81ʼ16

10.37482/2687-1505-V364

Mikhail A. Kravchenko
e-mail: oksanka_2007@mail.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6776-4131

This paper presents a scientific reflection on the origin, development and differentiation of the concept of metalanguage, used by modern linguists within approaches and disciplines that describe the manifestations of this phenomenon. The emergence and initial use of the term metalanguage in linguistic practice is described, the understanding of the phenomenon of metalanguage within R. Jakobson’s linguistic heritage is analysed, theoretical and methodological connections between the elements of his concept and modern approaches to metalanguage research are established. By applying the techniques of narrative linguistic historiography, including the methods of comprehension, interpretation and classification of linguistic works, as well as the descriptive method, allowing us to transmit theoretical premises, arguments and conclusions, the author of this paper proves that the functional orientation of metalanguage research can be traced back to the well-known functional model of language. In this model, Jakobson attached great importance to the metalinguistic function. His ideas on the significance of metalinguistic competence for a person’s cognitive growth contributed to the development of an interdisciplinary field that has mechanisms of mental development during ontogenesis as its subject matter. As a result of the research, a hypothesis was confirmed that most contemporary approaches to metalanguage are grounded in the concept proposed by Jakobson. It was Jakobson who laid the groundwork for the study of metalanguage as a system. He introduced into the scope of linguistics such problems as the correspondence of and interaction between the structures of language and metalanguage, systemic organization of metalanguage, functional asymmetry between metalinguistic units, and semiotic parameters of metalanguage. These issues still require a thorough and comprehensive investigation. Therefore, Jakobson’s linguistic research has not yet exhausted its heuristic potential and will continue to serve as a theoretical and methodological foundation for current and future studies on metalanguage.

metalanguage, functional model of language, metalinguistic function, metalinguistic unit, R. Jakobson

1.  Dem’yankov V.Z. Metayazyk kak konstrukt kul’tury [Metalanguage as a Cultural Construct]. Stepanov Yu.S., Feshchenko V.V., Knyazeva E.M., Bochaver S.Yu. (eds.). Pod znakom “Meta” [Under the “Meta” Sign]. Moscow, 2011, pp. 54–63.
2.  Kravchenko M.A. Soderzhanie ponyatiya “metayazyk” v sovremennoy lingvistike [The Content of the Concept of Metalanguage in Modern Linguistics]. Yazykovaya lichnost’. Rechevye zhanry. Tekst [Linguistic Personality. Speech Genres. Text]. Taganrog, 2011, pp. 47–50.
3.  Reprintseva M.A. Ponyatie metayazyka i ego traktovki [Ways to Understand Metalanguage]. Vestnik Tverskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Ser.: Filologiya, 2014, no. 2, pp. 232–237.
4.  Mechkovskaya N.B. Estestvennyy yazyk i metayazykovaya refleksiya v vek Interneta [Natural Language and Metalinguistic Reflection in the Internet Age]. Russkiy yazyk v nauchnom osveshchenii, 2006, no. 2, pp. 165–185.
5.  Vepreva I.T. Metayazykovoy privkus epokhi. Izbrannye raboty poslednego desyatiletiya [Metalinguistic Smack of the Era. Selected Works of the Last Decade]. Saarbrücken, 2014. 223 p.
6.  Kačerauskas T., Mickūnas A. Language, Metalanguage, and Communication. In Between Communication Theories Through One Hundred Questions. Humanities. Arts and Humanities in Progress. Cham, 2020, pp. 127–157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41106-0_8
7.  Zolotova N.O. Yadro mental’nogo leksikona cheloveka kak estestvennyy metayazyk [The Core of the Human Mental Vocabulary as a Natural Metalanguage: Diss.]. Tver, 2005. 306 p.
8.  Batyukova N.A. Metayazykovye sredstva sovremennoy publitsisticheskoy i khudozhestvennoy rechi [Metalinguistic Devices of Modern Journalistic and Belle-Lettres Language: Diss.]. Moscow, 2009. 463 p.
9.  Golev N.D. (ed.). Obydennoe metayazykovoe soznanie: ontologicheskie i gnoseologicheskie aspekty [Ordinary Metalinguistic Consciousness: Ontological and Epistemological Aspects]. Pt. 1. Kemerovo, 2009. 530 p.; Pt. 2. Tomsk, 2009. 456 p.; Pt. 3. Kemerovo, 2010. 459 p.; Pt. 4. Kemerovo, 2012. 481 p.
10.  Andrusenko E.A. Metayazykovaya refleksiya v khudozhestvennykh tekstakh V.P. Astaf’eva [Metalinguistic Reflection in V.P. Astafiev’s Works of Fiction: Diss.]. Kemerovo, 2012. 204 p.
