Some Transformations in the Linguistic Consciousness

Abstract

Any major transformation occurring in the world causes changes in the regulation of human activities. Ideals and principles of perception, activities, values, and spiritual orientation are variable in time. The regulators we need to perform in the universe are historically preconditioned – they imply a constant change of the world view and its subjects, they give impetus to values, hierarchy and thinking paradigms. The research of the linguistic consciousness is implemented by applying the method of the free associative experiment aimed at revealing informants’ (English and Georgian speakers) associates-reactions to certain stimuli. The frequency ratios of reactions have been defined and the specifics of the core-periphery relationship has been identified in the associative fields. The procedure of the free associative experiment revealed: a. the similarities and differences between the linguistic world view depicted in the dictionaries; b. the specifics of the perception of certain concepts by modern native speakers; c. the character of the transformation of the linguistic world view according to the new extra linguistic realities. The comparison of the lexical-semantic and associative fields has been made. The mentioned entities have been constructed by applying the principle of significance. According to the mentioned principle, each element of the field has been included in the system due to its meaning and significance determined on the basis of the system as a whole.