Structural components of the language system and sections of linguistics. System-structural organization of the language, levels (tiers) of the language structure

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. Exactly this short sentence(and spelling), which can be imagined, but at the same time it is a completely complete statement, constituting a whole remark in this dialogue and, obviously, possessing 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 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 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 in their pure form perform this function - this is 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 language structure(phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactic) has 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.

Linguistics as a science: subject, object of study, place in the system of sciences, meaning

Linguistics(linguistics, linguistics) is the science of language, its social nature and functions, its internal structure, the laws of its functioning and the historical development and classification of specific languages.

Thing. Linguistics studies not only existing (existing or possible in the future) languages, but also human language in general. Language is not given to the linguist in direct observation; directly observable are only the facts of speech, or linguistic phenomena, that is, the speech acts of speakers of a living language together with their results (texts) or language material (a limited number of written texts in a dead language that no one uses as the main means of communication).

An object linguistics - language. Human language is heterogeneous. Its types are different. The object of linguistics is natural language person. The regularities of the device, development and functioning of the language are the subject of the science of language. These patterns may be inherent in individual specific languages ​​or their groups. Along with such particular regularities in each language of the world, some general regularities inherent in all or most of the languages ​​of mankind can be revealed. Therefore, the subject of the course "General Linguistics" correlates with such concepts as "private" and "general" linguistics.

Private Linguistics deals with a single language (Russian, English, Uzbek, etc.) or a group of related languages ​​(say, Slavic languages). It can be synchronic, describing the facts of the language at some point in its history (most often the facts of the modern language), or diachronic (historical), tracing the development of the language over a certain period of time. A variety of diachronic linguistics (linguistics) is comparative-historical, which finds out their historical past by comparing related languages.

Common Features human language is engaged general linguistics. It explores the essence and nature of language, the problem of its origin and the general laws of its development and functioning, it also develops methods for studying languages. Within the framework of general linguistics, typological linguistics is distinguished, which compares both related and unrelated languages ​​with each other, a comparison aimed at clarifying the general patterns of the language. General and, in particular, typological linguistics reveals and formulates linguistic universals, i.e. provisions valid for all languages ​​of the world (absolute universals) or for the great majority of languages ​​( statistical universals).

There are 3000-5500 languages ​​in the world. It is impossible to calculate exactly, since there is no specific criterion for determining the number of languages. Well studied 500 thousand languages ​​on Earth. 1.5 thousand have not been studied.

The division of languages ​​can be influenced by written expression.

Linguistics is included in circle of sciences about human society. Therefore, it is associated with humanities(history, literature, ethnography [life culture], dialectology), with natural (physics [acoustics], physiology) and computational sciences (physics, mathematics), etc.

Tasks and meaning linguistics:

Establishing the nature and essence of language

Studying the structure of the language

Learning a language as a holistic system

Studying the issue of language development

Studying the origin and development of writing

Language classification

Choice of research methods: comparative-historical, descriptive, comparative, quantitative

The study of the connection of linguistics with other sciences.

Structural Components language systems and sections of linguistics

Language system- this is a holistic unity of language units that are interconnected in certain relationships and relationships. The very same set of regular connections and relationships between linguistic units forms the structure of the language system. Structure is the main property of a language system. It involves the dismemberment of the language as a holistic education into components, their interconnection, interdependence and internal organization. To name the components of a language system, the terms elements, language units, linguistic signs, parts (groups), subsystems are usually used.

There are denominative units of the language (phonemes, morphemes), nominative (words, phrases, phraseological units) and communicative (sentences, superphrasal units, periods, texts).

Language units intimately associated with units of speech. The latter realize (objectify) the former (phonemes are realized by sounds, or backgrounds; morphemes - by morphs, allomorphs; words (lexemes) - by word forms (lexes, alloleks); block diagrams sentences - statements). Speech units are any units that are freely formed in the process of speech from language units. Their main features are: productivity - free education in the process of speech; combinatoriality - a complex structure as a result of the free combination of language units; the ability to enter into larger formations (words as part of phrases and sentences; simple sentences as part of complex; sentences form a text).

Elements, units of language and linguistic signs should be distinguished from parts and subsystems of a single language system.

As part of the system, any grouping of linguistic units can be considered, between which internal links are established that differ from the links between the groupings themselves. Within the system, subsystems are formed in this way (in vocabulary - lexico-semantic groups, semantic fields; in morphology - subsystems of conjugation of verbs or declension of names, etc.).

