"How many languages you know - so many times you are a man" - so Anton Chekhov used to say. And not every modern person fully understands the essence of this phrase. In our world, the walls between countries and cultures gradually began to "fall down" - we can freely travel the world, meet new people who speak completely different languages and study them. Learning a new type of speech, we discover a new world, become different, start to think differently. Why is it so? Our linguistic consciousness is changing. About what it is and how important this psycholinguistic process plays in a person's life, we will now talk.
Intro
Being born in a certain country and from the first months of our life listening to the speech of our parents, we perceive it as our own. We learn to repeat the sounds that are peculiar to her, the combinations of letters, her unique words. Each word, even the simplest one, is instantly reflected in our consciousness in the form of an object or phenomenon, the symbol of which it is.is. That is, when we hear "sofa", we immediately draw in our head a cozy place by the TV or a fireplace where we can lie, and the word "tsunami" will cause alarm, make us imagine a huge impending wave.
If a foreigner hears these words in this form, they will not cause him or other experiences and "drawings" in his imagination. But having begun to study the Russian language, he will gradually begin to connect our words, first of all, with his own, which mean the same thing, and only then, having overcome this prism, will he understand their true meaning. When a foreigner moves to Russia and literally imbued with our language and culture, begins to think in Russian, these words will become as vivid for him as they are for you and me. But there is one "but" - his native names of these objects and phenomena will also remain vivid linguistic symbols for him, so a certain duality will form in his head. This will mean that his linguistic consciousness has just split in two, thus becoming richer and more multifaceted.
Dig into history
And now we are transported from the time when humanity was at one of the first stages of evolution. Our ancestors have already ceased to be wild animals, have already partially learned to use their minds and make certain discoveries. At this level, they needed to invent a system by which they could communicate and understand each other. People began to invent words, or rather, sets of sounds that would somehow describe everything that surrounded them. Logicallythat the first terms were created on the basis of associations with the sounds that objects and phenomena made, later they were transformed and became what we know them now. This is how the first dialects appeared, which for each tribe were their own, individual.
A little more time came, and people realized that their verbal terms needed to be recorded somehow, for example, in order to pass on experience to children, in order to leave a memory of themselves in history. Letters and numbers were still very far away, so our ancestors created some signs. Some of them corresponded exactly to visible objects - the sun, a person, a cat, etc. What was difficult to draw in miniature was recorded using a fictitious symbol. Until now, historians cannot unravel all those records that our predecessors created, but at the same time, the process of deciphering them has acquired the status of an official science - semiotics.
Further round
Gradually, the signs began to turn into simpler symbols that meant a certain syllable or sound - this is how oral and written speech appeared. Each tribe developed its own linguistic branch - this became the basis for the emergence of all the currently existing languages of the world. This was the reason for the emergence of a science dealing with this phenomenon - linguistics. What does this field of study study? Of course, languages. This science is part or an offshoot of semiotics, it considers written speech as a system of signs, and oral speech as a concomitant phenomenon. But the most interesting thing is that linguistics studies human language as a singlephenomenon. There are no such concepts as English, Russian, Chinese or Spanish linguistics. All languages are simultaneously considered according to a single scheme as an integral organism. With all this, it should be noted that dead languages are also taken into account - Sanskrit, Latin, runes, etc. In many ways, they are the basis of linguistic concepts and conclusions.
Main riddle-solution
Such a concept as linguistic consciousness, in linguistics, by and large is absent. This phenomenon is already considered from a psycholinguistic point of view, not without the participation of ethnographic developments. It's simple, because we have already understood that linguists deal with the human language as a whole, and do not divide it into Romance, Germanic, Slavic and other categories, and even more so into their subspecies (that is, our languages). Why is that? Have you ever wondered why anyone, anyone can learn a foreign language? It's all about the structure, which is the same for all dialects of our modern world. Every language has parts of speech, their conjugations, the different forms they can take depending on the tense and gender they belong to, etc.
One language will have more adjective endings, while another will focus on verb conjugation. But all grammatical components will be present to one degree or another in any language. Only the letters and the words that are made up of them differ from each other, but the system itself remains the same. Here's the clue - linguistics studies human speech as a single organism, which, depending on the geographicallocations, sounds different, but always remains itself. At the same time, a mystery follows from this - why are all our languages that were formed in different parts of the planet so similar? No one has figured it out yet.
What about linguistic diversity?
