SOME CRITERIA OF A LEXICAL QUANTOR TYPOLOGY

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The modern stage of the development of cognitive science is marked by linguists’ interest in the issues of language knowledge representation in terms of language means, where language is viewed as a sign system. Human cognition is the subject-matter of cognitive linguistics, the latter being treated as interaction of the systems of perception, presenting, and producing information in a word. This fact requires introducing a new term which could serve the purposes of cognitive terminology standardization. In the research under consideration we introduce such a term known as a lexical quantor (LQ). LQ is viewed as a nominative meaningful informative semiotic unit in the sphere of communication transferring a certain quantum of relevant information/knowledge about the surrounding world in the process of its cognition functioning at the same time as an operator of language world view (LWV). Thus, the information factor (quantum of information LQ represents) and functioning as an operator of LWV in spatial and temporal coordinate system (quantum+operator = quantor) are the vital prameters of LQ as a linguocognitive unit. These basic characteristics of LQ cannot be ignored while dealing with its ontology. The very ontology of LQ implies establishing some taxonomical criteria.The taxonomical criteria help to structure language knowledge and present it in the form of some system. The system is of paramount importance because it lies in space as an explication of local presentation of various notions 1 . Nowadays localism underlies cognitive linguistics implying spatial representation of knowledge. In this paper we propose two criteria to be considered, namely: the language knowledge evolution criterion, and 2) the language space criterion. The choice is much stipulated by the aforementioned factors that LQ is viewed as a linguocognitive unit transferring a certain quantum of knowledge about the language reality, on the one hand, and its active part in quantifying (dividing) the language reality by verbal means as an operator of the LWV, on the other.