The language units that form the language system can be homogeneous and heterogeneous. Hierarchical relations are excluded between homogeneous units of the language; they are inherent only in heterogeneous units (phoneme > morpheme > lexeme (words) > phrase > sentence). Homogeneous units of the language reveal the ability to enter into: a) linear structures, chains and combinations (linear connections of linguistic units are called syntagmatic), and b) certain groups, classes and categories, thereby realizing their paradigmatic properties.

Syntagmatic connections are the relations of linguistic units by contiguity, their juxtaposition (according to the scheme and ... and) and compatibility according to the laws defined for a particular language. According to certain syntagmatic laws, morphemes, word forms, sentence members, parts complex sentence. Syntagmatic restrictions are due to the fact that each unit of the language occupies a well-defined position in the linear series relative to other units. In this regard, the concept of the position of a linguistic unit was introduced. Units occupying the same position in the syntagmatic series form a paradigm (class, category, block, group).

Paradigmatic connections are relations by internal similarity, by association, or relations of choice (according to the scheme or ... or). All varieties of linguistic units have paradigmatic properties (there are paradigms of consonant and vowel phonemes, morphemes, words, etc.). The most striking example of this kind of relationship is lexical paradigms, synonyms, antonyms, lexico-semantic groups and fields; in morphology - paradigms of declension and conjugation.

A set of homogeneous units of a language capable of entering into syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships with each other, but excluding hierarchical relationships, is called the level or tier of the language structure. Each level corresponds base unit language. The main levels include: phonological / phonetic (basic unit - phoneme), morphemic (morpheme), lexeme / lexical (lexeme, or word), morphological (gramme - a class of word forms) and syntactic (syntax, or syntaxeme). Intermediate levels are usually considered: phonomorphemic, or morphonological (phonomorph, or morphoneme), derivatological, or derivational (derivateme), phraseological (phraseme, or phraseological unit, phraseological unit).

Lecture #3

I. The concept of system and structure in linguistics. Systemic language.

Basic levels of the language.

II. The main types of relations in the language: paradigmatic and syntagmatic.

III. Language as a sign system of a special kind.

IV. Historical variability of language. The concepts of synchrony and diachrony in linguistics.

I. The elements of the language do not exist in isolation, but in close connection and opposition to each other, i.e. in system , which is the result of the development of the language in the past and the starting point for the development of the language in the future. Language exists as a system and develops as a system.

Scientists have been aware of the complexity of the language system for a long time. W. Humboldt spoke about the systemic nature of the language: There is nothing singular in language; each individual element manifests itself only as part of the whole.(Humboldt von W. On the difference in the structure of human languages ​​and its influence on the spiritual development of mankind // W. von Humboldt. Selected works on linguistics. M., 1984, p.69-70.)

A deep theoretical understanding of the systemic nature of the language was carried out by F. de Saussure, according to whom language is a system whose parts can and should be considered in their ... interdependence.(F. de Saussure. Works on linguistics // Course of general linguistics. M., 1977, p. 120.)

The ideas of the Russian-Polish linguist I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay on the role of relations in language, on the most general types of language units, etc. I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay viewed language as a general construct: ... in language, as in nature in general, everything lives, everything moves, everything changes ...(Baudouin de Courtenay I.A. Selected works on general linguistics. T.1. M., 1963, p.349.)

Each element of the language must be considered in terms of its role in the language system.

In linguistics long time the terms "system" and "structure" were used interchangeably. However, there is currently a tendency to separate them.

Indeed, in mathematical logic system ( Greek systema"a whole made up of parts" ) any, really existing or imaginary, complex (i.e. divided into constituent elements) object is called; structure(lat. structura“structure, arrangement, order”) is one of the properties of a complex object (system): a network of relationships between the elements of the system.

In this case, language should be considered as a unity of system and structure, presupposing each other and influencing each other, since language is not a mechanical set of independent elements, but a system that has an economical and strict organization.

In modern linguistics, the general system of language is presented as a system of interpenetrating and interacting subsystems or levels. Level (tier) of the language- a set of similar language units and categories. Each level has a set of its units and rules for their functioning.

