THE PHENOMENON OF LANGUAGE IN ONTOLOGICAL, GNOSEOLOGICAL AND AXIOLOGICAL ASPECTS
Abstract
The article presents a comprehensive philosophical analysis of language as a multidimensional phenomenon, integrating ontological, gnoseological, and axiological aspects closely connected to human existence, social reality, and cultural identity. Language is viewed not merely as a tool of communication but as a fundamental element shaping cognition, thought, perception, and social interaction. The study traces the evolution of philosophical reflection on language: from Plato and Aristotle’s inquiries into names, meaning, and the connection between language and thought, through medieval disputes between realism and nominalism concerning universals, to the twentieth century ‘linguistic turn’, which positioned language at the centre of philosophical investigation. Particular attention is given to contemporary interdisciplinary approaches, including cognitive linguistics and the analysis of relations between human language and artificial intelligence, highlighting the uniqueness of human linguistic activity and the ontological significance of grammatical categories such as person, tense, and relational structures. Ukrainian scholars’ contributions are examined, treating language as a bridge between ontology and gnoseology, emphasising its axiological dimension manifested in cultural value transmission, socialisation, and identity formation. Ontological analysis employs theories of meaning; gnoseological analysis examines the language/speech dichotomy and linguistic relativity; axiological analysis demonstrates language’s role in preserving and transmitting cultural, moral, and social norms. Language is concluded to constitute a universal semiotic space uniting being, knowledge, and values, whose integrated study enables deeper understanding of human cognition, communication, culture, and sociality, and opens avenues for further interdisciplinary inquiry.
Downloads
References
Bohutskyi, V. (2015). Fundamental categories of linguoculturology: the category of value. Scientific notes of the National University "Ostroh Academy". Series "Philological", (58), 21–23. (In Ukrainian)
Wittgenstein, L. (1995). Tractatus logico-philosophicus. Philosophical investigations. (V. Sukhodilskyi, Trans.). Osnovy. (In Ukrainian)
Hadamer, H.-G. (2000). Truth and method. Vol. 2: Hermeneutics II: Addenda. (V. Shpak, Trans.). Yunivers. (In Ukrainian)
Derrida, J. (2004). Writing and difference. (A. Korniienko, Trans.). Osnovy. (In Ukrainian)
Kachur, I. (2021). Interrelation of language and reality. Filolohichnyi chasopys, (1), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.31499/2415-8828.1.2021.232648 (In Ukrainian)
Locke, J. (2002). An essay concerning human understanding. Book 3. Of words. (K. A. Arakelova, Trans.). Acta. (In Ukrainian)
Melnychuk, O. D., Zubilevych, M. I., & Finchuk, H. V. (2020). The role of language in the cognition of the world: Semantic and philosophical approach. Vcheni zapysky Tavriiskoho natsionalnoho universytetu imeni V.I Vernadskoho. Seriia: Filolohiia, 3(1), 24–36. https://doi.org/10.32838/2663-6069/2020.1-3/07 (In Ukrainian)
Prosianyk, O. (2020). Linguistics: science - didactics - philosophy of language - methodology (discursive-communicative aspect of the problem). Studia Methodologica, 50, 13-22. https://doi.org/10.25128/2304-1222.20.50.02 (In Ukrainian)
Sosiur, F. de. (1998). Course in general linguistics. (A. Korniienko, Trans.). Osnovy. (In Ukrainian)
Chernyshov, V.V., Tolstov, I.V. (2025). Performativity of language and value transformations in the era of crises. In Tolstov I.V. (Ed.), Human, Society, and Communicative Technologies: Proceedings of the XIII International Scientific and Practical Conference, 24 October 2025. P. 109–112. (In Ukrainian)
Chernyshov, V., Moskalenko, M. (2020). Contemporary Theoretical Approaches in Cognitive Linguistics. Лінгвістичні студії = Linguistic Studies, Випуск 40 (2), с. 89-96.
Aristoteles. (1831). Opera. Ed. I. Bekker. Vols. 1. Leipzig: Reimer. 789 p.
Bacon, F. (2000). The new organon. Cambridge University Press.
Heidegger, M. (1977). Gesammelte Schriften. Gesamtausgabe, Bd. 9: Wegmarken (1919–1961). Herausgegeben von Friedrich‑Wilhelm von Herrmann. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann. 488 S.
Hinzen, W., Martin, T., & Wiltschko, M. (2024). A new argument for linguistic determinants of human thought. Linguistics and Philosophy, 47(5), 1027–1043. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-024-09414-8
Humboldt, W.v. (1907). Über die Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachbaues und ihren Einfluss auf die geistige Entwicklung des Menschengeschlechts. In Gesammelte Schriften, herausgegeben von der Königlich Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Bd. 7, Abt. 1. Berlin: B. Behr’s Verlag. S. 1–344.
Leibniz, G.W. (1978). Philosophische Schriften, 4. Band. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag. 595 S.
Leibniz, G.W. (1999). Philosophische Schriften, 4. Band: 1677 – Juni 1690. Berlin: Akademie Verlag. 2950 S.
Ockham, Guillelmus de. (1974). Summa Logicae. T. I of Opera Philosophica. Edited by Philotheus Boehner, Gedeon Gál, and Stephen Brown. St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute. 901 p.
Ockham, Guillelmus de. (1980). Opera Theologica. T. IX. Edited by Joseph C. Wey. St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute, 1980. 838 p.
Plato. (1578). Platonis opera quae extant omnia edidit Henricus Stephanus, Tomus I. Geneva. 542 p.
Sapir, E. (1921). Language. An introduction to the study of speech. Harcourt, Brace and Company.
Thomas Aquinas. (1889). Opera omnia, T. 5. Rome: Ex Typographia Polyglotta S.C. de Propaganda Fide. 584 p.
Whorf, B. L. (1956). Language, mind, and reality. In J. B. Carroll (Ed.), Language, thought, and reality. Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Massachusetts: MIT Press, P. 246–270.
Wu, J., & Cheng, L. (2025). Beyond binary opposition: philosophical reflections on a multi-level Language cognitive model from an embodied constructional perspective. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12, Article 1495. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05690-2.
Copyright (c) 2026 Леся Близнюк, Іван Толстов, Віктор Чернишов
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication of this work under the terms of a license Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
3.gif){kind=logo}
