Basic linguistic units, main branches of linguistics. Units of language

§1. Oral and written speech. Sounds and letters. Transcription. Phonetics

Language is presented in the form of speech: oral and written. Written speech appeared later than oral speech. Writing was invented to store information and transmit it across time and space. Thanks to this, we can find out information recorded many centuries ago, very far from the place where we are now. The emergence of writing is the same important milestone in the development of human civilization, just like the advent of the computer today. Even more important.

Oral speech is a flow of sounds, but a flow organized according to special laws. The minimal units of oral speech are sounds.
Sounds can be pronounced.
Sounds can be heard.
For this, a person has special organs: the speech apparatus and hearing organs.

Letters are conventional and not always precise designations of sounds in writing.
Letters can be written.
The letters can be read.
For this, a person has a hand and writing instruments: pencil, pen, chalk, charcoal, and today a computer. Letters are perceived by sight. The human organ of vision is the eyes.

Words can be written in letters. Letters of the Russian alphabet. Speak correctly: alphabet.
There are not the same number of sounds and letters. There are 6 stressed vowels in the Russian language (there are also unstressed ones) and 36 consonant sounds. 33 letters convey all sounds and their various combinations in writing. It is clear that there are no clear correspondences between letters and sounds. That's why we have so many spelling rules.

The sound composition of a language, the characteristics of sounds, how they behave when they are next to each other and in different positions in a word are studied by phonetics. The letter composition of words, the rules for writing words, their parts and forms are studied by spelling. For Russian spelling rules, see Spelling.

§2. Word. Lexical meaning of the word. Lexicology

Each word has its own sound shell. Each has its own morphemic structure (see below for word structure). Unlike sounds and morphemes, words express meaning. The role of the word is to name objects, signs, actions and other realities of reality. Therefore, the word is considered significant, i.e. a meaningful unit of language. It is important that the word summarizes people’s ideas. House it's not only concrete house, in which, for example, you live, and everyone is at home. It is also important that the word is capable of conveying emotion, assessment, and shades of meaning. House- that's one thing, but home- another. Words shack, mansion, house, palace can be used instead of the word house people who want to express their attitude to the subject.

The word as a unit of the lexical composition of a language is studied by lexicology.

§3. Composition of the word. Morphemics

A word consists of parts. These parts are called morphemes. Morphemes are the building blocks of words.

Morphemes: root, prefix, suffix, interfix, ending.

The root is denoted as follows: countries
The prefix is ​​designated as follows: by watch
The suffix is ​​denoted as follows: young ec

Interfaces are not designated in any way. Interfix are connecting vowels e And O in compound words: himself O var, earth e swarm.
The ending is indicated as follows: countries A, look t, Well done

K oren, prefix, suffix, interfix are included in the base of the word. Which stem depends on the structure of the word. If a word has only a root and an ending, then the stem will consist only of the root. The ending is not included in the stem of the word. The stem is indicated by an underscore: countries A , look t, Well done .

Different words have different morphemic composition. Morphemic structure of words, i.e. composition of words, studies morphemics.

§4. Word production. Word formation

The formation of words, their production, is the work of morphemes. Let's compare the words: house And house ik.

Word house ik derived from the word house. Word formation is not interested in the endings of words; the stem is important for it. It is important to understand what is formed from what, which basis is derivative, and which is productive.

Hood oh → thin-yy,
→thin-about-A,
→skinny-A,
→thin-th → at least-t→ for better or worse-e, more precisely: [n’ii’] - [uh]

From what, what basis, and how, in what way, and also by what means is the basis of a new word formed, studies word formation.

§5. Word form. Word change. Parts of speech. Morphology

Classes of words that have a similar grammatical meaning, set of forms when they change, and role in a sentence are called parts of speech.
Parts of speech, their meanings and roles, as well as their constant and variable features are studied by morphology.

§6. The role of words in phrases and sentences. Syntax

We don't speak in words. We speak in sentences. A sentence is a unit of communication more high level.

Word calls.
But it does not express a complete thought and is not a unit of communication.
A word is not an independent unit of language.

Offer expresses a thought and is a unit of communication.
In addition, a sentence, unlike a word, is expressed for a specific purpose, which can be different.
The sentence is grammatically and intonationally designed.
A sentence is an independent unit of language.

Words enter a sentence as building material. This is possible thanks to the mechanism for changing words and special syntactic connections inherent in phrases and sentences.

Phrases and sentences: simple and complex, their structure and types of connections are studied by syntax.

§7. Language levels and language units

In language, units of lower levels serve building material to create higher level units. Morphemes are made up of sounds. In Russian, morphemes consisting of only one sound are possible, for example:

pass[zdat’] - prefix With- pronounced as one sound [z],
affairs and t[d’el’it’] - suffix -And- consists of one sound
house at[home] - ending -y consists of one sound.

Words are made up of morphemes. In Russian, words consisting of only one morpheme are possible: How- root, apart- root , sorry - root.

Phrases and sentences are made up of words. Sentences consisting of only one word are possible. But to become a sentence, a word must be pronounced for a specific purpose, it must be formalized intonationally and grammatically. For example, Night! - this is a narrative, exclamatory, simple one-component with the main member of the subject - nominative, common, complete, uncomplicated.