Traditionally, the following main levels of the language are distinguished: phonemic (or phonemic ), morphemic (or morphological ), lexical and syntactic. Each of these levels has its own, qualitatively different units that have different purposes, structure, compatibility and place in the language system. The basic units of the language are phoneme , morpheme, word, phrase and offer .

Units of language subsystems differ among themselves primarily in the function they perform. main function phonemes(sound) - semantic distinction ( to from, R from, l from, P from), morphemes- expression of meaning (1. lexical, the carrier of which is the root morpheme - forest; 2. grammatical, the carrier of which are service morphemes, for example, endings - forests (-a expresses the meaning of the genitive case singular or nominative plural); 3. derivational (if the word is derivative), clarifying the meaning of the root, the carriers of this meaning are service morphemes, for example, suffixes - forester (Nick-- expresses the meaning of a male person)); function the words and phrases- naming the phenomena of reality, nomination; suggestions- communication by correlating the content of the statement with reality.

Language levels and their units are not isolated from each other. They are in a hierarchical relationship: phonemes are included in the sound shells of morphemes; morphemes - in the composition of the word; words form phrases and sentences and vice versa. The hierarchical nature of the relationship between the subsystems of the language is also manifested in the fact that the function of the units of each is more high level includes in the transformed form and functions of units of lower levels. For example, a morpheme, along with its main function of expressing meaning, also distinguishes meanings ( run-a-be- affix –th- helps to distinguish the indefinite form of the verb from the past tense form run-a-l). The word, performing the main function of nomination, simultaneously conveys meanings and distinguishes them. The sentence, the basic communicative unit, has both meaning and names the whole situation.

The multi-tiered language system contributes to savings language tools when expressed different concepts. Only a few dozen phonemes serve as material for constructing morphemes (roots and affixes); morphemes, combining in different ways with each other, serve as a means for the formation of nominative units of the language, i.e. words with all their grammatical forms; words, combined with each other, form different types phrases and sentences, etc. The hierarchy of the language system allows the language to be a flexible means of expressing the communicative needs of society.

The meaning of each language unit depends on its place within the common system, from those distinctive features that are revealed in its opposition to other units of the same system. For example, grammatical phenomena receive full understanding only as part of certain grammatical systems. Thus, the categories of the nominative case of nouns in Russian, German and English do not coincide, because in Russian, this category is included in the six-term system, in German - in the four-term one, in English - in the two-term one. In modern English language the nominative (common) case is opposed only by the category of the possessive case. The volume of the nominative case in English is therefore much wider than in Russian and German.

Thus, full value all elements of the language - phonetic, grammatical, and lexical - are received only as part of a system, only in connection with and in relation to other elements of the same system.

II. Units of the language system are interconnected various types relations that form the structure of the language. To describe the relationships that language units enter into in the language system and in the flow of speech, the terms "syntagmatic relationship" and "paradigmatic relationship".

paradigmatic(gr. paradeigma"example" relations link language units of the same level in the system. These relations unite language units into groups, categories, categories, i.e. are established between units of the same class, mutually exclusive in a certain position in speech. At the phonetic level, the system of vowels, the system of consonants are based on paradigmatic relations, at the morphological level - the system of inflection, at the lexical level - various combinations of words according to the principle of proximity or opposition of meanings (synonymous series, antonymic pairs). When using a language, paradigmatic relations allow you to choose the desired unit. A paradigmatic description of language units is built either on the basis of their association as functional representatives of one unit, or on the basis of the variability of this unit and the conditions for choosing one of the options. It is an "either-or" relationship.

Syntagmatic(gr. syntagma"built, connected together") relations unite language units in their simultaneous sequence, i.e. implemented in the speech stream. These relations are established between two units that follow each other in speech and occupy different positions. On syntagmatic relations, words are built as a set of morphemes, phrases and sentences as a set of words. When using a language, syntagmatic relations allow the simultaneous use of two or more units of the language. This is an "and - and" relationship.

The set of elements connected by paradigmatic relations is called paradigmatics.

The set of elements connected by syntagmatic relations is called syntagmatics.

Thus, two main types of relations are distinguished in the language: primary, syntagmatic, and secondary, paradigmatic.

III. The functioning of language as a means of human communication is ensured iconic character its basic units.

Language- it is historically established in a particular human team system material visual-auditory signs, serving the most important means communications.

familiar called something substitute, "something instead of something."

language signs are meaningful, two-sided units, primarily words and morphemes that replace objects and phenomena of reality in communication.

