Natural language

The main function of the language is the construction of judgments, the ability to determine the meaning of active reactions, the organization of concepts, which are some symmetrical forms that organize the space of relations of “communicators”:

• communicative:

• stating (for a neutral statement of fact),
• interrogative (for a request for a fact),
• appellate (to induce action),
• expressive (to express the speaker’s mood and emotions),
• contact setting (to create and maintain contact between interlocutors);

• metalanguage (for the interpretation of linguistic facts);
• aesthetic (for aesthetic impact);
• function of an indicator of belonging to a certain group of people (nation, nationality, profession);
• informational;
• cognitive;
• emotional.

Currently, systemicity is considered the most important characteristic of a language ^[1] . The semiotic essence of natural language consists in establishing a correspondence between the universe of meanings and the universe of sounds ^[2] .

By the nature of the plan of expression, in its oral form, human language refers to auditory sign systems, and in written language to visual systems ^[3] .

By the type of genesis, natural language belongs to cultural systems, thus it is opposed to both natural and artificial sign systems ^[4] . The human language as a sign system is characterized by a combination of features of both natural and artificial sign systems ^[5] .

The natural language system refers to multi-level systems, as it consists of qualitatively different elements - phonemes , morphemes , words , sentences , the relationships between which are complex and multifaceted ^[6] .

As for the structural complexity of a natural language, the language is called the most complex of sign systems ^[7] .

According to the structural basis, deterministic and probabilistic semiotic systems are also distinguished. Natural language belongs to probabilistic systems in which the sequence of elements is not rigid, but is probabilistic in nature ^[6] .

Semiotic systems are also divided into dynamic, mobile and static, motionless. Elements of dynamic systems change their position in relation to each other, while the state of elements in static systems is motionless, stable. Natural language is referred to as dynamic systems, although there are also static features in it ^[8] .

Another structural characteristic of sign systems is their completeness. A complete system can be defined as a system with signs representing all theoretically possible combinations of a certain length from the elements of a given set . Accordingly, an incomplete system can be characterized as having a certain degree of redundancy in which not all of the possible combinations of given elements are used to express signs. Natural language is an incomplete system with a high degree of redundancy ^{[9] [10]} .

The differences between sign systems in their ability to change make it possible to classify them into open and closed systems. Open systems in the process of their functioning can include new signs and are characterized by higher adaptability compared to closed systems that are not capable of change. The ability to change is inherent in the human language ^[11] .

According to V.V. Nalimov , natural language occupies a middle position between “soft” and “hard” systems. Soft systems include ambiguously coding and ambiguously interpreted sign systems, for example, the language of music , and rigid systems include the language of scientific symbols ^[12] .

The properties of a natural language include the following ^[13] :

• unlimited semantic power - the fundamental infinity of the noetic field of the language, the ability to transmit information about any area of ​​observable or imaginary facts;
• evolutility - unlimited ability to infinite development and modifications;
• manifestation in speech - the manifestation of a language in the form of speech, understood as a specific speech, flowing in time and clothed in sound or written form;
• Ethnicity is an integral and two-way connection between language and ethnicity .

An essential property of a language is its duality, which finds expression in the existence of the following linguistic antinomies :

• the antinomy of the objective and subjective in language;
• the antinomy of language as an activity and as a product of activity;
• antinomy of stability and variability in the language;
• the antinomy of the ideal and material nature of language;
• the antinomy of the ontological and epistemological nature of the language;
• the antinomy of the continuum and discrete nature of the language;
• antinomy of language as a phenomenon of nature and artifact ;
• antinomy of individual and collective in language.

• Mechkovskaya N.B. Semiotics. Tongue. Nature. The culture. - M .: Academy, 2004 .-- 432 p. - ISBN 5-7695-1008-0 .
• Volkov A.G. Language as a system of signs. - M .: Publishing house of Moscow University, 1966. - 88 p.