§8. The word as a unit of study of various linguistic disciplines: phonetics, lexicology, morphemics, word formation, morphology and syntax

Words have a sound composition.
Words have a lexical meaning.
Words have a morphemic structure: the parts that make up the word.
Words have the ability to be the basis for the production of other words.
A word has a grammatical meaning and a grammatical form.
The word has a role in the sentence.

Test of strength

Check your understanding of this chapter.

Final test

1. What is the minimum unit of spoken language?

   • Word

2. What are the special symbols called that serve to convey the character of the sound?

   • Letters
   • Transcription signs

3. What discipline studies the letter composition of a word, the rules for writing words, their parts and forms?

   • Phonetics
   • Spelling
   • Morphemics

4. What unit of language names objects, signs, actions and other realities of reality?

   • Morpheme
   • Word

5. What does morphemics study?

   • Sound composition of words
   • Lexical meaning of words
   • Morphemic structure of words
   • Ways to form words

6. Does word formation look at stems or endings of words?

   • basics
   • graduation

7. Are all Russian words mutable?

8. What are classes of words called that have similar grammatical meanings, sets of inflected forms, and roles in sentences?

   • Methods of word formation
   • Parts of speech
   • Offers

9. What features are common to all words of one part of speech: constant (unchangeable) or inconsistent (changeable)?

   • Permanent
   • Fickle

10. Which unit of language is grammatically and intonationally formalized?

    • Word
    • Offer

Correct answers:

1. Transcription signs
2. Spelling
3. Word
4. Morphemic structure of words
5. basics
6. Parts of speech
7. Permanent
8. Offer

We constantly use oral or written language and rarely think about the structure of the literary language. For us, it is a means, an instrument to achieve a certain goal. For linguists, language is an object of special scientific research, the results of which are summarized in the form of articles, monographs, and dictionaries. Linguistics, or linguistics (from Latin lingua - language), - is the science of language, which developed in connection with the need of people to understand such a phenomenon as language.

Linguists have found that language is not a jumble of words, sounds, rules, but an ordered system (from the Greek systema - a whole made up of parts).

When characterizing language as a system, it is necessary to determine what elements it consists of. In most languages ​​of the world the following are distinguished: units: phoneme (sound), morpheme, word, phrase and sentence. Language units are heterogeneous in their structure. There are relatively simple units, for example, phonemes, and there are also complex ones – phrases, sentences. Moreover, more complex units always consist of simpler ones.

Since a system is not a random set of elements, but an ordered collection of them, in order to understand how the language system is “structured,” all units must be grouped according to the degree of complexity of their structure.

So, the simplest unit of language is phoneme, an indivisible and in itself insignificant sound unit of language, which serves to distinguish minimal significant units (morphemes and words). For example, words sweat - bot - mot - cat differ in the sounds [p], [b], [m], [k], which are different phonemes

Minimum Significant Unit – morpheme(root, suffix, prefix, ending). Morphemes already have some meaning, but cannot yet be used independently. For example, in the word Muscovite four morphemes: moskv-, -ich-, -k-, -a. The morpheme moskv- (root) contains, as it were, an indication of the area; -ich- (suffix) denotes a male person - a resident of Moscow; -k- (suffix) means a female person - a resident of Moscow; -a (ending) indicates that given word is a feminine singular nominative noun.

Has relative independence word- the next most complex and most important unit of language, which serves to name objects, processes, signs or indicates them. Words differ from morphemes in that they not only have some meaning, but are already capable of naming something, i.e. a word is the minimum nominative (nominal) unit of language. Structurally, it consists of morphemes and represents “building material” for phrases and sentences.

Collocation- a combination of two or more words between which there is a semantic and grammatical connection. It consists of a main and a dependent word: new book, stage a play, each of us (the main words are in italics).

The most complex and independent unit of language, with the help of which you can not only name an object, but also communicate something about it, is offer– a basic syntactic unit that contains a message about something, a question or an incentive. The most important formal feature of a sentence is its semantic design and completeness. Unlike a word - a nominative (nominal) unit - a sentence is a communicative unit.

Modern ideas about the language system are associated primarily with the doctrine of its levels, their units and relationships. Language levels- these 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, morphemic, lexical, syntactic.

Each of the language levels has its own, qualitatively different units that have different purposes, structure, compatibility and place in the language system: the phonemic level consists of phonemes, the morphemic level consists of morphemes, the lexical level consists of words, the syntactic level consists of phrases and sentences.

Units of language are interconnected paradigmatic, syntagmatic (combinable) and hierarchical relationships.

Paradigmatic are the relations between units of the same level, by virtue of which these units are distinguished and grouped. Units of language, being in paradigmatic relationships, are mutually opposed, interconnected and thereby interdependent.

The units of language are opposed due to their certain differences: for example, the Russian phonemes “t” and “d” are distinguished as voiceless and voiced; verb forms I’m writing – I’ve written – I’ll write distinguished as having present, past and future tenses. Units of language are interconnected because they are combined into groups according to similar characteristics: for example, the Russian phonemes “t” and “d” are combined into a pair due to the fact that both of them are consonants, front-lingual, plosive, hard; the previously mentioned three forms of the verb are combined into one category - the category of time, since they all have a temporary meaning. Syntagmatic (combinability) are the relations between units of the same level in the speech chain, by virtue of which these units are connected with each other - these are the relations between phonemes when they are connected in a syllable, between morphemes when they are connected into words, between words when they are connected into phrases. However, at the same time, units of each level are built from units of a lower level: morphemes are built from phonemes and function as part of words (i.e., they serve to construct words), words are built from morphemes and function as part of sentences. Relationships between units different levels are recognized as hierarchical.

