Language contacts and linguistic consciousness: some theoretical considerations
The article deals with the phenomenon of linguistic consciousness in terms of its manifestation, content, and functions in the language contact situation. The authors believe that such subjective categories as the opinions of speakers - products of their linguistic consciousness - remain out of sight of scientists, although their influence on the state and prospects of the contacting languages is big. The article focuses on the analysis of different approaches and interpretations of the phenomenon of linguistic consciousness in Russian and Western linguistics. It is noted that in Russia these studies are carried out almost exclusively within the framework of psycho- and ethnopsycholinguistics, while in Western linguistics the problem of linguistic consciousness is considered from the sociolinguistic positions as well. The article emphasizes the historicity, variability and intentionality of linguistic consciousness, its pre-scientific and “naïve” character, intersubjectivity and social connectedness. Theoretical arguments are briefly illustrated on fragments from the materials of a field sociolinguistic study conducted in ethnic Buryatia in 2004-2006. Those fragments are an example of “amateurish” discourse about language, a kind of unprofessional meta-discourse. Based on the analysis provided in the article, the authors conclude that linguistic consciousness is generally understood as knowledge and awareness of speaking a particular language, i.e. knowledge of its grammar and social rules of language use as well as possession of attitudes and assessments of languages involved. From a functional point of view, linguistic consciousness is “responsible” for controlling and managing the communicative behavior of the individual and the language community.