Linguistic signs are in many ways similar to the signs of other sign systems:

1. like all signs, bilateral units of language have a material, sensually perceived form - sound or graphic - exhibitor (lat. expono"show off");

2. all morphemes and words, as well as non-linguistic signs, have one or another content, i.e. are associated in human consciousness with the corresponding objects and phenomena;

3. the connection between the form (exponent) and the content of any sign, including linguistic, can be either purely conditional, based on a conscious agreement, or to some extent motivated ( windowsill - located under the window)

4. linguistic signs, like signs artificial systems, denote classes objects and phenomena, and the content of these signs is a generalized reflection of reality ( student - any graduate student educational institution);

5. Like non-linguistic signs, morphemes and words (language signs) participate in various oppositions.

But the sound language differs from all other sign systems in its universal character, since applicable in all possible situations and can replace any other system. The number of contents transmitted by means of language is unlimited, since linguistic signs have the ability to combine and acquire new meanings. A language is more complicated than other sign systems and in its internal structure, a complete message is transmitted by one language sign in rare cases, usually by a combination of a certain number of signs. In addition, unlike the signs of artificial systems, the meaning of linguistic signs includes an emotional component.

Thus, language is a sign system of a special kind.

IV. The development of the language is characterized by continuity and tradition, the absence of sharp shifts, because, as a means of human communication, language must communicate not only between people within the same generation, but also between different generations. And although modern languages different from the ancient ones, there were no breaks in their gradual development.

The historical development of a language system over time is called diachronic(gr. dia"through" and chronos"time"). This term also denotes a certain approach to learning a language, a method of describing it.

AT diachronic studies the continuous development of a language is often presented as a transition from one state to another, as a change from one system to another. Because in each period of the existence of a language in its system, at all levels of this system, there are elements that are dying out, being lost, and elements that are emerging, emerging. Gradually, some phenomena in the language disappear, while others appear. Studying all these phenomena and processes in time, diachronic or historical linguistics establishes the causes of linguistic phenomena, the time of their occurrence and completion, the ways of development of these phenomena and processes. The diachronic approach allows us to understand how the phenomena that characterize state of the art language.

Since linguistic phenomena do not exist in isolation from each other, but are connected, forming an integral linguistic system, a change in one phenomenon entails a change in other phenomena and the entire system as a whole. Consequently, diachronic linguistics can study both the history of the development of one element of the language, and the history of the language system as a whole.

The concept of diachrony in linguistics is directly related to the concept synchrony(gr. syn"together" and chronos"time") - the state of the language at a certain moment of its development as a system of simultaneously existing interconnected and interdependent elements. The term "synchrony" also denotes the study of one or another time period of a language, withdrawn for the purposes of analysis from the natural historical chain and abstracted. Synchronic linguistics establishes the principles underlying any system taken in any time period, and reveals the constitutive (fundamental) factors of any state of the language.

The idea of ​​the importance of distinguishing between synchrony and diachrony was expressed and substantiated by F. de Saussure: It is quite obvious that, in the interests of all sciences in general, one should more carefully distinguish between the axes along which the objects within their competence are located. Everywhere one should distinguish ... 1) the axis of simultaneity, concerning the relations between coexisting phenomena, where any interference of time is excluded, and 2) the axis of succession, on which one can never consider more than one thing at once and along which all the phenomena of the first axis with all their changes are located ... With the greatest categorical distinction, this distinction is obligatory for the linguist, because language is a system of pure significances, determined by the present state of the elements included in it ....(Saussure F. Works on linguistics. // Course of general linguistics. M., 1977, pp. 113-115.)

In the study of language, diachrony and synchrony are not opposed, but complement and enrich each other: scientific knowledge of the language in its entirety is possible only with a combination of diachronic and synchronic research methods.

educational:

1. Kodukhov V.I. Introduction to linguistics. M.: Enlightenment, 1979. -

2. Maslov Yu.S. Introduction to linguistics. M.: Higher School, 1998. -

3. Reformatsky A.A. Introduction to linguistics. M.: Aspect Press, 2001. -

additional:

1. Baudouin de Courtenay I.A. Selected works on general linguistics. T.1.

2. Vendina T.I. Introduction to linguistics. M.: Higher School, 2002.

3. Humboldt von W. On the difference in the structure of human languages ​​and its

influence on the spiritual development of mankind // W. von Humboldt.

