Yuri Lotman: On problems of language and linguistics

Abstract

We attempt to systemize Yu. M. Lotman’s views on language and linguistics. “Language” is one of his most used terms. Lotman’s vision is based on the postulates of Saussurean linguistics, mainly in the version of Prague structuralism. At the same time, Lotman off ers a new look at solving the language speech dichotomy. He outlines the possibilities of an alternative conception, where the function of meaning-generation (rather than meaning-preservation) is considered dominant in information transmission. Pointing out to the inadequacy of linguistic methods in describing the processes of textual implementation of the language system, Lotman proposes several solutions that create the possibility of a neo-structuralist version of linguistics. It develops the tradition of the system-structural approach to language; the formalism of such approach is complemented by constructivism to describe communication and meaning-production processes.