Language Sign As A Means Of Objectification Of Human Consciousness

Abstract

The idea of the anthropocentrism of language has become a key one in modern linguistics. Within the framework of the anthropocentric paradigm, special attention is paid to the mutual influence of language and human thinking. In this regard, there is a need to consider morphological categories in close connection with cognitive activity, the processes of conceptualization, and categorization. The paper represents cognitive linguistics, one of the most relevant areas of modern science today. The categorization of human experience is connected with the cognitive activity of a person since information received by a person in the course of mastering the surrounding world finds its expression in linguistic forms. The article considers grammatical categories and their content aspect as a result of conceptualization and categorization. The formation of the cognitive direction in Kazakh linguistics is represented by the works of Y. Altynsarin, A. Baitursynov, K. Zhubanov, K. Kemengerov, and other scientists. It is possible to define the part that creates the conceptual dimension of morphology. However, it cannot be an independent part, outside the framework of the conceptual system. In cognitive linguistics, vocabulary, semantics, morphology, and syntax are considered in unity. They define the general positions inherent in human thinking. Grammar as a cognitive system is a factor that determines the conceptual structure of a language. Categorical meanings become the basis of the semantics of words and are reflected within the form; therefore, conceptual categories form grammatical categories. Grammatical categories as morphological indicators acquire an independent meaning.

Keywords: Anthropocentrism, concept, category, cognitive linguistics, language, worldview

Introduction

Today, the anthropocentric direction dominates in linguistics, and the human factor is of particular importance. The anthropocentric principle in the study is aimed at a deep disclosure of the dialectological unity of the two most important functions of the language, in particular, cognitive and communicative activity. Each of them forms a separate direction in modern science. Cognitive science deals with the human worldview. For example, as a result of the conceptualization of the somatic image of a person, his physical ability, intellectual abilities, emotions, and social “I” are manifested. A person manifests himself as a person who takes part in the action of language thinking. A person is manifested in the language in vocabulary and phraseology, and its specific features can also be traced in grammatical categories. For this, it is necessary not only to consider grammatical categories but to study the language as a cognitive system, taking into account the requirements of communication and cognition.

Cognitive linguistics has firmly taken its place in the paradigm of the concepts of modern linguistics. Language acts as a tool for mastering knowledge about the world. The cognitive approach to language is the belief that language form is ultimately a reflection of cognitive structures, that is, structures of human thought and cognition. Therefore, through the system of natural language signs, access to the internal mental lexicon of a person is opened – the most important mechanism for the cognitive processing of information. The central category in the cognitive approach to language is knowledge. Knowledge is the main, fundamental form of cognitive organization. Language is used to determine the level of knowledge. Knowledge, reflected in the language, shows the results of human mental activity. Thought is formed and expressed through language. Cognitive research, taking into account the function of language as a structure designed to explain the assimilation, processing, and transfer of knowledge, will make it possible to characterize language categories in a new way.

Problem Statement

Each linguistic unit is a mechanism that determines the cognitive process and the way the meaning is structured. Semantics and grammar as the basis for the formation of meaning from a cognitive point of view are a way to create the results of cognition. Vocabulary represents the worldview of a particular community that speaks a certain language and has studied the features of objects and phenomena of the world around it. The worldview requires not only individual components but also an understanding of the connections between them. Morphology is the area of ​​objectification of linguistic knowledge, which creates knowledge about the world. It accumulates a store of knowledge about the methods of conceptualization in the language of morphological categories and forms, it characterizes the place of the main concepts that form the worldview in the creation of knowledge about the language. In the conceptual space of morphology, knowledge about linguistic meaning, categories, and forms is preserved.

The anthropocentric principle of language is reflected in the lexico-semantic system. These units serve as a cultural code. Language is a means of culture; being a constituent part, along with this, it creates the basis of an ethnic personality, which, in turn, develops in a linguistic environment. Each addressant is a bearer of culture: linguistic signs are used as cultural signs, thereby signifying the features of the national culture. For example, it is not customary for Kazakhs to ask where a person is going and how far he is going. Kazakhs greet as follows: In this regard, Baitursynov (2017) wrote:

The fact that we know all the words of the Kazakh language is not considered the use of the Kazakh language. The ability to use language means the ability to choose words that suit the expressed thoughts, and the ability to correctly place words in a sentence in their places and meanings. The Kazakh language among the Kazakhs is not used in the same way everywhere. Everyone uses different words in their way. Even in a simple address at a meeting, everyone uses different words and expressions. For example, some say! others – thirds –? Everyone has one goal: to find out how health is, how life is, i. e., to say hello, but everyone uses different expressions and words. (p. 27)

Therefore, for communication, not only the ability of the addressant to correctly convey his thought is of great importance, but also the ability of the addressee to understand and accept what he heard. To implement communication, Zhubanov emphasizes the addressant's ability to choose the right language units, as well as the addressee's correct understanding of the message expressed: “The meaning of the word Tanymadyk (‘I didn’t know’) means: “I can’t find out, tell me”, “Who are you?”. And in the expression Zhol bolsyn! (‘Happy journey!’) lies not only the wish for a good journey but also the interrogative meaning “Where are you going?” (Zhubanov, 1999, p. 49). Therefore, for successful communication, the subjects of speech activity, the addressant, and the addressee need not only to learn the codes transmitted from generation to generation but also the ability to apply them correctly.

