Meaning and Sense as the Bedrock of English Discourse Functional Space
https://doi.org/10.24833/2410-2423-2022-1-30-29-43
Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of correlation between the concepts ‘meaning’ and ‘sense’, peculiarities of their formation and their role in the process of developing integral functional space of discourse. The objective of the article is to determine how certain linguistic means create meanings, which factors contribute to their transformation into sense, what exactly provides representation and further interpretation of sense.
Considering the essence of meaning, the author analyzes its types, specifies the extent of interaction and interdependence between them, determines the factors promoting transformation and modification of one type into another which clarifies what helps actualize meanings of different levels. The author singles out semantic, semantic-and-syntactic, logical-and-semantic, and pragmatic meanings as the principle meanings underlying formation of discourse integral sense. The analysis of discursive sense formation as a multi-level hierarchical system based on complex interaction and interdependence of meanings of different types makes this study relevant and topical.
The study identifies optimal ways of sense creation and its adequate representation, of enhancing communication efficiency and achieving the communicative goal of a speech act. The author emphasizes the importance of the choice of linguistic means and the role of context in this process, the significant influence of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors; this directly impacts meanings formation, their transformation into sense which, in turn, forms the bedrock of discourse functional space.
The study methodology combines elements of systems analysis, descriptive analysis, discourse analysis, pragmasemantic analysis, component analysis.
The author comes to the conclusion that discourse sense space, being situationally conditioned, operates more with sense than meanings. The sense of discourse is not reducible to the sum of the meanings that form it. Meaning and sense are categories that are formed in the course and as a result of communicative activity and cognitive processes; therefore, the effectiveness of
About the Author
V. L. Malakhova
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Malakhova, Victoria L. – PhD (Philology), Associate Professor, Assistant Professor of English Language Department № 4
76, Prospect Vernadskogo, Moscow, 119454
References
1. Aleksandrova, O. Iazykovaia lichnost’ kak otrazhenie kognitivno-kommunikativnoi deiatel’nosti cheloveka [Linguistic personality as the reflection of the human cognitive-communicative activity... pp. 33-36]. Kognitivnye issledovaniia iazyka [Cognitive studies of language], 2(41), 2020, pp. 19-27. (In Russian).
2. Alefirenko, N., Agleev, I., Kesner, J. Lingvosinergiynoe strukturirovanie kartiny mira [Linguosynergic Structuring of the World Picture]. Izvestiia Dagestanskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Obshhestvennye i gumanitarnye nauki [Dagestan State pedagogical university bulletin. Social and humanitarian sciences], 4 (12), 2018, pp. 23-31. (In Russian). DOI: 10.31161/1995-0667-2018-12-4-23-31.
3. Arutiunova, N. Tipy iazykovykh znacheniy: Otsenka. Sobytie. Fakt [Types of language values: Evaluation. Event. Fact]. Moscow, Nauka, 1988. 341 p. (In Russian).
4. Benveniste, E. Obshchaia lingvistika [General linguistics] / Ed. and commented by Yuri S. Stepanov; Translated from French by Yuri N. Karaulov et al. 2nd edition. Moscow, URSS, 2002. 446 p. (In Russian).
5. Bondarko, A. Grammaticheskoe znachenie i smysl [Grammatical meaning and meaning]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1978. 176 p. (In Russian).
6. Gabets, A. Pretsedentnye fenomeny kak tochki bifurkatsii hudozhestvennogo diskursa [Precedent phenomena as bifurcation points of fiction discourse]. Linguistics & polyglot studies, 8, 2016, pp. 27-38. (In Russian).
7. Gak, V. Iazykovye preobrazovaniia: nekotorye aspekty lingvisticheskoi nauki v kontse XX veka: ot situatsii k vyskazyvaniiu [Language transformations: some aspects of linguistic science at the end of the 20th century: From situation to statement]. 2nd edition, reviewed. Moscow, URSS. 366 p. (In Russian).
