NATURAL CONCEPTS AND PARTS OF SPEECH

NATURAL CONCEPTS AND PARTS OF SPEECH

Author:  V.A. Gureyev

Affiliation:  International University in Moscow

Abstract:  The article is concerned with an inherent correlation between the conceptual system of an individual and the parts of speech system. The author argues that natural concepts representing basic ontological categories such as an object and its properties (static and dynamic) form the basis of primary semantically undifferentiated verbal signs. 
Comparing some of the existing hypotheses concerning the appearance of the first human words the author suggests that nouns due to their unique representative potential should have been just those syncretic lingual signs that jointly designated both an object and its properties. Not only objects but also their properties can be perceived as separate entities as a result of the hypostasis. The “genetic” multifacetedness of nouns is manifested in their syntactic variability: besides functioning as subjects and objects they can also be used as attributes, adverbial modifiers and predicatives. The author emphasizes that language syncretism is a reflection of mental syncretism. 
The research also shows that the coining of parts of speech and their further differentiation is a result of classifying and cognitive activities of an individual and a vivid manifestation of his evolving cognitive potential.

Keywords:  natural concepts, category of object, noun, hypostasis, parts of speech system

References: 
Batuev, A.S. (2009). Fiziologiya vysshey nervnoy deyatel'nosti i sensornykh sistem. SPb.: Piter,
Beyts, E. (1984). Intentsii, kognitsii, simvoly. In Psikholingvistika: sbornik statey (pp. 50-102). Moscow.
Boldyrev, N.N. (2001). Kognitivnaya semantika. Kurs lektsiy po angliyskoy filologii. Tambov: Izd-vo Tambovskogo un-ta.
Bross, Sh. de (1821-1822). Rassuzhdenie o mekhanicheskom sostave yazykov i fizicheskikh nachalakh etimologii (Parizh, 1765) / per. A. Nikol'skogo. SPb.
Gak, V.G. (1986). Teoreticheskaya grammatika frantsuzskogo yazyka. Sintaksis. Moscow: Vysshaya shkola.
Ikonnikova, O.N. (2011). Diakhroniya kategorii imeni prilagatel'nogo (na materiale yazykov raznykh sistem): avtoref. dis. … kand. filol. nauk. Pyatigorsk.
Katsnel'son, S.D. (2001). Kategorii yazyka i myshleniya. Iz nauchnogo naslediya. Moscow: Yazyki slavyanskoy kul'tury.
Kubryakova, E.S. (1996). Kontseptualizatsiya. In Kubryakova, E.S., Dem'yankov, V.Z., Pankrats, Yu.G., Luzina, V.G. (Eds.), Kratkiy slovar' kognitivnykh terminov (pp. 93-94). Moscow: Filologicheskiy fakul'tet MGU im. M.V. Lomonosova.
Kubryakova, E.S. (2004). Yazyk i znanie. Moscow: Yazyki slavyanskoy kul'tury.
Kubryakova, E.S. (2012). V poiskakh sushchnosti yazyka. Kognitivnye issledovaniya. Moscow: Znak.
Panfilov, A.K. (1971). Slovo «predlozhenie» kak nauchnyy termin. RYaSh, 4, 87-90.
Potebnya, A.A. (1968). Iz zapisok po russkoy grammatike. III. Proiskhozhdenie imeni prilagatel'nogo (pp. 37-80). Moscow: Prosveshchenie.
Radkhakrishnan, S. (1994). Indiyskaya filosofiya. Vol. 2. SPb.: TOO «Stiks».
Ryabtseva, N.K. (1976). Logicheskiy analiz yazyka: mental'nye deystviya. Moscow: Nauka.
Solso, R.L. (1996). Kognitivnaya psikhologiya. Moscow: Trivola.
Tomasello, M. (2011). Istoki chelovecheskogo obshcheniya. Moscow: Yazyki slavyanskikh kul'tur.
Chepasova, A.M., Kazachuk, I.G. (2012). Sushchestvitel'nye v sovremennom russkom yazyke. Moscow: Flinta.
Shvedova, N.Yu. (1996) Mestoimenie i smysl: Klass russkikh mestoimeniy i otkryvaemye imi smyslovye prostranstva. Moscow: Azbukovnik.
Daniel, E. (1883). The grammar, history and derivation of the English language: with chapters on parsing, analysis of sentences, and prosody. London: Nat. Soc. Depository, (1^stedn. – 1881)
Heine, B., Claudi, U., Hunnemeyer, F. (1991). Grammaticalization: A conceptual framework. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive psychology Appleton-Century-Crofts.

Pages:  92-96