Yes, yes, you say, of course, learning a foreign language, even the most difficult one, of course, is possible, and even interesting. But if we do not know it from the very beginning and have not yet begun to teach it, then the person who will speak on it will look very mysterious to us. We will not understand a word, and the individual sounds uttered by him will be partially compared with our dialect, looking for at least some similarities. What kind of similarity can we talk about then and why linguistics does not deal with this issue?
There is a similarity, but it lies in the schematic, or rather, grammatical level. But when it comes to the sound or spelling of specific words, of course, unfamiliar dialects frighten and repel us. The thing is that our linguistic consciousness is tuned in a different way, meeting with an unfamiliar "note", we lose balance. The study of this phenomenon was taken up by another science - psycholinguistics. She is very young (1953), but her contribution to the development of the science of man and culture is difficult to overestimate. In short, psycholinguistics is the study of language, thought, and consciousness. And it is she who can give a clear answer to the question of what the concept of linguistic consciousness is, how it works and what it depends on.
But beforewe're going to dive into this really complex term, consider it as two separate words. The first is the language, its varieties and features. The second is consciousness…
What is language?
This term is very widely used in various scientific disciplines, such as linguistics, philosophy, psychology, etc. It is also interpreted depending on the breadth of the material being studied. But we, as people who just want to understand the meaning of this word, should pay attention to the most "social" interpretation of the term, so to speak, which will cover all scientific fields to a small extent and give a clear answer to the question. So, language is a system of signs within the framework of any physical nature, which performs a communicative and cognitive role in human life. Language can be natural or artificial. The first refers to the speech that we use every day in communication, read on posters, in advertisements, articles, etc. An artificial language is a specific scientific terminology (mathematics, physics, philosophy, etc.). It is believed that language is nothing but the most important stage in the social development of man. With its help, we communicate, understand each other, interact in society and evolve emotionally and mentally.
From the point of view of psycholinguistics
Psychologists, who based their observations on the dialect of a person that was and remains native to him, based on the generally accepted conclusion, made several more conclusions. First, language is a limitation. A person experiences feelings, emotions that cause certain external factors in him. These sensations turn into thoughts, and thoughts are thought out by us in a certain language. We are trying to “fit” mental activity to the model of speech that is native to us, we find the right words to describe this or that feeling, in this way, to some extent, we correct it, remove all unnecessary. If there was no need to drive impressions into the framework of certain words, they would be much more vivid and multifaceted. It is in this way that language and linguistic consciousness interact, which is formed by those very "cut down" feelings and thoughts.
On the other hand, if we didn't know specific words to describe our feelings, we wouldn't be able to share them with others, and we wouldn't even be able to remember them exactly - everything would just get mixed up in our heads. It is these processes that occur in the brain of mentally retarded people who do not have speech skills - a fairly common occurrence in psychology. The ability to do this is simply blocked for them, so they do not have a clear worldview, therefore, they cannot express it verbally.
Consciousness…
It wouldn't exist as such if language didn't exist. Consciousness is a very shaky term, which is most often interpreted in psychology. This is the ability to think, reason, observing the world around us, and draw conclusions. And turn all this into your own worldview. Origin of consciousnessoriginates in those times when man had just begun to build his first society. Words appeared, the first adverbs that allowed everyone to clothe their previously uncontrollable thoughts in something holistic, to determine what is good and bad, what is pleasant or disgusting. According to the works of ancient philosophers, the origin of consciousness is inextricably linked with the emergence of linguistic culture, moreover, in many respects it is the words and their sound that can influence the perception of a particular phenomenon.
Trap words
So, language consciousness… What is it? What is the interpretation of this term and how can it be understood? First of all, let's turn again to the two words that we have just discussed individually in detail. Language is a relatively material subject. It exists in a concrete form here and now (that is, there is space and time), it can be described, written down, even legitimized. Consciousness is an object "not from our world". It is not fixed in any way, it is constantly changing, it has no form and is not tied to either space or time. Scientists decided to combine two opposite concepts into one term, why? Psycholinguistic research has proven that it is language that allows us to shape the consciousness that defines us as spiritual beings. And here we get the answer to the most important question: it is a thought-form, which is a collective component, consisting of an impression, a feeling and a word that describes it all.
Formation process
The phenomenon described above mayto be a faithful companion of the life of only that person who was born and raised within the framework of society, brought up by people who communicated and heard their speech. Exaggeratedly speaking, "Mowgli" does not have a chance to master the thought form, since the very concept of "speech" is unknown to him. The formation of linguistic consciousness occurs in a person approximately in the first year of his life. At this moment, the child does not yet pronounce specific words - he simply repeats individual sounds heard from others, but focuses more on the actions and phenomena that surround him. This is how his first experience is formed, devoid of a thought form, which is built along the chain "action follows action." Simply put, he instinctively fears what previously frightened him, and becomes addicted to what once brought him pleasure.