Selected works on linguistics. M., 1984.

4. Murat V.P. Introduction to linguistics. Methodical instructions. M.: Publishing house

Moscow University, 1981.

5. F. de Saussure. Works on linguistics // Course of general linguistics. M.,

Similar information.

A language is usually defined in two aspects: the first is a system of phonetic, lexical, grammatical means, which are a tool for expressing thoughts, feelings, expressions of will, serving as the most important means of communication between people, i.e. language - social phenomenon associated in its origin and development with the human team; the second is a kind of speech characterized by certain stylistic features (Kazakh language, colloquial language).

Language as the main means of human communication is arranged in such a way as to adequately perform various functions to the intentions and desires of an individual linguistic personality and the tasks of the human community. In the very general view language functions are understood as the use of potential properties of language means in speech for various purposes.

Language is not a natural phenomenon, and, therefore, does not obey biological laws. Language is not inherited, not passed on from older to younger. It originates in society. Arises spontaneously, gradually turns into a self-organizing system, which is designed to fulfill certain functions.

The first main function of language is cognitive(i.e. cognitive), meaning that language is the most important means of obtaining new knowledge about reality. The cognitive function connects language with human mental activity.

Without language, human communication is impossible, and without communication there can be no society, there cannot be a full-fledged personality (for example, Mowgli).

The second main function of language is communicative, which means that language is the most important means of human communication, i.e. communication, or the transmission from one person to another of a message for one purpose or another. Communicating with each other, people convey their thoughts, feelings, influence each other, achieve mutual understanding. The language gives them the opportunity to understand each other and to work together in all spheres of human activity.

The third main function is emotional and motivating. It is designed not only to express the attitude of the author of the speech to its content, but also to influence the listener, reader, interlocutor. It is realized in the means of evaluation, intonation, exclamation, interjections.

Other language features:

– thought-forming, since language not only conveys thought, but also forms it;

– accumulative is a function of storing and transmitting knowledge about reality. In written monuments, oral folk art, the life of a people, nation, the history of native speakers is recorded;

– phatic (contact-setting) function-
tion - the function of creating and maintaining contact between interlocutors (greeting formulas at a meeting and parting, exchange of remarks about the weather, etc.). The content and form of phatic communication depend on gender, age, social position, interlocutor relationships, but in general they are standard and minimally informative. Phatic communication helps to overcome lack of communication skills, disunity;

– conative function - the function of assimilation of information by the addressee, associated with empathy ( Magic power spells or curses in an archaic society or advertising texts in a modern one);

– appellative function - the function of an appeal, an inducement to certain actions (forms of the imperative mood, incentive sentences, etc.);

– aesthetic function - a function of aesthetic impact, manifested in the fact that the reader or listener begins to notice the text itself, its sound and verbal texture. A single word, turn, phrase begins to like or dislike. Speech can be perceived as something beautiful or ugly, i.e. as an aesthetic object;

– metalinguistic function (speech commentary) - the function of interpreting linguistic facts. The use of a language in a metalinguistic function is usually associated with difficulties in verbal communication, for example, when talking with a child, a foreigner, or another person who does not fully know the given language, style, or professional variety of the language. The metalinguistic function is realized in all oral and written statements about the language - in lessons and lectures, in dictionaries, educational and scientific literature about the language.

LANGUAGE - social processed, historically changeable sign system serving as the main means of communication and representation different forms existence, each of which has at least one of the forms of implementation - oral or written.

SPEECH - this is one of the types of human communicative activity i.e. using language to communicate with others

Kinds speech activity:

speaking

listening

The main functions of the language are:

communicative (function of communication);

thought-forming (function of embodiment and expression of thought);

expressive (expression function internal state speaker);

aesthetic (the function of creating beauty by means of language).

Communicative function lies in the ability of language to serve as a means of communication between people. The language has the units necessary for constructing messages, the rules for their organization, and ensures the emergence of similar images in the minds of the participants in communication. The language also has by special means establishing and maintaining contact between the participants of communication.

From the point of view of the culture of speech, the communicative function involves the installation of participants in speech communication on the fruitfulness and mutual usefulness of communication, as well as a general focus on the adequacy of speech understanding.