The structure of each level, the relationships of units among themselves are the subject of study of branches of linguistics - phonetics, morphology, syntax, lexicology.

Phonetics (from the Greek phone - sound) is a branch of linguistics that studies the sounds of a language, their acoustic and articulatory properties, the laws of their formation, the rules of functioning (for example, the rules for the compatibility of sounds, the distribution of vowels and consonants, etc.).

The morphemic and syntactic levels of language are studied by two linguistic disciplines - morphology and syntax, respectively.

Traditionally, morphology and syntax are combined, making up two relatively independent sections, into a more general linguistic science - grammar (from the Greek gramma - written sign) - a section of linguistics that contains the doctrine of forms of inflection, the structure of words, types of phrases and types of sentences.

Morphology (from the Greek morphe - form, logos - word, doctrine) is one of the sections of grammar that studies the morphemic composition of a language, types of morphemes, the nature of their interaction and functioning as part of units of higher levels.

Syntax (from the Greek syntaxis - composition, construction) is a section of grammar that studies the patterns of constructing sentences and combining words in a phrase. Syntax includes two main parts: the study of phrases and the study of sentences.

Lexicology (from the Greek lexikos - verbal, vocabulary, logos - teaching) is a branch of linguistics that studies the word and the vocabulary of the language as a whole. Lexicology includes the following sections:

onomasiology(from the Greek opota - “name”, logos - teaching) - a science that studies the process of naming. Onomasiology answers the question of how naming occurs, assigning names to objects and phenomena of the external world;

semasiology(from Greek semasia - designation, logos - teaching) - a science that studies the meanings of words and phrases. Semasiology studies the semantic side of a linguistic unit, comparing it with other units of the same level. It shows how extra-linguistic reality is reflected in language units (words);

phraseology(from Greek phrasis - expression, logos - teaching) - a science that studies the stable turns of speech of a language, the nature of phraseological units, their types, features of functioning in speech. Phraseology reveals the specifics of phraseological units, features of their meaning, and relationships with other units of language. She develops principles for identifying and describing phraseological units, explores the processes of their formation;

onomastics(from the Greek opota - name) - a science that studies proper names in the broad sense of the word: toponymy studies geographical names, names and surnames of people - anthroponymy;

etymology(from Greek etymon - truth, logos - teaching) - a science that studies the origin of words, the process of formation of the vocabulary of a language. Etymology explains when, in what language, according to what word-formation model a word arose, what its original meaning was, what historical changes it has undergone;

lexicography(from Greek lexikon - dictionary, grapho - write) - a science dealing with the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries. She develops a general typology of dictionaries, principles for the selection of vocabulary, the arrangement of words and dictionary entries.

Language is a system of signs of any physical nature that performs cognitive and communicative functions in the process of human activity. People can use various sign systems: telegraph code, transcriptions, shorthand, tables, numbers, gestures, road signs, etc. In the most general terms, languages ​​are divided into natural and artificial.

Natural They call a language that arose with man and developed naturally, in the absence of conscious human influence on it.

Artificial e languages ​​are sign systems created by man as auxiliary means for various communicative purposes in areas where the use of natural language is difficult, impossible or ineffective. Among artificial languages, one can distinguish planned languages, which are auxiliary means of international communication (Esperanto, Ido, Volapuk, Interlingua); symbolic languages ​​of science, for example, the languages ​​of mathematics, chemistry, physics, logic; languages ​​of human-machine communication, for example programming languages, information retrieval languages.

Natural language is fundamentally different from the systems of symbolic notations created in the natural sciences, mathematics, and technology. Thus, under certain circumstances, we can replace the notation system in science, the system of telephone numbers, and road signs with a more convenient one. It must be remembered that these sign systems are created artificially and serve as a means of communication only in a narrow circle of specialists.

The study of sign systems is the subject of a special science - semiotics, which studies the emergence, structure and functioning of various sign systems that store and transmit information. Semiotics studies natural and artificial languages, as well as the general principles that form the basis of the structure of all signs.

A sign is a material object (in the broad sense of the word), acting in the process of cognition and communication as a representative or substitute of some other object, phenomenon and used to transmit information.

In semiotics, two types of signs are distinguished: natural (signs-attributes) and artificial (conventional). Natural signs (signs-signs) contain some information about an object (phenomenon) due to a natural connection with them: smoke in the forest can inform about a lit fire, a frosty pattern on a window glass - about low air temperature outside, etc. Unlike signs , which exist separately from objects and phenomena, signs-signs are part of those objects or phenomena that people perceive and study (for example, we see snow and imagine winter). Artificial(conventional) signs are specifically designed for the formation, storage and transmission of information, for the representation and replacement of objects and phenomena, concepts and judgments.

A sign is not part (or an essential part) of what it represents, stands for, conveys. In this sense, it is artificial and conventional. Conventional signs serve as a means of communication and transmission of information, therefore they are also called communicative or informative signs (informant signs). There are many informative signs and their systems, differing in purpose, structure and organization. The main types of informative signs are signal, symbol, linguistic sign.

