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Abstract: The article deals with one of the classical and at the same time the most controversial problems of general linguistics – the problem of the essence of language. Linguists demonstrate various interpretations of the essence of language. This is one of the fundamental issues of linguistics; despite the long history of its study, it has obviously not yet received its final resolution. The article presents a conception of the essence of language as a special systemic object with its own unique structure and its own laws of evolution. The methodological process of highlighting the essence of language should be realized in the students’ understanding of the content of this concept. The aim of the study is to work out the methods of revealing the essence of language as one whole, developing in time. Based on the postulates about the systemic-structural organization of the world and the global evolutionary processes, drawing on the philosophical laws and psychological patterns, and trying to find out what serves to understand the essence of a systemic object, as a prerequisite for the development of an object going through different stages in its development, the author proceeds to implement the goal, identifying at this stage important systemic-structural and evolutionary characteristics of consciousness. Then, using the material of the tense forms of the German language, it is shown how these characteristics are objectified in the language embodying the work of consciousness. The study reveals the extreme complexity of such a fundamental problem of general linguistics as the essence of language, sheds light on the ontological status of language, and can be used in the development of the general linguistic conception of the essence of language. As long as the work also makes observations of the structural formal-semantic asymmetry in language as an inherent phenomenon of human linguistic thinking and presents the reflections on the dyad “language – consciousness / thinking”, the data obtained can be significant for the solution of these issues. The research approach used in the work allowed the author to make a feasible contribution to the overall task of highlighting the essence of language and to outline the methods of its identification.

About the author(s) :

Viktoria A. Beresneva

Vyatka State University (Kirov, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6587-1953

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 09.02.2024; date of publication: 28.12.2024

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