Cultural and linguistic aspects in the study of notions of "lacunae" and "lacunarity"

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Cultural and linguistic aspects in the study of notions of «lacunae» and «lacunarity»

Annotation

The object of this study is the concept of lacunarity in modern linguistics. This particular subject was prompted by the necessity for its further research as the notion of lacunae in the light of linguistics has a broad conceptual structure and is a complex linguistic phenomenon. The main aim of the article is to study the specific term «lacunae» with regard to theoretical vision of scholars, to analyze its place and functioning in linguistics.

A comparison of the vocabulary of several languages identifies gaps, white spots in the semantics of one of the languages. These gaps are called lexical lacunaes and they appear as a result of no equivalent as a word to a word of another language. Lacunaes can be revealed only by comparative and contrastive study. All lacunaes can be compensated by free and temporary phrases. In recent decades, the theory of lacunarity is progressively extending, but its progress at this stage is currently insufficient. Being in contact with another culture (other cultural text), the recipient intuitively perceives it through the prism of their local culture, thus misunderstanding of different kinds inevitably arises. Scholarly literature contains a variety of concepts, terms that indicate differences in languages and cultures in general, from a purely scientific and accurate (nonequivalent vocabulary, occasional gaps, ethnoeydema), to less clear ones - dark places. There can be found certain attempts to fix the differences in languages and cultures using the term «gar» (space) in foreign academic sources. Ukrainian ones refer to those which describe these differences through the notion of lacunae.

The phenomenon of lacunarity has been in scholarly focus for the last 3-4 decades. There is a lack of a unified methodological approach as well as the definition of the notion of lacunae that would satisfy all researchers. In this regard, the problem of representation of the notion of lacunae in linguistics still requires further consideration.

Key words: lacunae, lacunarity, local culture, lexeme, linguistics, phenomenon, language.

Анотація

У статті досліджено специфіку поняття лакуни та лакунарності з огляду на теоретичні бачення науковців, яке подається як різноваріантне лінгвістичне та культурне явище. Проаналізовано місце лакуни та її функціонування в лінгвістиці. Обґрунтована необхідність подальших досліджень та розвідок, оскільки сам термін «лакуна» та явище лакунарності у світлі лінгвістики має широку понятійну структуру та є складним лінгвістичним явищем.

Ключові слова: лакуна, лакунарність, локальна культура, лексема, лінгвістика, явище, мова.

Аннотация

Ключевые слова: лакуна, лакунарность, локальная культура, лексема, лингвистика, явление, язык.

Problem definition in general and its connection with important scholarly and practical tasks. Foreign language is a means of communication between people belonging to different cultural communities, a means of cognition and vision of the world. There is no doubt that getting to know a foreign language, learning and studying it, while one enters into a new national culture, receives an enormous spiritual wealth stored in the language. However, the success of the communication process depends not only on the possession of the language code, but also on sociocultural code of ownership of the community, which is conducted in the language of communication, in other words, knowledge and ideas that are contained in the cognitive basis of this linguocultural community. While comparing the cognitive structure of certain cultural communities, it becomes clear that the units that are present in the same cognitive structure, are missing in another one. lacunae linguistic cultural

Lacunarity phenomenon is found in almost all languages of the world. Terms and conditions of life of the people generate concepts being absent at speakers of other languages. The use of a foreign language in communicative purpose requires a certain level of language, speech and social competence, causing the need for foreign language teaching in communion with the specifics of the study of social and cultural life of the country, the language is spoken.

Since lacunarity consists in the lack of interlingual equivalents of given language elements, it is a phenomenon not only worth researching in a theoretical perspective, but also in a practical one, especially from the point of view of foreign language teaching, translation studies and bilingual lexicography. As for the first area, the notion is important for many reasons. Generally speaking, learning a foreign language means students' adopting a new cognitive perspective and their functioning in a new cultural reality, which is different in many respects from the ones of their own. Therefore, the learner is exposed to various kinds of gaps during the learning process.

When comparing the vocabulary of several languages, some gaps can be identified, «white spots» in the semantics of a language. These gaps are called lexical lacunaes and appear as a result of the absence of an equivalent word to a word of another language. Only through comparison and contrastive studies lacunaes can be identified. All gaps can be compensated by free and temporary phrases. In recent decades, the theory of lacunarity is actively growing but domestic research in this aspect is still scarce. Contacting with an other culture (othercultural text), the recipient intuitively perceives it through the prism of its local culture, thus misunderstanding of various degrees inevitably arises. In the scientific literature a variety of concepts and notions can be found, they capture the differences in languages and cultures in general: from a purely scientific and accurate (no equivalent vocabulary, occasional lacunaes, etnoeydema), to the less clear - dark places. In foreign literature there are some attempts to fix the differences in languages and cultures, using the term «gar» (space). In domestic science the most interesting are attempts to describe such differences by using the term “lacunae”.

