LANGUAGE AS AN OBJECT OF LINGUISTIC RESEARCH

The article provides a fundamental introduction to linguistics as a science, focusing on language as its primary object of study. The central aim of the work is to offer a multifaceted definition of language, to reveal its ontological nature, and to analyze its key functions that are inseparably connected with human cognitive activity. The study systematizes the understanding of language, which is viewed not merely as a means of communication but as a complex, hierarchically organized system. Particular attention is also paid to the semiotic nature of language. The dialectical relationship between language and thought is further examined. The analysis addresses the extent to which language shapes consciousness (the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis) and the degree to which thinking determines the structure of language. Language is considered as an instrument of world conceptualization, a means of forming abstract concepts, and a tool for the categorization of reality.