Speech Culture: Foundations and Norms

People live in a society, and communication is an integral part of human existence. Therefore, without him, evolution of the mind would hardly have been possible. At first these were attempts of communication, similar to children's babble, which gradually, with the advent of civilization, began to improve. There was a letter, and the speech was not only oral, but also written, which allowed to preserve the achievements of mankind for future descendants. According to these monuments it is possible to trace the development of oral traditions of speech. What is speech culture and culture of speech? What are their norms? Is it possible to master the speech culture independently? All questions will be answered by this article.

What is a speech culture?

Speech is a form of verbal communication of people. It involves the formation and formulation of thoughts, on the one hand, and perception and understanding, on the other.

Culture - a term that has many meanings, it is the object of many disciplines. There is also a meaning that is close in meaning to communication and speech. This is part of the culture associated with the use of verbal signals, which means language, its ethnic features, functional and social varieties that have oral and written forms.

Speech is an integral part of a person's life, and therefore he must be able to speak correctly and beautifully both in writing and orally.

Thus, the speech culture and culture of speech is the mastery of the norms of the language, the ability to use its expressive means in various conditions.

The culture of speech, regardless of the nationality of the speakers, evolved gradually. Over time, there was a need to systematize the existing knowledge of the language. Thus there was a section of linguistics, which is called the culture of speech. This section explores the problems of language normalization with a view to improving it.

How was the culture of speech formed?

Speech culture and the culture of speech as a branch of linguistics evolved in stages. They reflect all the changes that have occurred in the language. The first to fix the norms of written speech reflected in the XVIII century, when the society realized that the lack of common rules of writing makes communication difficult. In 1748, VK Trediakovskii wrote about Russian spelling in his work "The Conversation between the Stranger and the Russian on the Spelling of the Old and New."

But the foundations of grammar and stylistics of the native language were laid by MV Lermontov in his works "Russian Grammar" and "Rhetoric" (1755, 1743-1748).

In the XIX century NV Koshansky, AF Merzlyakov and AI Galich supplemented the library of research on the culture of speech with their works on rhetoric.

Linguists of the pre-revolutionary period understood the importance of rationing the rules of language. In 1911 there was a book by VI Chernyshevsky "Purity and correctness of Russian speech. Experience of Russian stylistic grammar ", in which the author analyzes the norms of the Russian language.

The post-revolutionary period was a time when the established standards of speech culture were shaken. At that time people engaged in public activities, whose speech was simple and abounded with slang and dialectal expressions. The literary language would be in jeopardy if in the 1920s an interlayer of the Soviet intelligentsia did not form. She fought for the purity of the Russian language, and was given an order according to which "the masses" had to master proletarian culture. At the same time, the concepts of "culture of language" and "culture of speech" arise. These terms are first applied to a new, reformed language.

In the postwar years, speech culture as a discipline gets a new turn in development. SI Ozhegov as the author of the Dictionary of the Russian Language and ES Istrin as the author of the Norms of the Russian Language and the Culture of Speech made an important contribution to the formation of discipline.

The 50-60s of the XX century became the time of formation of the culture of speech as an independent discipline:

• The "Grammar of the Russian Language" was published.
• The scientific principles of the culture of speech have been refined.
• The issues of the "Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language" are published.
• The Institute of the Russian Language of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR has a sector of the culture of speech under the leadership of SI Ozhegov. Under his editorial board, the magazine "Questions of the Culture of Speech" is published.
• VV Vinogradov, D. E. Rosenthal, and L. I. Skvortsov are working on the theoretical justification of some questions. They devote their work to separating two terms from each other: "culture of speech" and "culture of language".

In 1970, the culture of speech became an independent discipline. She has an object, object, technique and techniques of scientific research.

Linguists of the 90s do not lag behind their predecessors. At the end of the 20th century a number of works on the problem of the culture of speech were published.

The development of speech and the culture of verbal communication continue to be one of the most urgent linguistic problems. Today the attention of linguist scientists is focused on such issues.

• Establishment of internal links between the increase of the speech culture of the society and the development of the national culture.
• Improvement of the modern Russian language taking into account the changes taking place in it.
• Scientific analysis of the processes occurring in modern speech practice.

What are the signs and properties of speech culture?