Thought-forming function lies in the fact that language serves as a means of designing and expressing thoughts. The structure of the language is organically connected with the categories of thinking. "The word, which alone is able to make a concept an independent unit in the world of thoughts, adds to it a lot of itself," wrote the founder of linguistics Wilhelm von Humboldt (Humboldt V. Selected Works on Linguistics. - M., 1984. P. 318).

This means that the word singles out and shapes the concept, and at the same time, a relationship is established between the units of thinking and the sign units of the language. That is why W. Humboldt believed that “language should accompany thought. Thought, not lagging behind language, should follow from one of its elements to another and find in language a designation for everything that makes it coherent” (Ibid., p. 345) . According to Humboldt, “in order to correspond to thinking, language, as far as possible, must correspond with its structure to the internal organization of thinking” (ibid.).

Speech educated person is distinguished by the clarity of presentation of one's own thoughts, the accuracy of retelling other people's thoughts, consistency and informativeness.

Expressive the function allows the language to serve as a means of expressing the internal state of the speaker, not only to communicate some information, but also to express the speaker's attitude to the content of the message, to the interlocutor, to the situation of communication. Language expresses not only thoughts, but also emotions of a person. The expressive function involves the emotional brightness of speech within the framework of etiquette accepted in society.

Artificial languages ​​do not have an expressive function.

aesthetic the function is to ensure that the message in its form, in unity with the content, satisfies the aesthetic sense of the addressee. The aesthetic function is characteristic primarily for poetic speech (works of folklore, fiction), but not only for her - aesthetically perfect can be both journalistic and scientific speech and ordinary colloquial speech.

The aesthetic function presupposes the richness and expressiveness of speech, its correspondence to the aesthetic tastes of the educated part of society.

language is system(from Greek. systema - something made up of parts). And if this is so, then all its constituent parts should not be a random set of elements, but some sort of ordered set of them.

What is the systemic nature of the language? First of all, the fact that the language has a hierarchical organization, in other words, it distinguishes various levels(from lowest to highest), each of which corresponds to a certain linguistic unit.

Usually there are the following levels of the language system: phonemic, morphemic, lexical and syntactic. Let us name and characterize the language units corresponding to them.

Phoneme- the simplest unit, indivisible and insignificant, serving to distinguish between minimal meaningful units (morphemes and words). For example: P ort - b ort, st about l - st at l.

Morpheme- the minimum significant unit that is not used independently (prefix, root, suffix, ending).

Word (lexeme)- a unit that serves to name objects, processes, phenomena, signs or points to them. This is the minimum nominative(named) unit language, consisting of morphemes.

The syntactic level corresponds to two language units: a phrase and a sentence.

phrase is a combination of two or more words between which there is a semantic and / or grammatical connection. A phrase, like a word, is a nominative unit.

Offer- the main syntactic unit that contains a message about something, a question or a prompt. This unit is characterized by semantic formality and completeness. In contrast to the word - the nominative unit - it is communicative unit, as it serves to convey information in the process of communication.

Between the units of the language system, certain relations. Let's talk about them in more detail. The "mechanism" of the language is based on the fact that each language unit is included in two intersecting rows. One row, linear, horizontal, we directly observe in the text: this syntagmatic line, where units of the same level are combined (from the Greek. syntagma - something connected). At the same time, units are more low level serve building material for higher level units.

An example of syntagmatic relations is the compatibility of sounds: [high Moscow]; grammatical compatibility of words and morphemes: play football, play the violin; blue ball, blue notebook, under+windows+nickname; lexical compatibility: desk, work at the table, mahogany table -"piece of furniture" plentiful table, dietary table - food, food, passport office, information desk"department in the institution" and other types of relations of language units.

The second row is non-linear, vertical, not given in direct observation. This is paradigmatic series, i.e. a given unit and other units of the same level associated with it by one or another association - formal, meaningful similarity, opposition and other relationships (from the Greek. paradeigma - example, sample).

The simplest example of paradigmatic relations is the paradigm (sample) of the declension or conjugation of a word: house, ~ a, ~ at ...; I'm coming, ~eat, ~et... Paradigms form interrelated meanings of the same polysemantic word ( table– 1. piece of furniture; 2. food, nutrition; 3. department in the institution); synonymous rows (cold-blooded, restrained, imperturbable, balanced, calm); antonymic pairs (wide - narrow, open - close); units of the same class (verbs of movement, kinship designations, tree names, etc.), etc.

