived from the properties of lower-level units, as they are "included" in new connections and relationships.
2. Field model of the language system.
The main principle of field modeling of a language system is the unification of language units according to the commonality of their semantic and functional content. The units of the same linguistic field reflect the subject, conceptual or functional similarity of the designated phenomena. Therefore, the field model represents a dialectical connection between linguistic phenomena and the extralinguistic world. The theory of the language field is developed in the works of Alexander Matveevich Peshkovsky, English - Peter Roger, German scientists Franz Dornseif, Rudolf Hallig, Jost Trier, Günter Ipsen, Walter Porzig, Swiss - Walter Wartburg, Yuri Nikolaevich Karaulov, Alexander Vladimirovich Bondarko.
In the field model of the language, core and periphery. The core of the field is formed by the units most suitable for performing the functions of the field. They are frequent
unambiguous, characterized by certain and fairly clear features. The periphery is formed by polysemantic, stylistically fixed, rarely used units. They have less definite, more individual and therefore indistinct features of the field. Peripheral units, as a rule, are expressive formations.
The boundary between the core and the periphery is fuzzy, blurred. The transition from the core to the periphery is carried out gradually, therefore, several peripheral zones of the field are distinguished: perinuclear, postnuclear; near, far and extreme periphery.
The field model of the language allows:
a) to express the universal property of the language, general principle its organization and
development;
b) present the language as a formation, where discreteness and non-discreteness are dialectically combined (from the Latin Discretus - “discontinuous, consisting of separate parts”), general and particular;
c) combine into a single whole the corresponding to the norm, stylistically neutral core and the abnormal, stylistically marked periphery.
The field model of the language system correlates well with modern neurolinguistic theories that develop the problems of the structure and functioning of the human cerebral cortex. It has been established that the "packaging" and "storage" of language in the human brain is also carried out according to the field principle. There are paradigmatic groupings of language units, typical syntagmatic block diagrams, and epidigmatic nests. For each block, a specialized speech center of the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is "responsible": Broca's area - for the production of speech, Wernicke's area - for understanding and perceiving someone else's speech, in front of Broca's area there are centers of syntagmatics; in the occipital part, behind Wernicke's area - the centers of paradigmatics.
Depending on the principle of structuring, there are several types of language fields:
1. The semantic principle is the basis of lexico-semantic, lexical-
phraseological and lexico-grammatical fields, where language units
are grouped on the basis of the commonality of the meaning they express. For example, in
the lexico-semantic field combines words with the meaning of kinship; in
lexico-grammatical field - words with the grammatical meaning of feminine
kind.
2. The functional principle involves the unification of language units according to
the generality of their functions. They stand out functionally
grammatical and functional-stylistic fields. For example, to
the collateral field belongs to the functional-grammatical; to the functional
stylistic - phonetic, lexical and grammatical means
creation of scientific style.
3. The combination of the first two principles is the functional-semantic principle, according to which the functional-semantic fields (beingness, phaseness, aspectuality, taxisness) are modeled.
The main advantage of the field model of the language system is that it makes it possible to represent the language as a system of systems between which interaction takes place. As a result of this approach, the language appears as a functioning system in which there are constant rearrangements of elements and relationships between them.