Speech culture in linguistics has a number of distinctive features and attributes that are also the logical basis of the phenomenon under study:

1. Right. Harmonization of speech with pronunciation, grammatical and stylistic norms of language. In accordance with them, it is necessary to put accents in words correctly, to speak in accordance with the rules of grammar. It is necessary to use speech styles according to the situation of communication.
2. Communicative expediency. It implies the ability to use in appropriate communicative situations stylistic gradations of words and expressions.
3. The accuracy of the utterance. It implies the truth of the speech utterance and the accuracy of the expression of thought in the word.
4. Logical presentation. A correct reflection of the facts of reality and their connections, the validity of the hypothesis put forward, the existence of arguments for and against, and the conclusion proving or refuting the hypothesis.
5. Clarity and accessibility of presentation. It implies intelligibility of speech for interlocutors. This goal can be achieved by using single-valued words, word combinations and grammatical constructions.
6. Purity of speech. It implies the absence in the speech of alien to the literary language and morality norms of elements - parasitic words, dialectisms, common words, barbarisms, jargon and vulgar words.
7. Expressiveness. A way of submitting material that interests the listener. It can be informational (the audience is interested in the information provided) and emotional (the audience is interested in the way information is presented).
8. Under the variety of means of expression should be understood the ability to use a large number of synonyms. The speaker has a large volume of vocabulary, which is in active use.
9. Aesthetics is the rejection of the offensive language in the literary language. To make a speech aesthetic, you should use emotionally neutral words.
10. Relevance - the selection and organization of language tools in a way that helps to achieve the goals and conditions of communication.

Know the basics of speech culture and apply them to their destination is the duty of every educated person.

What is the type of speech culture?

The type of speech culture is a characteristic of native speakers depending on their level of language proficiency. It is also important to be able to use language. Here an important role is played by how well developed speech communication, the culture of speech. Let's consider the issue in more detail

Types of speech cultures are divided into 6 main types:

• Elitist. Assumes free possession of the existing language capabilities, including creative ones. This type implies strict adherence to all language norms and a ban on the use of coarse and slang expressions.
• Medium-literary. Incomplete adherence to norms, the abundance of speech in book or colloquial terms. Carriers of this type of culture are a large part of the educated inhabitants of cities. Its dissemination is promoted by modern art works and mass media.
• Literary-spoken and familiar-spoken. Characterized by a low level of stylistics and rudeness of speech, which is close to vernacular. These types are a kind of literary speech and are used by carriers who are in close related and friendly relations.
• Vagueness is characterized by a low educational and cultural level of carriers. It has a limited supply of words, typical inability to build complex sentences, an abundance of swear words and parasitic words. There are a lot of mistakes in oral and written speech.
• Professionally-limited. Characterized by the limited and impaired speech consciousness.

What are the norms?

Proceeding from the foregoing, it is necessary to single out the basic norms of speech culture:

• Normative. It protects the literary language from the penetration of speeches and dialectisms and preserves it intact and consistent with generally accepted norms.
• Communicative. It implies the ability to use the functions of the language in accordance with the situation. For example, accuracy in scientific speech and the inadmissibility of inaccurate expressions in conversational.
• Ethical. It means observance of speech etiquette, that is, norms of behavior in communication. Greetings, addresses, requests, questions are used.
• Aesthetic. It implies the use of techniques and methods of figurative expression of thought and adornment of speech with epithets, comparisons and other techniques.

What is the essence of human speech culture?

Above we have considered the concepts of "language", "speech culture" as a social phenomenon that characterizes the society. But the society consists of individuals. Consequently, there is a kind of culture that characterizes the oral speech of an individual person. This phenomenon is called "human speech culture". The term should be understood as the attitude of a person to knowledge of the language and the ability to use them and be improved if necessary.

These are skills not only in speaking and writing, but also in listening and reading. For communicative perfection, one must own all of them. Mastering them involves knowing the patterns, signs and patterns of constructing a communicatively perfect speech, mastering the etiquette and the psychological foundations of communication.

Speech culture of a person is not static - it, like language, is subject to changes that depend both on social transformations and on the person himself. It begins to form with the child's first words. It grows with him, transforming into the speech culture of a preschooler, then a schoolboy, a student and an adult. The older the person, the more perfect his speaking, writing, reading and listening skills become.

What are the differences between Russian speech culture?

Russian speech culture refers to the division of disciplines that deal with the study of national speech cultures. Every nation has formed its own language norm during its existence. What is natural for one ethnos may be alien to another. These features include:

• Ethnic features of the language picture of the world;

• The use of verbal and non-verbal means;

• A collection of texts, including all the texts ever written in this language - both ancient and modern.