11.  Shumarina M.R. Yazyk v zerkale khudozhestvennogo teksta. (Metayazykovaya refleksiya v proizvedeniyakh russkoy prozy) [Language in the Mirror of a Work of Fiction. (Metalinguistic Reflection in Russian Prose)]. Moscow, 2011. 325 p.
12.  Vinogradov A.S. Metatekstovye vklyucheniya kak sposoby reprezentatsii integrativnoy individual’nosti v nauchnom diskurse (na materiale tekstov rossiyskikh lingvistov) [Metatextual Inclusions as Ways of Representing Integrative Individuality in Scientific Discourse (Based on the Texts of Russian Linguists): Diss.]. Vologda, 2018. 195 p.
13.  Gavrilova A.A. Metatekstovye elementy v nauchnom tekste [Metatextual Elements in a Scientific Text]. Saratov, 2017. 178 p.
14.  Gutovskaya M.S. Leksiko-frazeologicheskaya struktura polya metayazykovykh oboznacheniy v russkom i angliyskom yazykakh [Lexical and Phraseological Structure of the Field of Metalinguistic Notation in Russian and English]. Minsk, 2019. 399 p.
15.  Ivannikov E.B. Yazykovaya refleksiya v internet-zhargone [Linguistic Reflection in Internet Slang: Diss.]. St. Petersburg, 2020. 179 p.
16.  Liu Enshuai. Funktsionirovanie metatekstovykh operatorov s komponentami “govorya” i “skazat’” v sovremennom russkom yazyke [Functioning of Metatextual Operators with the Components govorya and skazat’ in Modern Russian: Diss.]. Vladivostok, 2022. 124 p.
17.  Postovalova V.I. Ideya “meta” v samosoznanii kul’tury XX–XXI vekov [The Idea of “Meta” in the Self-Awareness of Culture in the 20th – 21st Centuries]. Metafizika, 2012, no. 4, pp. 6–25.
18.  Tarski A. Istina i dokazatel’stvo [Truth and Proof]. Voprosy filosofii, 1972, no. 8, pp. 136–145.
19.  Carnap R. Foundations of Logic and Mathematics. Fodor J.A., Katz J.J. (eds.). The Structure of Language: Readings in the Philosophy of Language. Englewood Cliffs, 1964, pp. 419–436.
20.  Morris C.W. Osnovaniya teorii znakov [Foundations of the Theory of Signs]. Stepanov Yu.S. (comp.). Semiotika: Antologiya [Semiotics: An Anthology]. Moscow, 2001, pp. 45–97.
21.  Hjelmslev L. Prolegomeny k teorii yazyka [Prolegomena to a Theory of Language]. Zvegintseva V.A. (comp.). Novoe v lingvistike [Advances in Linguistics]. Iss. 1. Moscow, 1960, pp. 264–389.
22.  Barthes R. Osnovy semiologii [Fundamentals of Semiology]. Frantsuzskaya semiotika: ot strukturalizma k poststrukturalizmu [French Semiotics: From Structuralism to Poststructuralism]. Moscow, 2000, pp. 247–310.
23.  Barthes R. Literatura i metayazyk [Literature and Metalanguage]. Barthes R. Izbrannye raboty: Semiotika: Poetika [Selected Works: Semiotics: Poetics]. Moscow, 1989, pp. 131–132.
24.  Stepanov Yu.S., Feshchenko V.V., Knyazeva E.M., Bochaver S.Yu. (eds.). Pod znakom “Meta” [Under the “Meta” Sign]. Moscow, 2011. 354 p.
25.  Haugen E. Napravleniya v sovremennom yazykoznanii [Fields of Research in Modern Linguistics]. Zvegintseva V.A. (comp.). Novoe v lingvistike [Advances in Linguistics]. Iss. 1. Moscow, 1960, pp. 244–263.
26.  Jakobson R. Metalanguage as a Linguistic Problem. Contributions to Comparative Mythology. Berlin, 1985. Vol. VII, pp. 113–121.
27.  Jakobson R. Lingvistika i poetika [Linguistics and Poetics]. Basin E.Ya., Polyakov M.Ya. (eds.). Strukturalizm: “za” i “protiv” [Structuralism: Pros and Cons]. Moscow, 1975, pp. 193–230.
28.  Jakobson R. K yazykovedcheskoy problematike soznaniya i bessoznatel’nosti [On the Linguistic Approach to the Problem of Consciousness and the Unconscious]. Jakobson R. Yazyk i bessoznatel’noe [Language and the Unconscious]. Moscow, 1996, pp. 13–26.
29.  Jakobson R. Lingvistika v ee otnoshenii k drugim naukam [Linguistics in Relation to Other Sciences]. Jakobson R. Izbrannye raboty [Selected Works]. Moscow, 1985, pp. 369–420.