In the second year of life, a person begins to distinguish words and gradually identifies their sound with the objects and phenomena to which they refer. The "action-word" chain is launched, during which the child actively memorizes all the links. So he learns the first words, identifying their sound with the visible world. But the peculiarities of linguistic consciousness lie in the fact that the studied words are also capable of influencing our perception of specific things in one way or another. For example, in Russian a certain phenomenon can be described by a very complex and long term, so it is spoken about less often, it has little effect on people's minds. While the same phenomenon in English will be denoted by a short and simple word, it will often be used in everyday speech andit will play an important role in shaping people's worldview.
Whatever you call a boat, so it will float
A very ephemeral question for all psycholinguists is the one that asks about values in linguistic consciousness. What are they and what are they? This concept, which is difficult to understand, most often refers to those words that carry a sacred meaning for us in their sound. It is clear that for each language they will be completely different both in sound and in spelling. Moreover, for each culture that is a carrier of a particular language, a word can be sacred, which in our everyday life has nothing special. The generally accepted values in all dialects of the world are those associated with religion, family, veneration of ancestors. They display the values of each individual people in the language in the form of the most sweet-sounding words, and they can also describe certain cultural phenomena that are unique to this ethnic group.
It is interesting to know that long wars have caused the emergence of negative expressions and words in every language. Today we perceive them as insults, but if you listen carefully to their sound, you can easily understand that these are simple "everyday" words used by speakers of other languages. The most striking example is the word "God" in English - "God". In Russian, it is an unpleasant word and can only testify to the fact that over the centuries, relations between our ancestors and English-speaking countries have been so strained thatpeople dared to turn the sacred into an insult.
For a Russian person
There is an opinion that Russian was the first and only language on the planet long before other dialects appeared. Perhaps this is so, and perhaps not. But we all see and realize perfectly well, and also foreigners understand together with us that a richer and richer language cannot be found in the world. What is it, Russian linguistic consciousness? Considering the above, and also remembering that language can be a limiter for a thought-form, we come to the conclusion that it was our people who got the opportunity to create their worldview according to the most extended template. That is, the we alth of words, expressions, statements and conclusions that are composed and exist in the Russian interpretation, allow us to form the most "broad" consciousness.
Basically, the thought form of a Russian person consists of associations and reactions that arise on a particular word. For example, "faith" immediately takes us to church, "duty" makes us tense up, feel obligated", "cleanliness" sets us in a positive way, helps to get rid of negative thoughts. Some words, due to their similarity, may cause laughter or misunderstanding in that or other context.
Experiencing a different culture
Learning a foreign language is an activity that is not just interesting and entertaining. It allows you to expand your verbal and mental boundaries, to understand how people reason and communicate in other culturalframework, what they laugh at, and what is considered the most important. It is one thing when a child from the cradle is brought up in two languages at the same time - he initially develops a dual linguistic consciousness. It is a completely different case when an adult consciously begins to study foreign speech. In order for it to become the cause of the formation of a new thought form in his head, it is necessary to achieve a certain level of language proficiency. This involves a perfect understanding of the structure, i.e. the grammar of a particular dialect, as well as an extensive vocabulary. This includes not only the standard terms that are taught in school. It is extremely important to know expressions, sayings, sayings. It is from these elements that any culture of speech is formed, and by getting to know it, you expand your boundaries of perception of the world. Reaching the deepest level of language proficiency, you begin to communicate freely with native speakers, understand them perfectly, and most importantly, think using this new kind of verbal signals for you.
Small bonus at the end
Have you ever wondered why psychologists feel you so subtly, easily recognize lies in the words of others and understand what they really think? Of course, such a technique is not possible for all representatives of this profession, but only for those who have studied psycholinguistics and are familiar with the nature of human speech. So, to understand what is on a person’s mind, a psycholinguistic analysis of his speech allows. What is meant by this term? Every language has words that serve as signals. They can testify to us that a personhe is worried, talking about a specific thing, or he is in a panic, or he is looking for words, because there is simply no truth in his subconscious. Simply put, certain verbal sounds are beacons of lies, insecurity, or, conversely, confirm truthfulness and serve as evidence of feelings and motives. By learning the basics of this simple analysis, you can easily identify the nature of the actions and words of everyone around you.
