Visualising and social meaning in languages: Analytic philosophy, sociolinguistics, and the theory of terminology

The article examines the problem of visualising the social significance of linguistic expression in various traditions of philosophical and socio-humanitarian knowledge that have developed from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. By the problem of visualising the social significance of linguistic expression, the authors mean how representatives of different approaches (using the example of analytic philosophy, sociolinguistics, and terminology) consider the influence of social factors on language. These areas are used not by chance, due to the differences that arise in the process of studying the problem of social significance by their representatives. It should be noted that these traditions are formed simultaneously and influence each other. In the field of analytic philosophy, the visualisation of the problem of the social significance of linguistic expression is considered by its representatives (e.g., G. Frege, L. Wittgenstein, S. Kripke, G. Baker, P. Hacker) as a particular aspect of the problem of the meaning of linguistic expression. More precisely, within this field, the focus is more on the influence of social factors on the process of signifying and interpreting linguistic expression. It is noted that the actualisation of social factors within the problem of the meaning of linguistic expression is connected with Wittgenstein’s approach to this problem through the aspect of determining linguistic meaning in the process of its use (communication), from which the problem of following the rule emerges. The discussion that arose in analytic philosophy regarding this interpretation demonstrated that the diversity of social circumstances does not allow for the use of universal and stable tools for signifying and interpreting linguistic expression. Nevertheless, representatives of analytic philosophy are more interested in the cognitive aspect of the problem of linguistic meaning, which is greatly influenced by the communicative factor, manifested in the uncertainty of the rules that participants in interaction may adhere to. In the field of sociolinguistics, the problem of visualising the social meaning of linguistic expression is posed and studied as a separate important problem (e.g., W. Labov, D. Hymes, P. Eckert). Nevertheless, the need to understand it in relation to the problem of general meaning is emphasised. The authors note that the specificity of visualising the problem of social meaning is conditioned by the study of direct communication and human participation in it in the fullness of their social circumstances. Hence, the emphasis is on language not as a formed semiotic system with established rules (writing) following the example of analytic philosophy, but on oral (verbal) communication. This shift leads to the actualisation of the communicative function of language and to the understanding that the problem of social significance is linked to the individual and social characteristics of the speaker, which is why the latter is variable, spontaneous and difficult to control. In such a visualisation, the possibility of identifying the cognitive function of language and determining the stability of manifestations of a person’s social status and their presentation in the communicator’s speech virtually disappears. In the field of terminology, the problem of social significance is considered through the simultaneous coupling of the cognitive and communicative functions of language. But the peculiarity of this field is that the main essence of the communicative function of terminology is to translate the cognitive content of knowledge represented by the latter (cognitive-communicative function). As the experience of terminology theories (e.g., O. Wüster, M. Cabré, R. Temmerman) shows, such a combination is difficult to implement, since when demonstrating the cognitive function, the communicative component is lost, and when actualising the communicative function, the uncertainty of the cognitive side of the meaning of terminology increases. Thus, the problem of visualising social meaning depends on the methods used to achieve it and is conditioned by the great variability of the social conditions in which linguistic expressions are used, which complicates the search for a universal approach to it.

social significance, analytic philosophy, rule-following problem, sociolinguistics, terminology, cognitive-communicative function