2. The Middle Ages (V – XIV centuries) and the Renaissance (XV – XVI centuries) and psycholinguistics

The scholars of the Middle Ages in the procedural aspect of interest to us were mainly interested in its semantic component. True, speech was studied purely rationally, without studying the behavior of specific people or social groups. So, in sv. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) we find deep judgments about the dialectic of the “internal” and “external” in the language.

St. Augustine was perhaps the first to express the idea of ​​a universal (universal) grammar. In language, he distinguished, on the one hand, the “speech of the heart”, “the inner word” (what is now called the “inner plan” of the speech message), on the other hand - the “outer word”, the outer speech. The “inner word” (meaning), according to Augustine, is a universal language, common to all people, regardless of the specific language they speak.

Pristian (the end of V - the beginning of the VI century. I mil. AD.) Pointed out that it is the semantics that determines the functioning of the language. Nowadays, this position is recognized by most language researchers and almost all psycholinguists. At the same time, Pristian, perhaps, was one of the first to speak of the need to understand speech as a holistic, detailed, coherent statement, reflecting the “integrity” of thought.

Consideration of language as a sign system expressing concepts and ideas, identifying the universals of the language and the desire to build a universal "philosophical" grammar was characteristic of many prominent scholars of the Middle Ages. Among them should be mentioned P. Abelard (1079–1142), R. Llull (1235–1315), Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), R. Bacon (1214–1292).

Universal grammars were based on the idea that a language conforms to the laws of logic. The famous domestic philosopher Fr. Pavel Florensky, criticizing the theory of the “philosophical language,” postulated by universal grammars, writes that the task of this language is to freeze thought in its present state forever.

Peter the Spanish (Pope John XXI; 1210–1277), one of the eminent scholars of the Middle Ages, addresses in his writings various questions of the semantics of the language. In particular, he talks about changing meanings in connection with the communication situation and the linguistic context. He pays special attention to the meaning of the context in the functioning of the language. These ideas, as well as many ideas of other scientists of the time, are extremely relevant for modern science.

From the point of view of the "modists" - scientists who in the XIII – XIV centuries. developed the idea of ​​“modes of meanings” as a basis for learning the language (Boethius Dacia, John Dune, Thomas Erfurt, Zhiger de Courtre, etc.), the main thing in the language is the relations it expresses . In establishing relationships, the main member is the verb. At the same time, the modists argued that “complex expressions” are composed of “simple expressions” corresponding to “simple modes”. In other words, the modists advanced (using modern terminology) the idea of ​​“deep” (nuclear) and “superficial” semantic-syntactic structures, an idea that today, of course, in the framework of other methodologies, [31] is used in analyzing the processes of speech formation.

In the Renaissance (XV – XVI centuries), the procedural aspect of studying speech did not receive productive development, because the researchers of the language faced other, more significant (during this period of social development) tasks related to fundamental changes in social relations and the needs of society, namely : introduction into the culture of societies of national languages, the creation of grammars of these languages, the definition of language norms, etc.

Nevertheless, some aspects of the process of speech formation are reflected in the writings of the scientists of this time. Thus, the idea of ​​universal grammar, where the role of semantic factors in the language was emphasized, was developed by F. Sanchez (1523–1601). The leading role of large linguistic units (in the modern sense - sentences and text) in the functioning of the language was drawn by V. Lily (1566). In their writings, we find indications of the communicative nature of speech. As mentioned above, this approach to the interpretation of the speech process is "dominant" at the present time.