Od znaczenia do konceptu: pragmatyczno-kulturowe aspekty specyfikacji semantycznej.

Abstract

The author discusses theoretical issues of functional semantics, especially such directions of the contemporary anthropological linguistics as ethnosemantics and cognitive semantics. The diversification of the content of a lexical meaning under the influence of external, mainly pragmatic and cultural, factors is the primary object of interest here. Therefore, the author considers the degree of semantic specification of lexical units at various levels of interpersonal communication: both general and subcultural. As assumed by the contemporary cultural linguistics, a concept is considered to be a category of representation of knowledge encoded in language signs. The author gives arguments in favour of the view that the opposition of the (lexical, general) meaning and concept is gradual and concerns the scope of semantic information encoded in the sign in accordance with adaptive requirements.