NATURAL LANGUAGE AS SUBJECT MATTER OF LINGUISTICS

Potkraj 19. stoljeće inovacijski se materijal novogramatičara počinje iscrpljivati. Indukcijsku paradigmu koju su oni zastupali, praćenu historicizmom, pozitivizmom, evolucionizmom i psihologizmom, zamijenila je u prvoj četvrtini 20. stoljeća nova lingvistička paradigma koju nazivamo strukturalizmom, odnosno verifikacionizmom. U smislu strukturalističkih koncepcija prirodni jezik je smatran takvim bićem (sustavom znakova) koje postoji neovisno o čovjeku, s jedne strane u mentalnoj sferi govornika raspolaže značajnom autonomijom, a s druge pak postoji i neovisno o njoj. Uspostavljanje odnosa između jezika i govornika prvi je inicirao N. Chomsky preusmjeravajući zanimanje lingvista, u okviru generativne, tj. falsifikacijske paradigme, s jezičnog korpusa na ispitivanje tzv. jezične kompetencije. Tek se u najnovije vrijeme sve veće zanimanje znanstvenika okreće prema kognitivnoj ulozi jezika, tj. funkciji jezika koju ima u ukupnom mentalnom sklopu čovjeka. U kognitivnoj teoriji jezika važnu ulogu igra pojam znanja. Znanje tumače skoro isključivo sadržajem različitih govornih, odnosno pisanih jezičnih izraza. To tumačenje međutim možemo okvalificirati kao grešku ontologijskog tipa. Autor dokazuje da je znanje takvo svojstvo koje nismo u mogućnosti nikome predati i zato ljudi koriste jezike, zato ih iznalaze. U okviru interakcije ljudi predaju jedni drugima signale koji zamjenjuju znanje, više ili manje adekvatne jezične znakove. Jezični znak u komunikacijskom procesu može biti samo u ulozi funkcije prizvanog simbola. Znanje možemo rekonstruirati, stvoriti samo na osnovi poznatih informacija.Towards the end of the 19th century, the innovative materials of the Neogrammarians started to become exhausted. The inductive paradigm they supported, accompanied by historicism, positivism, evolutionism and psychologism, was replaced in the first quarter of the 20th century by a new linguistic paradigm called structuralism, that is, verificationism. Within the context of structuralist concepts, natural language was considered an entity (system of signs) that exists independently of people; on the one hand, in the mind of the speaker it has significant autonomy, on the other, it exists independently of it. N. Chomsky was the first to initiate attempts to establish the relation between language and the speaker by redirecting the interest of linguists within the framework of generative, that is, falsification paradigm, from the language corpus to the study of the so called linguistic competence. Only recently, scientists have started to turn towards the cognitive role of language, that is, towards the function language has within the man’s mental framework. The concept of knowledge has an important role in the cognitive theory of language. Knowledge is almost exclusively explained by the content of various spoken and written linguistic expressions. However, that kind of knowledge can be qualified as an error of ontological type. The author proves that knowledge is such a quality that it cannot be conveyed to anyone, and that is why people use languages, why they create them. When interacting, people convey to each other signals that replace knowledge. These signals can be more or less adequate language signs. These language signs can only serve to evoke symbols in the process of communication. Knowledge can be reconstructed, created, only on the basis of information that is known

Sytuacja językowa w Unii Europejskiej

Issues of language and culture in the EU exhibit a complex pattern, and their proper management cannot be conceived of without taking into consideration the results of interlinguistic and intercultural research. EU citizens must be prepared to confront cultural and civilizational diversity and also to understand that diversity rather than receiving it as a threat to their national identity. Are educated EU citizens, for example, ready to come to grips with linguistic, cultural and civilizational diversity? Are they able to adequately treat and accept such diversity? What are they prepared to do in order to maintain and cultivate their own language, culture, and identity, as well as to hand them down to the next generation? These are the challenges that a nation and a sovereign state necessarily have to face. New EU member states, torn out of its former isolation, has suddenly found itself exposed to globalization processes.Vprašanje jezika in kulture v EZ je zelo zapleteno in si ga ni mogoče predstavljati brez upoštevanja rezultatov medjezikovnih in medkulturnih raziskav. Državljane EZ je potrebno soočiti s kulturno in civilizacijsko raznolikostjo, ki jo je potrebno razumeti pravilno in ne kot grožnjo svoji narodni identiteti. Je izobražen prebivalec EZ pripravljen na soočenje z jezikovno, kulturno in civilizacijsko raznolikostjo? Jo znajo državljani EZ ustrezno obravnavati in sprejeti? Kaj so pripravljeni storiti, da bi ohranili in kultivirali svoj lastni jezik, kulturo in identiteto ter jih posredovali naslednji generaciji? To so izzivi, s katerimi se morajo soočiti narodi in suverene države. Nove članice EZ so po dolgi izolaciji bile nenadoma izpostavljene integraciji in globalizaciji