Georgian Group of
Logic and Language
On the Concept of Mental-Linguistic Understandability
and about the Verbs of Simple and Integrated Understanding
M. Ivanishvili, L. Lekiashvili, E. Soselia – G. Cereteli Institute of Oriental Studies
K. Pkhakadze, G. Chankvetadze, L. Tibua – I. Vekua
Institute of applied Mathematics
We follow Pascal. He says: Evidently, there are words that cannot be
defined and if the nature has not given us their initial concepts then all the
other words and phrases would be ununderstandable for us. – Pascal regarded
not only the linguistic capacity but also the linguistic-mental abilities as a
phenomenon of Nature. Pascal was not the first propagator of these conceptions.
He had absorbed the linguistic-logical viewpoints of the Bible and ancient
Greece and as a child of the epoch of Leibniz and Decartes gives precise, easily
understandable answers on the repeatedly arising questions. We do not dwell on
Pascal’s conception that actually precedes Verzbicka’s approaches nor
accentuate on the points of intersection between Verzbicka’s innate concepts
and Chomsky’s attitudes; nor do we confine our approach to Montagne’s
viewpoint – the latter didn’t see any essential difference between the
formal mathematical and the natural languages. We go further: we believe that
natural language system is not the only and the initial (fundamental) natural
language system and also, we believe that
the intrinsic words(concepts) that cannot be defined in the language system are
actualized in the more profound (comparing with the natural language system) so
– called subconscious stratum of the natural-language system. Hence, we
don’t regard the natural language system as the only one in-humanitary natural
language system. We call this natural language system as conscious natural
language system and we think that subconscious language system is more
intrinsic(profound) natural language system compearing with the conscious
natural language system. We are
considering also the so-called unconscious natural language stratum inhuman
language space but this is not now under consideration, but we can say that, it
(unlike the above-specifieds) occupies the most fundamental position among the
intrinsic natural language systems. According to our conception the class of
Frege’s type languages (in modern definition the artificial,
formal-mathematical languages) represents the intrinsic subconscious natural
language systems and the simplicity of the typology that distinguishes such
logical-mathematical languages from the natural communicational ones is the
principle classificatory parameter of the conscious and subconscious natural
language systems.
Considering the concept of linguistic-mental understandability we
actually follow the above-specified linguistic viewpoint. So,
the words exclusively undefinable in the conscious natural language
system are understood in the Frege’s type subconscious language stratum by
means of axiomatization in that
set-theoretical area where Montague had developed his above-mentioned
conception. At the same time we will mainly use the Formal Notation Theory by
prof. Sh. Pkhakadze ( the theory that re-forms Frege’s non-extensible
formalism into the formally extensible one) as a bridge between that
words(consepts) of the conscious natural language system which
can not be defined by tools of this natural language and the Frege’s type
subconscious formal-mathematical language system. Besides, the strict
natural-semantic understanding of the conscious natural language system seems
rather important task., as well as the unambiquous (non-contradictory)
functional solution of the marking mechanism
and nature of the morpho-syntactic organization of language systems. By
the way, the strong and complicate morpho-syntactic structure of the Georgian
verbs is a matter of considerable difficulty. In this connection we offer the
following basic suggestions: in Georgian the class of verbs should be divided
into two classes – the class of the verbs of simple understanding and the
class of the verbs of integrated understanding. At the same time the verbs with
integrates understanding are the ones that may be defined on the basic of the
verbs with simple understanding. Here, the formal notation theory is used as a
tool for making
the above mentioned definition, by
means of which understanding of the words of integrated understandability
are deduced to the understanding of the words of simple
understandability. Non-logical-contradictionality of the formal operation of
substitution (pertaining to formalism) as well-foundness of the such
constructed definitions is guaranteed by notation theory..
Hence, for the verbs of the Georgian language system we decline the traditional indo-europian understanding of the notions of subject and object and instead of it we introduce the concepts of an acting person(thing), a state person(thing), under-acting or post-acting person(thing), pre-state person(thing) and pre-acting person(thing) and according the notations of the acting and state person(thing) is divided the predicative verb forms in Georgian language are devided into two non-intersecting part: the predicates of the first part is called as an acting and the predicates of the second part as a stating verbs. The main defference between the semantics of an acting and a stating form verbs is main parameter of above described classification and we think that free order in Georgian language for the words in simple sentensces is realized by the main specific of Georgian personal marker symbols. The main specific is the possibility to show time-ordering between to each other predicted persons(things) in the given verb form. It means that two main different type of Georgian personal-marker symbols are making free time-ordering in logical linguvo-mentalic space for actors of verb-scene. The same in the English language system is done by the order.The above mentioned strong and complicated morpho-syntactic structure of Georgian verbs are predicted mainly by the mentioned cause. For clearing, about verbs with integrated understanding we can say, that they are more specific part of the vocabulary of Georgian language, this type of words do not exist in English language system. At the time we emphasize in advance the theoretical possibility (from a synchronic as well as diachronic point of view) of non-isomorphism in the marking of verb-forms in the third person forms with the same in the first and second person verb-forms on the base of principle deference between a thing and a person.