The two national cultures never coincide completely. This follows from the fact that each consists of national and international elements. It is well known that the way of existence of verbal culture is the national language, mostly its lexical system.

In recent decades national and specific elements in the lexical systems of languages and cultures are widely studied by foreign and domestic scientists in different ways using a variety of terms: lacunaes (J. P. Vinay and Jean Darbelne, V. L. Muraviov); space, lacunae (K. Heyl) antywords, gaps, or white spots on the semantic language map (Y. S. Stepanov), examples of untranslatable character (V. G. Chernov) no equivalents, lexical zero, zero lexeme (I. A. Sternin) no equivalent or background vocabulary (L. S. Barhudarov), dark places in the texts of one language and others. Most studies that examine the differences in languages as well as in cultures, prefer the term «lacunae» (from latin. Lacunae - concavity, hollow, cavity, from france. Lacunae - cavity). The definition of lacunae as a philological term can be found in «Dictionary of Foreign Words», namely space, lack of space in the text.

Therefore, the phenomenon of lacunarity has become the subject of researchers attention recently - in the last 3-4 decades. It also shows the lack both of a single methodological approach and the definition of the term of «lacunae» which would satisfy all the researchers. In this regard, the issue of representation of the term «lacunae» in linguistics still remains unresolved.

Analysis of recent researches and publications. For the first time the term «lacunae» was introduced in the scientific usage by Canadian linguists J. P. Vinay and Jean Darbelne, and they define it as a phenomenon that occurs every time when the word of one language has no equivalent in another language. V. G. Gak explains the lacunaes as «spaces in lexical system of the language, the lack of words which, it would seem, had to be present in the language, judging from its reflecting function (i.e, its task is to denote phenomena of objective reality) and from lexical language system» [2, p. 261]. I. A. Sternin says «if in one of the languages lexical unit is missing, then it indicates the presence of lacunae at this point of lexical system of the language; in the comparison language this unit turns out to have no equivalent» [8, p. 18]. That is, lexical lacunae is the lack of word in the language system, which has a concept being equivalent to the concept of comparison language.

Y. A. Sorokin and I. Y. Markovina understand the term «lacunae» in another way. They use the term «lacunae» in the broad sense, referring all the phenomena that require additional explanation in contact with other culture. These researchers believe appropriate and methodologically justified the use of the term when comparing not only the language, but also some other aspects of culture. «Lacunaes in the most general sense fix what is in one of the local culture, and what is not in another», I. Y. Markovina said [4, p. 47]. In turn, Y. A. Sorokin argues that «... literature can be considered as a set of coincidences and differences (lacunaes) that require interpretation and is the mode of existence of meanings (that are implemented through representation), traditionally operating in this or that local culture». In other words, according to the researcher, «... the lacunaes are the result of incomplete or excessive experience of lingvocultural community» [7, p. 123]. V. L. Muraviov's remark has its methodological nature. It is related to the fact that «lacunaes should be investigated not only in synchronic way but also in terms of historical development» [5, p. 23]. E. A. Eynullayeva proposes to use the term «lacunae» to describe «the whole complex of differences in the contacting languages and cultures that complicate text comprehension by recipient of another culture» [1, p. 35].

The working of article purposes, setting the objectives. The purpose of this publication is to investigate the specific term «lacunae» with regard to theoretical vision of scientists, to analyze its place and functioning in linguistics. Achieving this goal involves the following tasks: analysis and study of notion paradigm of lacunae in linguistics; analysis and comparison of representation of the concept of lacunae by different scientists; analysis of studies of the lacunarity phenomenon in linguistics and culture.

The main material of research with full substantiation of scientific results recieved. Summing up understanding of lacunaes by various authors (Y. S. Stepanov, V. L. Muraviov, L. S. Barkhudarov, R. A. Budahov, G. D. Gachev etc.) should be provided (given) the following basic features of lacunaes (unclearness, unusualness (exotic), obscurity (alienation), malfunctioning (fallacy). Signs of lacunaes and non-lacunaes can be represented by the following oppositions: clear - unclear, unusual - usual, unfamiliar - familiar, inaccurate / mistake - right. So far lacunaes haven't become the object of relevant domestic linguists' research, though, no doudt, that this linguistic reality is widely represented in the language.

Linguistic essence of the lacunarity phenomenon is the semiotic nature of language in general and the word as a languge sign that possesses both the ideal and material sides. In terms of expression the word is a lexeme, in terms of content the word is a sememe. Under lexeme, therefore, should be understood only word sound shell, under sememe - its contents. Y. Y. Lipatov stresses that «lacunative may be any component or even a separate sema of lexical meaning, and a specific object, and even more - information accompanying this phenomenon in the minds of native speakers» [3, p. 17].