30.  Ryabtseva N.K. Yazyk i estestvennyy intellekt [Language and Natural Intelligence]. Moscow, 2005. 639 p.
31.  Andrusenko E.A. Funktsii metateksta v khudozhestvennom tekste (na materiale proizvedeniy V. Astaf’eva) [The Functions of Metatext in Fiction (Based on Works by V. Astafiev)]. Sibirskiy filologicheskiy zhurnal, 2011, no. 1, pp. 89–94. https://doi.org/10.17223/18137083/34/13
32.  Kuznetsova A.V. Metatekst v khudozhestvennom tekste: pragmatika i funktsii [Meta-Text in Fiction Text: Pragmatics and Functions]. Filologicheskie nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki, 2020, vol. 13, no. 9, pp. 265–268. https://doi.org/10.30853/filnauki.2020.9.49
33.  Babenko N.G., Koreshkova E.K. Funktsional’nyy analiz yazykovoy refleksii v romane Evgeniya Vodolazkina “Opravdanie ostrova” [Functional Analysis of the Linguistic Reflection in Evgeny Vodolazkin’s “Justification of the Island”]. Vestnik Baltiyskogo federal’nogo universiteta im. I. Kanta. Ser.: Filologiya, pedagogika, psikhologiya, 2021, no. 4, pp. 24–32.
34.  Bayduzh L.M. Strategii kvazinominatsiy, realizuemye v vyskazyvaniyakh s metapokazatelem skazhem tak [The Quasi-Nominations Strategies Realized in Statements with the Expression skazhem tak (So to Say)]. Vestnik NGU. Ser.: Istoriya, filologiya, 2017, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 59–64.
35.  Perfil’eva N.P. Semasiologicheskie metapokazateli kak sistema [Semasiological Metatextual Indicators as a System]. Vestnik NGU. Ser.: Istoriya, filologiya, 2017, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 49–57.
36.  Tsesarskaya A.E., Shestopalova V.I. Metapokazateli avtokorrektsii v razgovornoy rechi [Discourse Words as a Sign of a Self-Correction in a Colloquial Speech]. Vestnik NGU. Ser.: Istoriya, filologiya, 2017, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 65–75.
37.  Shilikhina K. Metapragmatic Markers of the Bona Fide and Non-Bona Fide Modes of Communication. Chlopicki W., Brzozowska D. (eds.). Humorous Discourse. Berlin, 2017, pp. 107–130.
38.  Bogdanova-Beglaryan N.V. TAK SKAZAT’ – rozhdenie pragmaticheskogo markera (ob aktivnykh protsessakh v russkoy ustnoy rechi) [Tak skazat’ – the Origin of the Pragmatic Marker (on Active Processes in Russian Speech)]. Ratsiburskaya L.V. (ed.). Aktivnye protsessy v sovremennom russkom yazyke: natsional’noe i internatsional’noe [Active Processes in the Modern Russian Language: The National and the International]. Moscow, 2021, pp. 73–85.
39.  Kravchenko M.A. Esli ugodno: filologicheskiy etyud k portretu metaoperatora (na materiale Natsional’nogo korpusa russkogo yazyka) [Esli ugodno ‘If You Will’: A Philological Sketch for the Portrait of a Metaoperator (Based on the Russian National Corpus)]. Teoreticheskaya i prikladnaya lingvistika, 2023, iss. 9, no. 4, pp. 57–67.
40.  Jakobson R. Rechevaya kommunikatsiya [Verbal Communication]. Jakobson R. Izbrannye raboty [Selected Works]. Moscow, 1985, pp. 306–318.
41.  Jakobson R. O lingvisticheskikh aspektakh perevoda [On the Linguistic Aspects of Translation]. Jakobson R. Izbrannye raboty [Selected Works]. Moscow, 1985, pp. 361–368.
42.  Golev N.D. Slovar’ obydennykh tolkovaniy slov: kontseptsiya i opyt realizatsii [The Dictionary of the Common Interpretation of Russian Words: The Conception and the Experience of Its Implementing]. Voprosy leksikografii, 2013, no. 2, pp. 48–64.
43.  Levental’ I.V. Strategii tolkovaniya slov obydennogo metayazykovogo soznaniya i ikh primenenie v uchebnoy leksikografii [Interpretation Strategies of Words of Ordinary Metalinguistic Consciousness and Their Application in Academic Lexicography]. Filologicheskie nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki, 2014, no. 8, pt. 2, pp. 77–81.
44.  Martynova I.A. Pragmaticheskiy komponent leksicheskogo znacheniya novogo slova: vzglyad skvoz’ prizmu metayazykovogo soznaniya [Pragmatics of a New Word Formation Through the Metalanguage Consciousness]. Aktual’nye problemy lingvistiki, perevodovedeniya i pedagogiki, 2019, no. 1, pp. 59–64.