Signs-signals carry information according to condition, agreement and do not have any natural connection with the objects (phenomena) about which they inform. A signal is an audio, visual or other conventional sign that conveys information. The signal itself does not contain information - the information is contained by the sign situation. For example, a green rocket could mean the start of an attack or the start of some kind of celebration; a school bell means the end or beginning of a lesson, and a bell in an apartment is a signal inviting you to open the door, etc. The content of the signal is like symbol Thus, it varies depending on the situation, on the number of signals (for example, three bells in a theater mean the start of the performance).

Signs-symbols carry information about an object (phenomenon) based on the abstraction of some properties and characteristics from it. A symbol differs from a signal in that its content is visual and in that it is free from situational conditions. For example, an image of hands joined in a mutual shake is a symbol of friendship, an image of a dove is a symbol of peace, a coat of arms is an image of an object as a sign of belonging to a certain state, city, etc.

Linguistic signs are signs of human language, basic informative signs.

The main features of a sign: two-sidedness (the presence of material form and content), opposition in the system, conventionality/motivation.

There are two sides to a sign - the signified (the concept, content, meaning of the sign, its internal side, what is perceived by our consciousness) and the signifier (the external expression of the sign, its formal side, what is perceived by the organs of hearing or vision).

As a rule, the signs in the system are opposed, which implies a difference in their content. For example, long and short beeps in a telephone handset mean, respectively, “the line is free” and “the line is busy.” The opposition of signs is clearly manifested in the case of a zero signifier. Let's consider the situation. In order for some object (or sound, gesture, etc.) to become a conventional sign, it must be opposed to some other object (or sound, gesture, etc.), in other words, it must enter the sign system.

For example, a vase placed on a windowsill can only signal danger if it is not usually there. If it always stands on the windowsill, it cannot mean anything, then it is just a vase. In order to acquire the ability to designate something, it must be contrasted with another sign, in this case, a zero sign (i.e., the significant absence of a materially expressed sign).

The conditional connection between the signifier and the signified is based on a (conscious) agreement (red light - “the path is closed”). A conditional connection, for example, is the fixation of the duration or shortness of the sound of a dial tone in a telephone receiver with the busy or unoccupied telephone line. A motivated (internally justified) connection is based on the similarity of the signifier with the signified. The sign of motivation is obvious when depicted on road sign turning, running children, etc.

A linguistic sign, like any two-sided linguistic unit, has a form (the signifier of the sign) and content (the signified of the sign). Like all other signs, they are always material and mean something besides themselves. Linguistic signs are always conventional, that is, the connection between the signified and the signifier is arbitrary (but, once established, it becomes mandatory for all speakers of a given language). Like all conventional signs, they are always members of a sign system, and therefore have not only meaning, but also significance.

In addition to the properties common to all signs, linguistic signs also have special features that are unique to them. These include linearity: linguistic signs always follow each other, never combining in space (in writing) or in time (in speech). One can imagine a non-linguistic sign (say, a signal) in the form of a chord of three sounds sounding at a certain moment, each of which has its own meaning. But there are no linguistic signs in which several units would be combined in space or time. They always follow each other, forming a linear chain.

Another feature of linguistic signs is associated with the diachronic aspect of their existence: a linguistic sign is characterized by variability and at the same time a desire for immutability. This contradiction is explained by the fact that language is used by a society that, on the one hand, needs a constantly changing language to express its changing knowledge about the world, and on the other hand, a constant, stable system of communication, since any changes in language initially cause difficulties in communication. Therefore, linguistic signs are constantly acted upon by two differently directed forces, one of which pushes them to change, and the other strives to keep them unchanged. Linguistic signs include significant units of language - morphemes, words, sentences.

However, the iconicity of morphemes is very limited, since morphemes are components of words and have meanings only as part of words. Words are the most significant signs in language. They represent concepts, are their symbols or signs; words can be part of a sentence and, if necessary, formulate a sentence. A full-fledged communicative sign is a sentence. In the sentence, as the highest sign unit, all the signs and signals of the language are put into action, and the sentences themselves form a connection with each other, with the context and situation of speech. A sentence provides language with the ability to convey any specific thought, any information.

Language as the most important sign system differs from all other auxiliary (specialized) sign systems.

The linguistic sign system is a comprehensive means of transmitting and storing information, as well as designing the thought itself, expressing emotions, evaluating and expressing will, while specialized sign systems serve to transmit limited information and recode what is already known.

The scope of language use is universal. It is used in all areas of human activity, while specialized sign systems have a limited scope of use. Language as a sign system is created gradually and develops in the process of its functioning, and specialized means of communication, transmission and storage of information are the result of a one-time agreement between people and are thoughtful and artificial in nature.

Learning the Russian language begins with the basic elements. They form the foundation of the structure. The components are linguistic units such components of the linguistic system for which division within their own level is unacceptable. Next, we will analyze the concepts in more detail and define the classification. The article will also provide characteristics of basic linguistic components.

"Decomposability"

What are the basics of the Russian language? The structure is divided into elements of lower rank. There is such a thing as a decomposability criterion. It determines whether a given linguistic unit is divisible. If decomposability is possible, all elements are divided into simple and complex. The first includes indivisible units such as phonemes and morphemes. The second group includes those components that are decomposed into elements located at the lowest level. Basic language units are combined into different levels of the system.