The ethnic picture of the world is understood as a set of views of the world through words and expressions of a specific language, which is shared by all speaking people on it and is taken for granted. But the difference between the national paintings of the world is easy to trace through the analysis of folklore, used epithets. For example, the expressions "bright head" and "good heart" imply a high intellect and responsiveness. It is no accident that in these epithets the head and heart are chosen, since in the understanding of Russians people think with their heads, but they feel with their heart. But in other languages this is not so. For example, in the language of ifaluk, the internal senses transmit the guts, in the dogon language - the liver, and in the Hebrew heart they do not feel, but think.

At what level is the modern Russian culture of speech?

Modern speech culture reflects:

• Typological features of the Russian language;
• The scope of its application;
• Unity of speech throughout the territory of the Russian Federation;
• Territorial variants of the Russian language;
• Written and oral texts, not only artistic, but also of national importance, in which ideas about good and correct speech, about the achievements of the science of the Russian language are revealed.

Russian Speech Etiquette

By Russian speech etiquette is understood the totality of norms and rules of communication that were formed under the influence of national culture.

Russian speech etiquette divides communication into formal and informal. Formal is communication between people who are little acquainted with each other. They are linked by an event or occasion by which they gathered. Such communication requires unconditional observance of etiquette. Unlike this style, informal communication occurs between people who are well acquainted with each other. This family, friends, relatives, neighbors.

The specific features of speech etiquette in Russia suggest contacting a person with you in formal communication. In this case, you need to address the interlocutor by name and patronymic. This is necessary, since forms similar to "sir", "mister", "Mrs." or "miss," are missing in Russian speech etiquette. There are general "ladies and gentlemen", but it applies to a large number of people. In pre-revolutionary Russia there were such appeals as the sir and madam, but with the arrival of the Bolsheviks they were replaced by such words as a comrade, a citizen and a citizen. With the collapse of the USSR, the word "comrade" became obsolete and acquired its original meaning - "friend", and "citizen" and "citizen" became associated with the police or the court. Over time, they disappeared, and replaced by words that attracted attention. For example, "sorry", "forgive", "could you ...".

Unlike the speech culture of the West, in Russian there are many topics for discussion - politics, family, work. In this case, the sex is prohibited.

In general, the culture of speech etiquette is learned from childhood and is improved over time, gaining more and more subtleties. The success of its development depends on the family in which the child grew up, and on the environment in which it develops. If the people around him are highly cultured, then the child will also master this form of communication. And vice versa, supporters of the speech-based type of speech culture will teach their child to communicate simple and uncomplicated sentences.

Is it possible to independently develop a speech culture?

The development of speech culture depends not only on the environment of a person, but also on himself. At a conscious age, if desired, it can be developed independently. To do this, you need to take time each day for independent studies. To complete all tasks, it takes 3 days, and before learning a new one, you have to repeat the old one. Gradually it will be possible to carry out assignments not only together, but separately. Initially, this lesson of speech culture will take 15-20 minutes, but it will gradually increase to an hour.

1. Vocabulary expansion. For the exercise you need to take any artistic text and dictionary of Russian or foreign languages. Write out or underline all the words of one part of the speech - nouns, adjectives or verbs. And then select synonyms. This exercise helps to expand the passive vocabulary.

2. Making a story for the keywords. Take any book, pick at random with your eyes closed 5 of any words and make a story about them. At a time, you need to make up to 4 texts, each of which takes no more than 3 minutes. This exercise promotes the development of imagination, logic and ingenuity. The variant is more complicated - to compose a story of 10 words.

3. Conversation with a mirror. For this exercise, you need the text from task 2. Stand at the mirror and tell your story without facial expressions. Then retell your story a second time, connecting with this facial expression. Analyze your facial expression and style of the story, answering 2 questions - "Do you like your facial expressions and way of presenting information" and "like them around?". This task is aimed at developing the habit of consciously managing their facial expressions.

4. Listening to the recording from the recorder. This exercise will help you to hear yourself from the outside and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your speech, and therefore, correct deficiencies and learn to use the merits of your manner of speaking. Read any favorite artistic text or poem on the recorder. Listen, analyze it, like the previous task, and try to retell or read by heart for the second time, taking into account the corrections.

5. Conversation with the interlocutor. This type of exercise helps develop dialogue skills. If among your friends or acquaintances there are people who perform these exercises, then you can do exercise with one of them. If not, then ask someone to help you. To do this, prepare the topic of the conversation and the plan in advance. Your goal - to interest the interlocutor, to awaken his curiosity and keep attention for at least 5 minutes. Assignment is considered fulfilled if the interlocutors talked to 3-4 of the given topics.

The development of speech culture requires constant studies - only in this case success will not keep you waiting.