REPRESENTATION OF THE CATEGORICAL MEANING “FEATURE” IN GERMAN LANGUAGE (ON THE EXAMPLE OF A VERBALIZED SITUATION OF OLFACTORY PERCEPTION)

Abstract

The article is an attempt to comprehend various ways of linguistic representation of the categorical meaning “feature”. The theme is relevant, because it reflects modern interest of studying the interaction between the mental content and the forms of its objectification. The unit of the research is the text fragment of the German language, which describes the situation of olfactory perception. The work implements an integrative approach to the analysis of linguistic facts. On the one hand it manifests itself in the expansion into the sphere of philosophy; on the other – in the use of a group of linguistic methods. The search for formal and semantic differences in the expression of knowledge about a feature in words of different parts of speech is carried out through the use of definitional and contextual analysis, as well as cognitive interpretation. The categorical meaning “feature” reflects the idea of a characteristic of a thing, a side of an object, process or phenomenon, according to which the things can be distinguished and described. The study made it possible to reveal the specifics of the verbalization of knowledge about the olfactory sign, which lies in the predominant use of abstract nouns (the names of the smell), as well as special verbs of its manifestation. In this sense, the olfactory sign, despite its actual inseparability from the carrier, can be realized independently of it: as a separate object of perception and as a dynamic fact, which not only exists in space and time, but also has an effect on the subject. The use of such nominations testifies to the importance of the abstract activity of human consciousness, on the one hand, and linguistic creativity, on the other.