Thus, the phenomenon of lacunarity is really phenomenal: in terms of semiotics lexical lacunae means one-word names (zero lexeme, lexical zero); in terms of semasiology - a construct a (concept) nonmaterialised phonetically and graphically, a set of sememes deprived of its formation till the time; in terms of onomasiology - the ideal contents that precedes its objectification in a new word; from the perspective of language system is a natural, blank gap in its lexical tier, hole in the semantic space of language (system, potential lacunae); in terms of communication theory is the lack for various reasons of commonly used lexeme to indicate information in the language, general reflection of the extra-linguistic reality, i.e. to name communicatively important concepts or objects (communication lacunas), the causes of which are outside the language itself and due to the influence of extralinguistic factors such as traditions, culture, customs and historical conditions.

Lacunaes are noticeable only when compared languages, and thus the causes of lacunaes are different. Contact with other culture (othercultural text), the recipient intuitively perceives it through the prism of its local culture, thus inevitably misunderstanding of various degrees occurs. In this regard, we can state the need for a kind of conceptual and terminological tools. The spread of the concept of lacunae in the comparisons of languages as well as other aspects of culture seems appropriate and methodically justified. On the one hand, such an extension of the concept of lacunae is based on the assumption of the close relationship of language and culture, on the other hand to identify linguocultural and cultural lacunaes along with linguistic ones facilitates the correlation of some specific forms of language and culture. Lacunaes in their most general sense fix something that is in one of the local culture and what is absent in another one. In this regard, there is a question of the relationship between the specific and the universal in separate cultures.

Conclusions

As a result of this study, it was possible to achieve the goal - to explore the concept «lacunae» with regard to theoretical vision. So, having analyzed and traced appearance and functioning of the concept «lacunae» in research of the scientists, we can find different represented aspects of lacunae as a linguistic and cultural concept. In methodological approaches of researchers (Y. S. Stepanov, V. L. Muraviov, L. S. Barkhudarov, R. A. Budahov, Y. A. Sorokin, I. Y. Markovina) the term «lacunae» is presented as a linguistic and cultural phenomenon of different kinds that reflects the incomprehensibility, inaccuracy, error, discrepancy. A greater degree the national and cultural originality of language manifests itself through socio-cultural lacunaes - so-called «holes» in the system, i.e. the lack of lexeme at a certain place in the structure of lexical paradigm. The availability of lexical-semantic lacunaes in different languages is the cause of the impossibility of fully adequate translation from one language to another. Thus, modern linguistics considers lacunaes as specific elements of national culture, taking their appropriate reflection in the language of the culture's native speakers that are either not fully understood or partly understood by the native speakers of another culture and language in the communication process.

Comparing the theoretical visions of lacunaes of various researchers, we can emphasize that notion «lacunae» in the light of linguistics, both has a broad conceptual structure and is a complex linguistic phenomenon which needs further consideration.

References

1. Eynullayeva E. A. Lacunaes in the structure of the language person and their Intercultural Communication filling (On an example of English and Russian) / E. A. Eynullayev - Moscow, 2003. - 167 p.

2. Gak V. G. Comparative Typology of French and Russian language / V. G. Gak. - Lviv : Prosvecshenie, 1983. - 290 p.

3. Lipatov Y. Y. Lacunaes in the Russian language: diachronic research on a material of multi translations of English literature mid. XIX-XX centuries / Y. Y. Lipatov. - Cheboksary, 2005. - 159 p.

4. Markovina І. Y. The impact of national specific language and culture to intercultural communication process: problems and prospects / I. Y. Markovina. - Moscow, 1983. - 320 p.

5. Muraviov V. L. Lexical lacunaes (based on the vocabulary of the French and Russian languages) / V. L. Muraviov. - Vladimir: VlGPI, 1975. - 95 p.

6. Maslov V. A. Cultural linguistics: manual [for university students] / V. A. Maslov. - Moscow : Publishing center “Academy”, 2001. - 212 p.

7. Sorokin Y. A. Cultural and ethnological niche: the concept definition and interpretation. Language picture of the world: the linguistic and cultural aspects / Y. A. Sorokin. - Biisk, 1998. - Vol. 2. - 187 p.

8. Sternin I. A. Cognitive Linguistics / I. A. Sternin. - Voronezh : AST, 2007. - 34 p.

9. Ter-Minasova S. G. Language and Intercultural Communication / S. G. Ter-Minasova. - Moscow : 2000 - 147 p.

10. The lacunaes in the language and speech [Text] // Scientific Journal - Blagoveshchensk, 2003. - 257 p.

11. Tkhorik V. I., Fanian N. Y. Cultural linguistics and intercultural communication: manual / V. I. Tkhorik, N. Y. Fanian. - Moscow : GIS, 2005. - 210 p.

Размещено на Allbest.ru