It follows from the foregoing that linguistic units are stored in our linguistic consciousness not in isolation, but as interconnected elements of a kind of "blocks" - paradigms. The use of these units in speech is determined by their internal properties, by the place this or that unit occupies among other units of this class. Such storage of "linguistic material" is convenient and economical. In everyday life, we usually do not notice any paradigms. Nevertheless, they are one of the foundations of knowledge of the language. After all, it is no coincidence that when a student makes a mistake, the teacher asks him to decline or conjugate this or that word, form the desired form, clarify the meaning, choose the most appropriate word from synonymous series in other words, turn to the paradigm.

So, the consistency of the language is manifested in its level organization, the existence of various language units that are in certain relationships with each other.

Similar information.

The elements of the language do not exist in isolation, but in close connection and opposition to each other, i.e. in system. The interrelation of the elements of the language lies in the fact that the change or loss of one element, as a rule, is reflected in other elements of the language (for example, in the phonetic system of the Old Russian language, the fall of the reduced ones caused the restructuring of its entire system of consonantism, the formation of the categories of deafness/voicedness and hardness/softness ).

The structural complexity of the language system has long been recognized by scientists. W. Humboldt spoke about the systemic nature of the language: “There is nothing singular in the language, each of its individual elements manifests itself only as part of the whole.” However, a deep theoretical understanding of the systematic nature of the language appeared later, in the works of the Swiss scientist F. de Saussure. “No one has realized and described the systemic organization of language as clearly as Saussure,” wrote E. Benveniste. Language, according to Saussure, is “a system in which all elements form a whole, and the significance of one element stems only from the simultaneous presence of others.” Therefore, concludes Saussure, "all parts of this system must be considered in their synchronic interdependence." Each element of the language must be studied from the point of view of its role in the language system. So, for example, in Russian, which lost its dual number, the plural began to have a different meaning than in Slovenian, where the category of the dual number is still preserved.

In linguistics, the terms system and structure have long been used as synonyms. However, later, with the development of structural linguistics, their terminological distinction took place. The system began to be understood as an internally organized set of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other (i.e., this definition takes into account the following basic concepts: “set”, “element”, “function”, “connections”), and under the structure - the internal organization of these elements, the network of their relationships. It is the system that determines the presence and organization of linguistic elements, since each element of the language exists by virtue of its relationship to other elements, i.e. the system is a structure-forming factor, because there is no system without structural correlation of elements. Figuratively speaking, the structure of the language can be likened to the human skeleton, and the system - the totality of its organs. In this sense, it is quite legitimate to talk about the structure of the system. In Russian linguistics, as well as in a number of foreign schools, the distinction between the concepts of the system and structure of a language is often based on the nature of the relations between their elements. The elements of the structure are connected with each other by syntagmatic relations (cf. the word usage accepted in linguistics word structure , sentence structure etc.), and the elements of the system are connected by paradigmatic relations (cf. case system , vowel system etc.).

The idea of ​​a systematic language has been developed in different linguistic schools. The Prague School of Linguistics played an important role in the development of the doctrine of the systemic nature of language, in which the language system is characterized primarily as a functional system, i.e. as a system of means of expression used for a specific purpose. The Prague School of Linguistics also put forward the thesis of language as a system of systems. This thesis was further interpreted in different ways: according to one point of view, the language system is a system of language levels, each of which is also a system; according to another, the language system is a system of functional styles (sublanguages), each of which is also a system.

A significant contribution to the development of the idea of ​​the systemic nature of the language was also made by Russian linguistics, which developed the doctrine of the units of the language, their systemic connections and functions, the distinction between statics and dynamics in the language, etc.

Modern ideas about the systemic nature of a language are primarily associated with the doctrine of its levels, their units and relationships, since a language system, like any other, has its own structure, internal structure which is determined by the hierarchy of levels.

Language levels are subsystems (tiers) of the general language system, each of which has a set of its own units and rules for their functioning. Traditionally, the following main levels of language are distinguished: phonemic, lexical, morphological and syntactic. Some scholars also distinguish morphonological, derivational and phraseological levels. There are, however, other points of view on the system of language levels. According to one of them, the level organization of the language is more complex, it consists of such tiers as hypophonemic, phonemic, morphemic, lexeme, sememe, etc. According to others, it is simpler, consisting of only three tiers: phonetic, lexicogrammatic and semantic. And when considering the language from the point of view of the "plan of expression" and "plan of content" - only from two tiers: phonological (plane of expression) and semantic (plane of content).