In language, cognitive, lexical, and other means are in unity. Researchers, speaking about similar phenomena in the human mental consciousness, use different names (Dzyuba, 2018; Evans, 2006; Maslova, 2021; Pesina, 2021; Skripnikova, 2015). In the works of Boldyrev and Dubrovskaya (2016) and Besedina (2021) notes that concepts reflected in the grammatical concepts are used to represent significant concepts of real life. In Kazakh linguistics, morphological concepts have not yet become the object of special studies. However, analyzing the works of scientists who have contributed to the formation and development of Kazakh linguistics, it can be seen that the initial concepts of cognitive grammar were discussed by Y. Altynsarin, A. Baitursynov, K. Zhubanov, and K. Kemengerov. In the works of A. Baitursynov, language and consciousness, linguistic consciousness, language and concept, conceptualization and categorization, lexical and grammatical meanings of words, and characteristics of grammatical meanings are discussed in many ways.

Research Questions

Each language represented reality in its way: where the collective philosophy is reflected, and, in addition to the scientific worldview, other pictures are. Due to the variety of ways of perception, the results are different. Language is a phenomenon that reflects the worldview of a person, it is determined through ethnocultural signs. A person occupies a special place in the system of linguistic categories. In this regard, Zolotova (2011) states that a man is the central figure of the language both as a talker and the main character of the world he speaks about.

The image of a person is reflected in language semantics. Humanity perceives and cognizes itself, exploring the language. In this regard, the postulate of Zhubanov deserves attention. Human nature tends to cognize others first and then itself. For example, only after a person learned about photography he began to give names to other objects, call himself the likeness of another – recognize himself as a small world, similar to a large universe. This knowledge influenced the language. For example, in Russian nebo [sky], in the Kazakh aspan, in the Russian nobo [palate], in the Kazakh tanday: in the Kazakh language, tan is the name of the universe, it means the owner of the quality inherent in the representative from above; that is, the sky is the upper part of the human body. By recognizing the signs of individual particles, a person, forming an attributive portrait, cognizes the world (Zhubanov, 1999). The scientist characterizes linguistic phenomena in connection with the tendencies of categorization and conceptualization of a person, i. e., explains the names of objects to a person.

The concept is a thought, representation, and knowledge of the subject about the world objects. Scientists argue that the concept of preserving knowledge about the world creates a conceptual system. This makes it possible for a person to analyze and compare different concepts with each other, due to which new ones are created. Concepts are mostly non-verbal formations. They are based on sensory and motor representations. The world is perceived by human consciousness through various human senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) and formed as an information processing result. In the historical development, two types of knowledge were formed, sensory and logical. If sensory knowledge is associated with sensation, perception, and representation through the human senses, then logical knowledge as a result of thinking is aimed at determining the essence, specificity, and patterns of any phenomena. Over time, knowledge is ordered, systematized as a collective worldview, and becomes part of the culture. The fund of knowledge accumulated over many centuries reflects the traditions and customs, skills and abilities, peculiarities of thinking, and worldview inherent in a particular people's cultural community (Prokopieva et al., 2021).

The language preserves the picture of the world formed in the people's collective consciousness. As an example, consider the development of the semantics of the word kabyrga ('rib'). The original meaning of the word kabyrga is “bones attached to the vertebral system of humans, animals”. That is, the bones that surround the soft organs of the human body, such as the lungs, liver, heart, kidneys, etc. The meaning of "environment" in the concept is also preserved in the use of uydin kabyrgasy ('walls of the house'); it is also present in the mathematical term "sides of a geometric figure." In the course of semantic development, the word kabyrga became the basis for the meaning of “support”: the expression kabyrgamen kenesu “to consult with a loved one (with a rib)” is used only when a person wants to hear the advice of the closest person or share the most intimate with him. Such an expression is not used about a person who is not loved, not respected, and not trusted.

As a result of the relationship between concept and semantic levels, linguistic units are used in the concept system. The most important meanings for the language pass to the morphological level in the process of natural logical selection: this is associated with the thinking, the intellectual and mental activity of a person, and the processing and qualification of information.