8. Dijk, T.A. van. Voprosy pragmatiki teksta [Issues of text pragmatics]. Novoe v zarubezhnoi lingvistike [New in foreign linguistics], 8, 1978, pp. 259-336. (In Russian).
9. Deleuze, G. Logika smysla [The logic of meaning] / Translated from French by Y.I. Svirsky. Moscow, Akademicheskii Proekt, 2011. 472 p. (In Russian).
10. Koltsova, E., Kartashkova, F. Osobennosti funktsionirovaniia vnutrennei rechi v lingvopragmaticheskom i psikhologicheskom aspektakh [Functions of inner speech: linguistic, pragmatic and psychological aspects]. Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta [Novosibirsk State pedagogical university bulletin], 4(8), 2018, pp. 55-73. (In Russian). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15293/2226-3365.1804.04 .
11. Lazareva, A. Kommunikativno-pragmaticheskie aspekty rechevykh aktov i sobytiy v kommercheskoi korrespondentsii [Communicative and pragmatic aspects of speech acts and events in commercial correspondence]. Iazyk i kommunikatsiia v sovremennom polikul’turnom sotsiume [Language and communication in a modern multicultural society], 2014, pp. 118-127. (In Russian).
12. Matveeva, N. Mekhanizmy formirovaniia soderzhaniia i smysla teksta v protsesse ego vospriiatiia: psikholingvisticheskiy podkhod [Mechanisms of the formation of the content and meaning of the text in the process of its perception: A psycholinguistic approach]. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Serija 2, Iazykoznanie [Bulletin of Volgograd State University. Series 2, Linguistics], 16(2), 2017, pp. 82-92. (In Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2017.2.8.
13. Mikhailov, V. Smysl i znachenie v sisteme rechemyslitel’noi deiatel’nosti [Sense and meaning in the system of speech-thinking activity]. St. Petersburg: Izd-vo S.-Peterb. gos. un-ta, 1992. 200 p. (In Russian).
14. Ponomarenko, E. Osnovaniia funktsional’noy lingvosinergetiki: Uchebnoe posobie [Foundations of functional linguosynergetics: A textbook]. Moscow, 2015. 317 p. (In Russian).
15. Popova, Z., Sternin I. Leksicheskaia sistema iazyka: Vnutrenniaia organizatsiia, kategorial’ny apparat i priemy opisaniia: Uchebnoe posobie [Lexical system of language: Internal organization, categorical apparatus and methods of description: Course book]. Moscow, Knizhnyi dom “LibrokoM”, 2011. 176 p. (In Russian).
16. Potebnia, A. Mysl’ i iazyk [Thought and language]. Moscow, Labyrinth, 2007. 256 p. (In Russian).
17. Suleimenova, E. Poniatie smysla v sovremennoy lingvistike [The concept of meaning in modern linguistics]. Alma-Ata, Mektep, 1989. 160 p.
18. Kharkovskaya, A., Krivchenko I. Kontseptual’naia organizatsiia diskursa sotsial’nykh setei (na materiale sotsial’noi seti FACEBOOK) [Conceptual organization of social network discourse (based on FACEBOOK social network)]. Voprosy prikladnoi lingvistiki [Issues of applied linguistics], 3(27), 2017, pp. 60-77. (In Russian).
19. Khudyakov, A. Problema smysla v svete znakovoi teorii iazyka [The problem of meaning in the light of the sign theory of language]. Iazyk i rechevaia deiatel’nost’ [Language and speech activity], 1(3), 2000, pp. 1-22. (In Russian).
20. Shakhovsky, V. Kognitivnaia matritsa emotsional’no-kommunikativnoi lichnosti [Cognitive matrix of emotional and communicative personality]. Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriia: Lingvistika [Bulletin of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. Series: Linguistics], 22(1), 2018, pp. 54-79 (In Russian).
21. Shakhovsky, V., Volkova, P. Iazyk kak sistema: znachenie i smysl [Language as a system: meaning and sense]. Linguistics & polyglot studies, 23(3), 2020, pp. 48-62. (In Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.24833/2410-2423-2020-3-23-48-62.
