TYPES OF MOTIVATION IN THE LANGUAGE

TYPES OF MOTIVATION IN THE LANGUAGE

Author:  V.G. Kuznetsov

Affiliation:  Moscow State Linguistic University

Abstract:  The paper is an attempt to reveal types of motivation in the language, to establish their relevant features and their role as of the cognitive mechanisms of the nomination. The author reveals and analyzes five types of motivation – explicit, implicit, secondary, sound symbolism and internal form of the word. F. de Saussure was the first who formulated the idea of the explicit or derivational motivation, based on semiological approach. His fellow colleague Ch. Bally defined the new type of motivation – implicit, which is a combination of several designata (the signified). He also enlarged the motivation by the signifier – sound symbolism. The forth type of the motivation is the secondary one (metonymy and metaphorization). The inner/internal form of the word emphasizing the motivation in the language should be /and is/ thoroughly studied. Thus two types of motivation – implicit and the motivation by the internal form of the word should be added to the three other traditionally defined types. The author assumes that the five types of motivation revealed are language universals. The study of different types of motivation makes a solid contribution to comparative-typological researches and to the cognitive aspects of the theory of nomination.

Keywords:  arbitrariness of language sign, explicit and implicit motivation, secondary motivation, sound symbolism, internal form of the word, nomination.

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Pages:  135-143