45.  Zhakupova A.D. Otrazhenie obydennogo metayazykovogo soznaniya v dvuyazychnom motivatsionnosopostavitel’nom slovare: mezhkul’turnyy dialog [Reflection of Ordinary Metalinguistic Awareness in Bilingual Motivational and Comparative Vocabulary: Intercultural Dialogue]. Leksikografiya tsifrovoy epokhi [Lexicography in the Digital Era]. Tomsk, 2021, pp. 397–400. https://doi.org/10.17223/978-5-907442-19-1-2021-132
46.  Denisova E.A. Struktura i funktsii enigmaticheskogo teksta (na materiale russkikh zagadok i krossvordov) [Structure and Functions of the Enigmatic Text (Based on Russian Riddles and Crosswords: Diss.)]. Moscow, 2008. 226 p.
47.  Volkova M.V. Zagadka i krossvord kak tipy teksta: semanticheskiy i pragmaticheskiy aspekty (na materiale nemetskogo yazyka) [Riddle and Crossword as Types of Text: Semantic and Pragmatic Aspects (Based on the German Language): Diss.]. Smolensk, 2011. 167 p.
48.  Nikitina L.B., Geyko E.V. Kognitivnaya priroda i nominativnye mekhanizmy intellektual’noy igry (na primere krossvordov) [Cognitive Nature and Nominative Mechanisms of Intellectual Game (On the Example of Crosswords)]. Vestnik Omskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Gumanitarnye issledovaniya, 2021, no. 2, pp. 117–122. https://doi.org/10.36809/2309-9380-2021-31-117-122
49.  Kravchenko M.A. Distributivnye interpretanty v metayazyke krossvorda [Distributive Interpretants in the Crossword Metalanguage]. Slovo.ru: baltiyskiy aktsent, 2023, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 83–92. https://doi.org/10.5922/2225-5346-2023-2-5
50.  Kravchenko M. A. Crossword Puzzle as a Product of Metalanguage Activity of Native Speakers. Gumanitarnye nauki i obrazovanie, 2022, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 139–145 (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.51609/2079-3499_2022_13_03_139
51.  Vepreva I.T., Mal’tseva T.V. Bazovye tsennosti rossiyan v otrazhenii yazykovoy refleksii [Basic Values of Russians in Reflection of Language Self-Consciousness]. Politicheskaya lingvistika, 2017, no. 1, pp. 113–120.
52.  Zhao Yuanze. Metayazykovoe prostranstvo v kontekste kontseptologii [Metalanguage Space in the Context of Conceptology]. Sovremennyy uchenyy, 2021, no. 1, pp. 172–175.
53.  Vepreva I., Kuprina T. Coronavirus and Us: Metalinguistic Portrait of Covid-19 Pandemic. Shaklein V.M. (ed.). The Russian Language in Modern Scientific and Educational Environment. London, 2021, pp. 342–354.
54.  Vepreva I.T. Metayazykovye vyskazyvaniya kak signaly sotsial’no-psikhologicheskogo klimata perioda koronavirusnoy pandemii [Metalinguistic Statements as Signals of the Socio-Psychological Climate During the Coronavirus Pandemic]. Shaklein V.M. (ed.). Russkiy yazyk v sovremennom nauchnom i obrazovatel’nom prostranstve [Russian Language in the Modern Scientific and Educational Space]. Moscow, 2020, pp. 46–48.
55.  Jakobson R. K yazykovedcheskoy problematike soznaniya i bessoznatel’nosti [On the Linguistic Approach to the Problem of Consciousness and the Unconscious]. Jakobson R. Yazyk i bessoznatel’noe [Language and the Unconscious]. Moscow, 1996, pp. 13–26.
56.  Gridina T.A. Metayazykovaya refleksiya kak forma lingvokreativnogo myshleniya rebenka [Metalinguistic Reflection as a Form of a Child’s Linguistic Creative Thinking]. Problemy ontolingvistiki 2016 [Issues of Ontolinguistics 2016]. Ivanovo, 2016, pp. 182–188.
57.  Ushakova O.S., Lavrent’eva A.I. Metayazykovaya deyatel’nost’ v protsesse formirovaniya yazykovoy sposobnosti doshkol’nikov [Metalinguistic Activity for Building Linguistic Competence in Preschool Students]. Innovatsionnye proekty i programmy v obrazovanii, 2019, no. 3, pp. 72–75.
58.  Vorob’eva T.A. K voprosu o razgranichenii metayazykovoy deyatel’nosti i yazykovoy refleksii detey [On the Issue of Differentiating Children’s Metalinguistic Activity and Their Language Reflection]. Izvestiya RGPU im. A.I. Gertsena, 2020, no. 196, pp. 61–68. https://doi.org/10.33910/1992-6464-2020-196-61-68