Classification

Various linguistic units are combined into two groups. The first determines the type of sound shells. For this category, there are material types that have a permanent sound shell. In particular, these include such units of language as phoneme, word, morpheme and even sentence. There is also a relatively material type. It is a model for constructing phrases and sentences that has a generalized meaning. There is also such a thing as units of meaning. They cannot exist outside of material and relatively material species, since they are their semantic part. In addition, the material units of language are further divided into one-sided and two-sided. The first ones have no meaning, they only help create a sound shell. These include, for example, phonemes and syllables. But bilateral ones matter, which is why they are even considered to be the highest language units. These are words and sentences. Language levels are complex systems or are their components.

Russian language

By definition this system is a collection of iconic particles reproduced in audio form that express human thoughts and feelings. In addition, they are a means of communication and information transfer. Nina Davidovna Arutyunova, Soviet and Russian linguist, considered the language important point in the evolution of culture and society. At the lowest level of the system is phonetics, that is, sounds. Above are morphemes, which are composed of elements of the previous level. Words are made up of morphemes, which in turn form syntactic structures. A linguistic unit is characterized not only by its location in complex system. She also performs specific function and has characteristic features buildings.

Let's take a unit of language that is at the lowest level - the phoneme. The sound itself does not carry any meaning. However, by interacting with other elements that are at the same level with it, it helps to distinguish individual morphemes and words. Phonetic elements include syllables. However, due to the fact that their significance is not always sufficiently substantiated, some scientists are in no hurry to agree that a syllable is also a linguistic unit.

Morpheme

Morphemes are considered the smallest units of language that carry semantic meaning. The most main part words are the root. After all, it is he who determines the meaning of words. But various suffixes, prefixes and endings only complement the meaning given by the root. All morphemes are divided into those that form words (word-forming) and those that create (they are called grammatical). The Russian language is rich in such constructions. Thus, the word “reddish” is composed of three morphemes. The first is the root "red-", which determines the attribute of the object. The suffix “-ovat-” indicates that this symptom is manifested to a small extent. And finally, the ending “-й” determines the gender, number and case of the noun agreed with this adjective. With the development of history and language, some morphemes gradually change. Words such as "porch", "finger" and "capital" used to be divided into more parts. However, over time, these details merged into single roots. In addition, some morphemes used to have a meaning different from their current one.

Word

This independent linguistic unit is considered one of the most significant. It gives names to feelings, objects, actions and properties, and is a component of a sentence. The latter can also consist of one word. Words are formed by a sound shell, that is, a phonetic feature, morphemes (morphological feature) and their meanings (semantic feature). In all languages ​​there are quite a few words that have several meanings. The Russian language is especially replete with such cases. Thus, the well-known word “table” denotes not only an interior item related to furniture, but also a multi-course menu, as well as a component of the furnishings of a medical office.

All words are divided into several groups according to different criteria. The distribution according to grammatical features forms groups of parts of speech. Word-formation connections create categories of words. According to their meaning, these elements are divided into synonyms, antonyms and thematic groups. History divides them into archaisms, neologisms and historicisms. From the point of view of the scope of use, words are divided into professionalisms, jargons, dialectisms and terms. Taking into account the function of elements in the linguistic structure, phraseological units and compound terms and names are distinguished. The first, for example, includes such expressions as and Examples for compound names are “White Sea” and “Ivan Vasilyevich”.

Phrases and sentences

A linguistic unit that is formed from words is called a phrase. This is a structure consisting of at least two elements connected in one of the following ways: coordination, control or adjacency. In addition, words and phrases formed by them are components of sentences. But the phrase is one step lower than the sentence. In this case, the syntactic level on the linguistic ladder is created by combining all the structural elements. Important characteristic sentences - intonation. It shows the completeness or incompleteness of the structure. She gives it the appearance of a question or order, and also adds emotional coloring with the help of an exclamation.

"Emic" and "ethical" units of language

Material units of language can exist in the form of several variants or in the form of an abstract set of variants called an invariant. The former are designated by ethical terms such as allophones, allomorphs, backgrounds and morphs. To characterize the latter, there are phonemes and morphemes. Units of speech are composed of language particles. These include phrases and sentences, difficult words, morphemes and phonemes. These terms were introduced by Pike, an American linguist.

Characteristics of linguistic elements

There are many directions in science, each of which has a different perception and description of linguistic units. However, no matter which option you turn to, you can always highlight general signs and features of language units. For example, a phoneme is considered a class of sounds that are similar in phonetic properties. At the same time, some scientists believe that the main feature of these elements is that without them it is impossible to define words and their forms. Morphemes refer to linguistic units that are not syntactically independent. Words, on the contrary, are independent. They are also components of sentences. All these characteristics are common not only to different points of view. They are suitable for absolutely all languages.

Relationships between structure elements

There are several types of relationships between units. The first type is called paradigmatic. This type denotes a contrast between units that are on the same level. In syntagmatic relations, particles of the same rank are combined with each other during the speech process, or to form elements of a higher level. Hierarchical relationships are determined by the degree of complexity of the unit, with lower levels included in higher ones.

When determining the basic units of language, most leading experts in the field of psycholinguistics rely on the theoretical concept of “analysis of the whole by units” developed by L.S. Vygotsky (42, 45). Under the unit of this or that system L.S. Vygotsky understood “a product of analysis that has all the basic properties inherent in the whole, and which are further indecomposable living parts of this unity” (45, p. 15).