Each of the levels of the language has its own, qualitatively different units that have different purposes, structure, compatibility and place in the language system. In accordance with the law of the structural correlation of language levels, a unit of a higher level is built from units of a lower level (cf. morphemes from phonemes), and a unit of a lower level implements its functions in units of a higher level (cf. morphemes in words).

In most languages ​​of the world, the following language units are distinguished: phoneme, morpheme, word, phrase and sentence. In addition to these basic units, in each of the levels (tiers) there are a number of units that differ in the degree of abstraction, complexity, for example, on the phonetic tier - a phonetic syllable, a phonetic word, speech measures, phonetic phrases, etc. The sound units of the language are one-sided, insignificant. These are the shortest language units obtained as a result of linear division of the speech stream. Their function is to form and distinguish the sound shells of bilateral units. All other units of language tiers are two-sided, meaningful: they all have a plane of expression and a plane of content.

In structural linguistics, the classification of language units is based on the divisibility / indivisibility feature, in connection with which the limiting (hereinafter indivisible) units of the language (for example, phoneme, morpheme) and non-limiting (for example, group phonemes, analytical word forms, complex sentences) are distinguished.

Specific representatives of the same language unit are in paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations with each other. paradigmatic relations- these are relations in the inventory, they make it possible to distinguish one unit of a given type from all others, since the same unit of a language exists in the form of many variants (cf. phoneme/allophone; morpheme/morph/allomorph, etc.). Syntagmatic relations - these are compatibility relationships that are established between units of the same type in a speech chain (for example, a speech stream from a phonetic point of view consists of phonetic phrases, phonetic phrases - from speech measures, speech measures - from phonetic words, phonetic words - from syllables, syllables - from sounds; the sequence of words in a speech chain illustrates their syntagmatics, and the combination of words in various groups- synonymous, antonymic, lexico-semantic - is an example of paradigmatic relations).

Depending on their purpose, functions in language system language units are divided into nominative, communicative and combat. Nominative units of the language(word, phrase) are used to designate objects, concepts, ideas. Communicative units of language(sentence) are used to report something, with the help of these units thoughts, feelings, wills are formed and expressed, people communicate. Building units of the language(phonemes, morphemes) serve as a means of constructing and designing nominative, and through them, communicative units.

The units of the language are interconnected by various types of relations, among which paradigmatic, syntagmatic and hierarchical are most often encountered. Moreover, the relations between units of one tier of the language and different tiers are fundamentally different from each other. Units belonging to the same tier of the language enter into paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations, for example, phonemes form classes of functionally identical sounds, morphemes - classes of functionally identical morphs, etc., i.e. this is a type of paradigmatic variant-invariant relationship. At the same time, in a linear sequence, phonemes are combined with phonemes, morphemes with morphs. In modern linguistics, syntagmatic relations are often compared with the logical relations of conjunction (relations and ~ and), and paradigmatic - with logical relations of disjunction (relations or ~ or). In hierarchical relationships (such as “consists of” or “includes in”) there are units of language levels, cf .: phonemes are included in the sound shells of morphemes, morphemes - in a word, a word - in a sentence, and, conversely, sentences consist of words, words - of morphemes, morphemes - of phonemes, etc.

Language levels are not isolated tiers, on the contrary, they are closely interconnected and determine the structure of the language system (cf., for example, the connection of all language levels in such a unit as a word: with its different sides it belongs simultaneously to the phonemic, morphemic, lexical and syntactic levels ). Sometimes units can coincide in one sound form different levels. A classic example illustrating this situation was the example of A. A. Reformed from the Latin language: two Romans argued who would say the shortest phrase; one said: "Eo rus" 'I'm going to the village', and the other replied: "1" 'go'. In this Latin i the sentence, word, morpheme and phoneme match, i.e. it includes all levels of the language.

The language system is a constantly evolving system, although its different levels develop at different rates (the morphological level of the language, for example, is generally more conservative than the lexical one, which quickly responds to changes in society), so the center stands out in the language system ( morphology) and periphery (vocabulary).