On approaches to the interpretation of the term “concept” as a basic category in linguistics

The language has its functions in different fields, such as cultural, religious, ideological, scientific, artistic, secondary reality. This phenomenon is called a "concept".

The term “concept” is considerate to be one of the main and basic definitions of the cognitive cycle in linguistics. Up to the present moment there are many research, devoted to the defining the notion “concept” as a basic term of cognitive linguistics. Among all of the scientific works researching the notion “concept” the most famous are done by J. Lakoff, R.I. Pavilenis, Yu.S. Stepanova, E.S. Kubryakova, N.D. Harutyunova, I.A. Sternin, Z.D. Popova, N.N. Boldyreva, V.I. Karasika, V.A. Pishchalnikova, V.V.Krasnyx, V.A. Maslova and many others.

This term is not completely definite in linguistics. Its boundaries are quite large. The term “concept” came into linguistics from philosophy and logics and is compared to the terms “general notion” and “universalia,” The change in in its meaning is highly depended on the outlook of the scientists using it in their speech. Nowadays many scientist share the opinion that concepts arise when there is information about objects and its qualities.

Concept understanding is not certain, because it may be rendered in its narrow or extended meaning. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, the concept is related to our con- sciousness. The difference between the terms “concept” and “notion” is that concept has got feeling-, will-, stylistic- meanings, while the “notion” has got only classification and descriptive meanings. The descriptive part is represented by auditory, tactile, taste characteristics of objects, phenomena, events existing in our memory. The notional part is about rooting and fixing the concept in the language, its definition, description, comparison with other concepts that exist. The interpreta-tional component is characterized by the importance of this mental formation not only for a particular individual, but also for the entire language group [1].

In modern linguistics, there are the following approaches to interpreting the term "concept":

• 1)    linguistic (S.O. Askoldov, D.S. Likhachev, V.V. Kolesov, V.M. Telia): as far as the concept exists for each definition in the edictionary, it should be considered as an algebraic expression of the meaning. In general, the followers of this approach understand the concept as the full potential of the meaning of the word along with its connotative element;

• 2)    cognitive (Z.D. Popov, I.A. Sternin, O.S. Kubryakova): concept is a mental phenomenon. Representatives of the cognitive approach classify the concept as mental phenomena and consider it as the operational

component of a unit of memory, a mental lexicon;

• 3)    Cultural (Yu.S. Stepanov, G.G. Audi-ovkin): all culture is understood as a combination of concepts and relations between them. The concept is the main mediator of culture in the mental world of humans. Scientists, following this approach are convinced that when studying the concept, it is worth paying attention to the cultural information that it transmits. The concept is here defined as the basic unit of culture [2].

There are many interpretations of the term "concept." Sometimes there is a significant difference between them, some of them are very narrowed (Yu.S. Stepanov, D.S. Likhachev, V.I. Karasik), others are more extensive (S.G. Vorkachev, S.A. Askolodov). The most complete definition, in our opinion, is the wording of S.G. Vorkachev, who believes that the concept is a term combining lexicographic and encyclopedic information, "approximate" and "distant" meanings of the word, knowledge of the world and the subject, which they are learning [3].

S.G. Vorkachev considers the concept from different points of view: the concept is also a mean, that helps a person to study the world; it is based on both experience and encyclopedic information, something average, obtained by the process of cognition, a single quintessential word.

If we talk about the nature of the concept, then according to V.I. Karasik, the concept arises as a result of the interaction of experience, selection based on the criterion of value and the mechanism of memorization [1]. According to the point of view of Yu.S. Stepanov, the concept arises when a culture and an individual collide, which indicates that this definition is the narrowest among all mentioned, thus the author gives a linguoculturological justification to the concept [4].

D.S. Likhachev, interpreting the concept as "replacing the meaning of a word in the mind of an individual and in a certain context," particularly emphasizes its individual orientation as a way of understanding the surrounding world, without paying attention to the social component of this concept [5].

Thus, at the present stage, it is impossible to distinguish a common opinion in linguistics regarding the term "concept" and its potential to characterize the world around it. Regardless of concept types, they are all structural elements of a particular language. Despite all the variability of its interpretations, it is a scientific construct, a model, helping to determine the model and plan of the study, its boundaries, etc.