To the main units of language distinguished in linguistics and psycholinguistics include: phoneme, morpheme, word, sentence And text.

Phoneme - is the sound of speech appearing in his meaningful function that allows you to distinguish one word (as a stable sound complex and, accordingly, material carrier of meaning) from other words. Semantic (phonemic) the function of speech sounds manifests itself only when the sound is found in a word, and only in a certain, so-called. "strong" (or "phonemic") position. For all vowel sounds this is the position in stressed syllable; for individual vowels (vowels a, ы) - also in the first pre-stressed syllable. For consonant sounds, a common "strong position" is the position before the vowel in straight syllables; position before a consonant of the same type (voiced before voiced, soft before soft, etc.); for sonorants and voiceless sounds, another "phonemic" position is the final position in the word.

The most vividly meaningful function of phonemes is manifested in monosyllabic paronymic words that differ in one sound (phoneme), for example: onion - bough - juice - sleep etc. However, in all cases, phonemes (no matter how many there are in a word and no matter what combinations they appear in) always perform their main function as part of a word. It consists of the following: correct pronunciation of sounds-phonemes in the external phase of implementation speech activity provides the possibility of its full perception by the listener and, accordingly, adequate transmission of mental content. Moreover, the phoneme itself is neither a semantic nor a meaning-forming unit. Once again I would like to draw the attention of practicing speech therapists to the fact that the main task of working on the formation of correct sound pronunciation is the development of skills correct production of phonemes native language as part of a word. The correct pronunciation of phonemes is condition for the full implementation of the communicative function of speech.

Morpheme is a combination of sounds (phonemes) that has a certain, so-called. "grammatical" meaning. This “meaning” of the morpheme also appears only in the composition of the word, and it received this name because it is inextricably linked with the basic grammatical functions of morphemes. In linguistics, morphemes are classified in different ways. Thus, according to their place in the “linear structure of words” they are distinguished prefixes(prefixes) and postfixes(as morphemes preceding and following root morpheme); from among the postfixes stand out suffixes And inflections (endings); the root morpheme itself was named for its meaning-forming (in this case, “lexical-forming”) function. Morphemes that form the stem of a word are called affixes;“grammatical opposition” to them is inflections.

Morphemes perform a number of important functions in language (when used in speech activity):

With the help of morphemes, processes of inflection (changing words according to grammatical forms) are carried out in a language. Basically, this function is performed by inflections, and also, in some cases, by suffixes and prefixes;

Word formation processes take place in language through morphemes. The morphemic method of word formation (suffixal, suffixal-prefixal, etc.) is in developed languages the world as the main way of forming new words, since the homonymous method of word formation has a rather limited scope of use in the language system;

With the help of morphemes, connections between words in phrases are formed (the grammatical function of inflections, as well as suffixes);

Finally, a certain combination of morphemes creates the main lexical meaning of the word, which is, as it were, a “summation” grammatical meaning morphemes included in a given word.

Based on these most important linguistic functions of morphemes, as well as from the fact that, in their diversity and quantitative composition, morphemes form a fairly extensive layer of language, we can draw the following methodological conclusion in relation to the theory and methodology of correctional “speech” work: complete language acquisition by students impossible without mastering its morphological structure. It is no coincidence that in the best methodological systems domestic specialists in the field of preschool and school speech therapy pay such great attention to the formation of students' linguistic knowledge, ideas and generalizations associated with the acquisition of the system of morphemes in their native language, as well as the formation of appropriate language operations with these language units (T.B. Filicheva and G.V. Chirkina, 1990, 1998; G.V. Babina, 2002, 2003; .

The basic and universal unit of language is word. This unit of language can be defined both as a stable sound complex with meaning, and as a “fixed”, “closed” combination of morphemes. The word as a unit of language appears in several of its qualities or manifestations. The main ones are the following.

A word as a unit of language is a lexical unit (lexeme) with a certain number of meanings. This can be represented as a "mathematical" expression:

Lex. units = 1 + n (values), for example for the Russian language this numerical formula looks like 1 + n (2–3).

The word includes at least two components: on the one hand, it denotes an object, replacing it, highlighting it essential features, and on the other hand, it analyzes the subject, introduces it into the system of connections, into the corresponding category of subjects based on a generalization of its content. This word structure suggests the complexity of the process nominations(name of the object). For this, two main conditions are necessary: ​​1) the presence of a clear differentiated image of the object, 2) the presence of a lexical meaning for the word.

The word as a unit of language acts as grammatical unit. This is manifested in the fact that each lexeme word belongs to a specific grammatical category of words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, numerals, etc.). Belonging to one or another grammatical class, a word has a set of certain grammatical features (or, as is usually defined in linguistics, - categories). For example, for nouns these are the categories of gender, number, case (declension), for verbs - the categories of aspect and tense, etc. These categories correspond to various grammatical forms of words (word forms). Word forms “formed” by morphemes provide the widest possibilities for various combinability of words when constructing speech utterances; they are also used to convey in speech (SD) various semantic (attributive, spatial, qualitative, etc.) connections and relationships.

