SYNERGETIC FOUNDATIONS OF METHODOLOGY OF ECOLINGUISTICS AS A NEW PARADIGM OF LANGUAGE STUDY

Abstract

The article deals with the current anthropological state of development of linguistics. In particular, the author points out the perspectives of interdisciplinarity of language study within which a language is seen as a complex, open, and dynamic system. The article concentrates on ecolinguistics as a new interdisciplinary direction of studying a human language. Ecolinguistics looks into how language, people and environment coexist and interact. Along with that, the author provides arguments that prove synergetics methodology to be foundation of ecolinguistics. Synergetics is a theory of self-organisation of complex synergetic systems; and human language being a complex system is a synergetic system itself. Linguistic synergetics in its turn studies language considering the dynamic character of its hierarchically organized components that are at the state of dynamic equilibrium despite being exposed to the influence that environment creates. The article outlines stages of the development of ecolinguistics into a separate science as well as meaning of such terms as “language ecology” and “ecolinguistics”. The dynamic aspect of the concept “ecology” has received a special attention due to its impetuous spread all around the world because of the urgent need for solving environmental protection issues on a global scale. The author admits that ecolinguistics steps far away beyond the limits of a separate scientific direction and becomes a kind of ideology which aim is to foster understanding of interconnection between things and ideas in the world. Such circumstances connect ecolinguistics and philosophy. The article also illustrates the prospects of further development of ecolinguistics among which are language planning and language policy of states, protection of language diversity in the world, investigation into various aspects of code-switching in the speech of bilingual and multilingual people, discovering the extent of the effect that the environment causes on the language system, studying eco-discourse and the role of language in formulating, and solving the issues related to balanced coexistence of a human being and nature.