Parts of speech (noun, adjective, verb, etc.), when used, activate different structures of consciousness, i. e., describing in different ways, making it possible for various concepts to appear. As a cognitive phenomenon, parts of speech show such features of human thinking as world knowledge and understanding. With the help of this, the mental feature of the subject is revealed. These linguistic features are reflected in the basic concepts of a universal nature: space, time, and quality. In the works of Baitursynov, the meta concept “noun” is defined from the standpoint of the concept “object”. In the definition given to the noun, the scientist notes: “Some words call the object itself” (Baitursynuly, 2017, p. 8). The scientist, as a difference between a noun and an adjective, notes that the noun names the object itself, and the adjective designates its attribute. Baitursynov, when classifying a noun and an adjective, took as a basis the logical categories of general grammar: concept and recept. This is also demonstrated in the scientist's definitions given the numeral, pronoun, and verb. The work was intended for children, so he tried to convey the basic concepts of linguistics in a simple and understandable language for children. Although there was a common name: Tіl – құral ('Language is a means') when classifying them into chapters, they are given as follows: phonetics – sound system and types; morphology – a system of words and types; syntax – a system of sentences and types. Language is characterized as a system, the features of each of its parts are determined. Baitursynuly, when compiling textbooks, moving from the particular to the general, took into account the easy assimilation of educational material by children. These positions of the scientist were guided by other authors of textbooks, Zhubanov, Shonanov, and Kemengerov.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the article is to comprehend the process of language nomination; determine the cognitive role of language; show how linguistic units allow you to isolate and comprehend the objects and phenomena of reality; present language as a cognitive mechanism for the formation of human knowledge about the world, thereby tracing the process of nomination as a process of cognition of the world, isolating and understanding specific fragments of non-linguistic reality.

Research Methods

The article used the description method, general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, cognitive, contextual, structural-semantic analyzes, and comparative analysis. Based on the generalization and comparative analysis of the nature and form of reflection of the human factor in the grammatical categories of the Kazakh language, the national and cultural specificity of grammatical categories was revealed. The study lays the foundations for a new scientific direction for Kazakh linguistics of the anthropocentric grammar of the Kazakh language.

Findings

The information collected as a result of knowing and understanding the reality is preserved in the language: the people's knowledge about national characteristics, public places, history, and world knowledge. Culture and language are closely connected with the mentality, and people's worldview: the language makes it possible to understand the peculiarities of the national mentality. Through language study, one can see and understand the inner world of a representative of a specific culture. A linguistic sign is an indicator of ethnolinguistic consciousness; the system of meanings determines its ethnocultural one. In the problem of language – culture – ethnos – ethnocultural consciousness occupies a special place. Ethno-cultural consciousness is a set of knowledge that has a social significance for a particular society, which is preserved with the help of language. Language, culture, and ethnicity are closely interconnected. The worldview, created by a system of categories, turns into a code that is passed from generation to generation in finished form. For a complete understanding of the language and speech activity, lexical and grammatical concepts must be characterized in unity. Morphological concepts as mental structures in the language structure are displayed through grammatical means.

The grammatical concept is the result of generalization at the highest level. Grammar concepts, which contain ways of displaying knowledge about the world in the language, are considered more stable than lexical concepts. The stability of grammatical concepts is due to their connection with the categorical part of the conceptual picture of the world. Grammatical concepts are able to be standardized at the national level. The categories reflected in grammar are mandatory, therefore, when studying morphology from a cognitive point of view, one can determine what is significant for a particular language, what cannot be out of the speaker's field of vision, what parts of human experience are reflected in the worldview and how they are classified.

Conclusion

Language is based on the human experience. By acquiring a language, a person who speaks that language also adopts the worldview inherent in this culture. Language actively serves culture and knowledge. A linguistic sign is a way of transmitting linguistic consciousness, which reflects the history and culture of the people. Human knowledge is preserved in linguistic semantics, creating a linguistic worldview. The study of the semantics of linguistic signs makes it possible to determine the linguistic and morphological representation. This allows identifying what was significant for the people in a specific historical period and what remained out of sight. By studying linguistic semantics, one can determine the patterns of linguistic conceptualization of the world and restore the linguistic worldview of a period.

The linguistic worldview becomes the basis of the entire cultural stereotype; their analysis makes it possible to distinguish between national cultures. Language affects the formation and accumulation, structuring, that is, the conceptualization of knowledge about the world, as well as the creation and expansion of the conceptual system. It depends on the two-way nature of semantics: semantics applies to both the concept system and the language system. Therefore, by investigating linguistic semantics, it is possible to restore the linguistic worldview created by the people, the subject-owner of the language.

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