22. Iachnaia, T. Podkhody k opredeleniiu poniatiia “znachenie” v sovremennoi lingvistike [Approaches to the definition of the concept of “meaning” in modern linguistics], Trudy BGTU, 5, 2016, pp. 235-238. (In Russian).
23. Alba-Juez, L., Larina, T. Language and emotion: Discourse-pragmatic perspectives. Russian Journal of Linguistics, 22(1), 2018, pp. 9-37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-9182-2018-22-1-9-37.
24. Amaral, P. Expressive meaning. In F. Liedtke and A. Tuchen (Eds.), Handbuch Pragmatik (pp. 325-333), Stuttgart, J.B. Metzler, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-476-04624-6_32.
25. Brody, M. Lexico-logical form: A radically minimalist theory. Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 1995. 155 p.
26. Burton-Roberts, N. Meaning, semantics and semiotics. In A. Capone, F. Lo Piparo, and M. Carapezza (Eds.), Perspectives on linguistic pragmatics. Perspectives in pragmatics, philosophy & psychology (pp. 1-22), Springer: Cham, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01014-4_1.
27. Carston, R. Thoughts and utterances: The pragmatics of explicit communication. Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. 432 p.
28. Chomsky, N. Language and interpretation. In N. Chomsky, and N.V. Smith (Eds.), New horizons in the study of language and mind (pp. 46-74), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
29. Cruse, A. D. Meaning in language. An introduction to semantics and pragmatics (Oxford textbooks in linguistics). Oxford University Press, 2004. 441 p.
30. Davidson, D. Inquiries into truth and interpretation. 2nd edition. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001. 320 p.
31. Haugh, M., Jaszczolt, K.M. Speaker intentions and intentionality. In K. Allan, and M.K. Jaszczolt (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of pragmatics (pp. 87-112), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012.
32. Husserl, E. Preliminary remarks about the systematic theory of forms of meanings. In E. Husserl (Eds.), Logic and general theory of science (pp. 129-140), Springer, 2019.
33. Kamp, H., Reyle, U. From discourse to logic: An introduction to modeltheoretic semantics, formal logic and discourse representation theory. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993. 717 p.
34. Kecskes, I. The paradox of communication: A socio-cognitive approach. Pragmatics & society, 1, 2010, pp. 50-73.
35. Khramchenko, D. Functional-linguistic parameters of English professional discourse. Professional discourse & communication, 1(1), 2019, pp. 9-20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24833/2687-0126-2019-1-1-9-20.
36. Lascarides, A., Asher, N. Temporal interpretation, discourse relations and common sense entailment, Linguistics and philosophy, 16.5, 1993, 437-493.
37. Ledeneva, S. Advertising as specific discourse type: ontology and functional pragmatics. 5th International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences and Arts SGEM 2018, www.sgemsocial.org, SGEM2018 Conference Proceedings, 26 August-1 September 2018, vol. 5 Science & Society, issue 3.6 Language & Linguistics, 2018, pp. 3-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2018h/31/s10.001
38. Maienborn, C., Heusinger, K., Portner, P.H. Meaning in linguistics. Volume 1. Handbooks of linguistics and communication science. In C. Maienborn, K. von Heusinger, P.H. Portner (Eds.), Semantics: An international handbook of natural language meaning (pp. 1-10), Berlin, Boston, De Gruyter Mouton, 2011.
39. Pradhan, R. Mind, meaning and world: A transcendental perspective. Springer, 2019. 142 p.
40. Tikhomirova, A., Juan Huang, et al. How culture and trustworthiness interact in different e-commerce contexts: A comparative analysis of consumers’ intention to purchase on platforms of different origins. Frontiers in psychology, 12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.746467.
Review
For citations:
Malakhova V.L. Meaning and Sense as the Bedrock of English Discourse Functional Space. Linguistics & Polyglot Studies. 2022;8(1):29-43. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24833/2410-2423-2022-1-30-29-43
Views:
418
Email this article 