Finally, the word as a linguistic unit acts as a “building” element of syntax, since syntactic units (phrase, sentence, text) are formed from words, based on one or another variant of their combined use. The “syntactically formative” function of a word manifests itself in the corresponding function of the word in the “context” of a sentence, when it appears in the function subject, predicate, object or circumstances.

The specified functions of the word as the basic and universal unit of language should be subject analysis for students correctional classes, and in general developmental classes.

Offer represents a combination of words that conveys (expresses) a thought in its complete form. Distinctive features offers are semantic and intonation completeness, as well as structure(presence of grammatical structure). In linguistics offer is one of the “strictly normative” linguistic units: any deviations from language norms constructions of a sentence associated with non-compliance with its basic properties indicated above are considered from the point of view of “practical grammar” as an error or (using the terminology of speech therapy) as “agrammatism” (140, 271, etc.). This is especially true for the written form of speech activity, although for oral speech agrammatism (especially “structural” or “syntactic”) is a negative phenomenon.

Offer just like the word, it is defined in psycholinguistics as the basic and universal unit of language (133, 150, 236, etc.). If the word is a universal means of displaying in the human mind the objects of the surrounding reality, their properties and qualities, then the sentence acts as the main means of displaying the subject of speech-mental activity - thoughts and at the same time as the main (along with text) means of communication.

The unit of implementation of speech activity (in speech psychology - a unit of speech) is a speech utterance. In typical (linguistic) In the RD implementation variant, the speech utterance is “embodied” in the form of a sentence. Based on this, it is completely legitimate and methodologically sound from a psycholinguistic point of view to distinguish academic work“above the word” and “above the sentence” into separate, independent sections “ speech work».

Text defined in linguistics as macrounit of language. The text represents a combination of several sentences in a relatively expanded form revealing a particular topic1. Unlike a sentence, the subject of speech (a fragment of the surrounding reality) is displayed in the text not from any one aspect of it, not on the basis of any one of its properties or qualities, but “globally”, taking into account its main distinctive features. If the subject of speech is any phenomenon or event, then in a typical version it is displayed in the text, taking into account the main cause-and-effect (as well as temporal, spatial) connections and relationships (9, 69, 81, etc.).

Distinctive features text as units of language are: thematic unity, semantic and structural unity, compositional structure And grammatical coherence. The text (as a linguistic “form of expression” of a detailed statement) is “extended” by the basic distinctive features the latter: compliance with the semantic and grammatical connection between fragments of a speech message (paragraphs and semantic-syntactic units), the logical sequence of displaying the main properties of the subject of speech, the logical and semantic organization of the message. Various means play an important role in the syntactic organization of a detailed speech utterance. interphrase connection(lexical and synonymous repetition, pronouns, words with adverbial meaning, etc.).

Thus, text(in “semantic terms”) is a detailed speech message transmitted by means of language. With its help, the subject of speech (phenomenon, event) is displayed in speech activity in the most complete and complete form. In global speech communication in human society, text as macro unit language plays a decisive role; It is precisely this that serves as the main means of “recording” information (regardless of its volume and even the conditions of speech communication) and transmitting information from one subject of RD to another. Taking into account the above, it is quite reasonable to define text as well as the basic and universal unit of language.

According to another linguistic classification language units include all linguistic structures that have meaning: morphemes, words, phrases, sentences (phrases), texts as expanded coherent statements.

Structures that have no meaning, but only significance(i.e., a certain role in establishing the structure of linguistic units: sounds (phonemes), letters (graphemes), expressive movements (kinemas) in kinetic speech are defined as elements of language(166, 197, etc.).

The basic units of a language form the corresponding subsystems or levels in its general system, which make up the so-called level or “vertical” structure of the language system (23, 58, 197, etc.). It is presented in the diagram below.

The above diagram of the level (“vertical”) structure of the language reflects its “hierarchical” structural organization, as well as the sequence, stages of “speech work” for the formation of linguistic concepts and generalizations in a child or teenager. (It should be noted that this sequence does not have a strictly “linear” character; in particular, the assimilation of a language system does not imply an option in which the assimilation of each subsequent (“superior”) subsystem of the language occurs only after the previous one has been completely assimilated) . The assimilation of different components of language can take place simultaneously during certain periods of “speech ontogenesis”, the formation of “higher” structures of the language can begin before the “basic” structures are fully formed, etc. At the same time, the general “order” of the formation of the main subsystems language, of course, is maintained in the ontogenesis of speech, and the same general sequence in work on the various components (subsystems) of language must be observed in the structure of “speech work” on the acquisition of the language system. This is due to the “structural “hierarchy” of linguistic units, the fact that each unit of a higher level is created, formed on the basis of a certain combination of units of a lower level, just as the higher level itself is created by lower (or “basic”) levels.

Language “knowledge” and ideas formed during the study of linguistic units of the “basic” levels of language constitute the basis and prerequisite for the assimilation of linguistic ideas about other, more complex subsystems of language (in particular about categorically grammatical and syntactic sublevels). From the analysis above schemes a methodological conclusion follows: Full assimilation of a language is possible only on the basis of the complete and lasting assimilation of “linguistic knowledge” in relation to all its structural components, on the basis of the formation of appropriate linguistic operations with the basic units of language. This is of fundamental importance in terms of continuity in the work of correctional teachers (primarily speech therapists) of preschool and school educational institutions.

