Expression, Thinking, and Cognition: Origins of Differences between the Russian and Chinese Languages

Comparative study of languages reflects the coexistence of the universal and the particular in human languages. The development of both typological linguistics and contrastive linguistics is primarily associated with the study of structural similarities and differences between languages based on str...

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Main Authors: Ke Zhang, Vladimir N. Denisenko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2024-12-01
Series:RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.rudn.ru/semiotics-semantics/article/viewFile/41816/24115
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author Ke Zhang
Vladimir N. Denisenko
author_facet Ke Zhang
Vladimir N. Denisenko
author_sort Ke Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Comparative study of languages reflects the coexistence of the universal and the particular in human languages. The development of both typological linguistics and contrastive linguistics is primarily associated with the study of structural similarities and differences between languages based on structural criteria for comparison. However, cognitive operations and forms of thinking that characterize the structural organization of expressed thoughts are fundamental mechanisms governing the functioning of various languages. In this study, a comparative analysis is presented as of the structural features of Russian subjectpredicate sentences and Chinese topic-comment sentences. Special attention is paid to different forms of thinking (rational and figurative) that underlie the differences in language structure between the two languages, as well as various cognitive processes (recognizing analogies and associations) that shape vertical and horizontal categorization, resulting in differences in thought patterns. As a result of the conducted study, the authors conclude that the form of thinking determines the form of language structure. The formation and functioning of different forms of language structure are operations and reflections of different forms of thinking in various language structures. Rational and figurative thinking, with their respective characteristics, limit and define the structural forms of Russian and Chinese languages. At the sentence level, it manifests basic structures both in Russian where the basic sentence structure is “subject-predicate,” while in Chinese it is “topic-comment.”.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2313-2299
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publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)
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series RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics
spelling doaj-art-c731ddc53feb42f78194e7711fd42fce2024-12-05T13:48:20ZengPeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics2313-22992411-12362024-12-0115384185510.22363/2313-2299-2024-15-3-841-85521070Expression, Thinking, and Cognition: Origins of Differences between the Russian and Chinese LanguagesKe Zhang0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7765-2133Vladimir N. Denisenko1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6021-4068Northeast Normal UniversityRUDN UniversityComparative study of languages reflects the coexistence of the universal and the particular in human languages. The development of both typological linguistics and contrastive linguistics is primarily associated with the study of structural similarities and differences between languages based on structural criteria for comparison. However, cognitive operations and forms of thinking that characterize the structural organization of expressed thoughts are fundamental mechanisms governing the functioning of various languages. In this study, a comparative analysis is presented as of the structural features of Russian subjectpredicate sentences and Chinese topic-comment sentences. Special attention is paid to different forms of thinking (rational and figurative) that underlie the differences in language structure between the two languages, as well as various cognitive processes (recognizing analogies and associations) that shape vertical and horizontal categorization, resulting in differences in thought patterns. As a result of the conducted study, the authors conclude that the form of thinking determines the form of language structure. The formation and functioning of different forms of language structure are operations and reflections of different forms of thinking in various language structures. Rational and figurative thinking, with their respective characteristics, limit and define the structural forms of Russian and Chinese languages. At the sentence level, it manifests basic structures both in Russian where the basic sentence structure is “subject-predicate,” while in Chinese it is “topic-comment.”.https://journals.rudn.ru/semiotics-semantics/article/viewFile/41816/24115sentence structuresubject-predicatetopic-commentrational thinkingfigurative thinking
spellingShingle Ke Zhang
Vladimir N. Denisenko
Expression, Thinking, and Cognition: Origins of Differences between the Russian and Chinese Languages
RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics
sentence structure
subject-predicate
topic-comment
rational thinking
figurative thinking
title Expression, Thinking, and Cognition: Origins of Differences between the Russian and Chinese Languages
title_full Expression, Thinking, and Cognition: Origins of Differences between the Russian and Chinese Languages
title_fullStr Expression, Thinking, and Cognition: Origins of Differences between the Russian and Chinese Languages
title_full_unstemmed Expression, Thinking, and Cognition: Origins of Differences between the Russian and Chinese Languages
title_short Expression, Thinking, and Cognition: Origins of Differences between the Russian and Chinese Languages
title_sort expression thinking and cognition origins of differences between the russian and chinese languages
topic sentence structure
subject-predicate
topic-comment
rational thinking
figurative thinking
url https://journals.rudn.ru/semiotics-semantics/article/viewFile/41816/24115
work_keys_str_mv AT kezhang expressionthinkingandcognitionoriginsofdifferencesbetweentherussianandchineselanguages
AT vladimirndenisenko expressionthinkingandcognitionoriginsofdifferencesbetweentherussianandchineselanguages