Keyword: «social nature of language»

the essay analyses how philosophical ideas about the main functions of the language are developing. Classical philosophy regarded language first of all as a cognitive tool. For it the language is an external expression of thought. Communicative function seemed to be trivial and was not considered seriously. One-sided logical approach prevailed also in the XXth century analytical philosophy. It regarded the language of science as an empirical form of knowledge. If we seriously acknowledge the social nature of language, we should admit its communicative function as the main one. The third function ties together those two ones: language is a depository of cultural tradition and means of its transmission to new generations. Through the language we adopt the ways of understanding, analysis, classification of the reality, which are characteristic of our age and culture. It enables man to act as a subject of knowledge.