The term "E. I." in a broad sense, denote a wide range of heterogeneous phenomena that are the object of study of linguistics. There are material units that have a constant sound shell, for example, phoneme, morpheme, word, sentence, etc., “relatively material” units (according to A. I. Smirnitsky), which have a variable sound shell, for example, models of the structure of words, phrases, sentences, and units of meaning (for example, semes, etc.), which constitute the semantic (ideal) side of material or relatively material units and do not exist outside of these units.

Material E. i. They are divided into one-sided, which do not have their own meaning (phonemes, syllables), and two-sided, which have both sound and meaning. Function of unilateral E. i. - participation in the formation and differentiation of sound shells of bilateral units. Sometimes to one-sided E. i. (“units of expression”) include the sound shells of bilateral units themselves (“soneme” is the sound shell of a morpheme, “nomeme” is the sound shell of a word). Bilateral E. I. express a certain meaning (meaning) or are used to convey it (morphemes, words, sentences).

Material E. i. characterized by a variant-invariant structure. The same E. I. exists in the form of many variants (see Variation), representing specific actually articulated (pronounced) sound segments. E. I. They also exist in an abstract form - as a class (set) of their variants, as an abstract entity - an invariant. Invariant-variant device E. i. displayed in two rows of terms: “emic”, used to designate units as invariants (phoneme, morpheme, lexeme, etc.), and “etic”, designating variants of units (phone, allophone, morph, allomorph, etc.). ). Emic and corresponding ethical E. i. form one level: phoneme​/​phone, allophone form the phonemic level, etc. In some directions (American descriptivism, see Descriptive linguistics) etic and emic E. i. belong to different levels.

Relatively material units exist in the form of samples, models, or schemes for constructing words, phrases, and sentences; they have a generalized constructive meaning that is reproduced in all linguistic units formed according to a given model (see Model in linguistics, Sentence).

E. I. can be simple or complex. Simple ones are absolutely indivisible (phoneme, morpheme), complex ones are indivisible within the levels of language in which they are included (for example, complex and derivative words, sentences, etc.). Division of complex E. i. eliminates it as such and reveals its constituent units of lower levels (for example, a word is divided into morphemes, a sentence into words).

Some areas of linguistics strive to dismember simple E. i. to even simpler ones, i.e., to identify “elements of elements.” The distinctive features of phonemes are considered, for example, not as a property of the phoneme, but as its constituent parts; elements of semantic units are identified (see Component analysis method).

Different schools and directions of linguistics give different characteristics to the same phoneme: for example, a phoneme is considered either as the most “typical” or “important” sound from a set (family) of sounds (D. Jones, L.V. Shcherba), or as an invariant of sound (N. S. Trubetskoy, R. O. Yakobson); a morpheme is considered as “the smallest unit of language” (L. Bloomfield), “the smallest significant part of a word” (I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay), a grammatical device “expressing relationships between ideas” (J. Vandries).

Significant differences in the interpretation and assessment of E. i. different schools, discrepancies in the list of E. i. make it difficult to compare and contrast languages. This juxtaposition and comparison turns out to be possible by identifying the universal properties of E. I. and displaying these properties in terms - names of E. i. Such properties or characteristics of E. i. are their most general properties, found in all languages, for example, a phoneme is a class of phonetically similar and functionally identical sounds, a morpheme is a two-sided unit of speech that does not have syntactic independence, a word is a syntactically independent unit of speech, a sentence is a speech system consisting of one or more words , expressing and communicating semantic information. Using appropriately defined terms when describing languages ​​makes the descriptions comparable and allows one to identify similarities and differences between languages.

E. I. at most general view reveal three types of relationships: paradigmatic (see Paradigmatics), syntagmatic (see Syntagmatics), hierarchical (according to the degree of complexity, relations between the occurrence of units of lower levels in higher ones). E. I. have the property of “level compatibility”: only units of the same level enter into paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationships, for example, phonemes form classes and are combined only with each other in a linear sequence.

E. I. are combined in a speech chain to form speech units. However, phonemes and morphemes cannot be units of speech like words, which can be both units of language and units of speech (derived and complex words can sometimes be freely formed in speech according to one or another “structure formula”); phrases (with the exception of phraseological units) and sentences are units of speech, since they are not reproduced, but are produced according to certain models. Combinatorics E. i. governed by grammatical rules. Units of language are subject to these rules due to their objectively inherent properties. Ultimately, the rules of language are a manifestation of the properties of E. I., since these properties underlie possible connections and relationships between E. I.

In the history of linguistics, there have been different approaches to the question of central E. I. From the history of languages ​​it is known that words historically precede morphemes. Latest - either former words, having lost the ability to be used syntactically, or truncated parts of words formed as a result of merging or adding words. Within the framework of trends that consider the word to be the central unit of language, the possibility of the existence of a language that does not have morphemes and consists only of words is theoretically allowed (cf. simplification of morphology in English, ancient Chinese and some other languages). Areas of linguistics (for example, descriptive linguistics), based on the fact that morphemes are the smallest units of language, regardless of whether they have syntactic independence or, conversely, do not, i.e., are parts of words, include only derivatives and complex words. words as derivatives of morphemes. So, according to G. Gleason, simple words In English, dog, box and others are morphemes. For these directions, a language that does not have words, but consists only of morphemes, is theoretically acceptable.

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