Most of the long words in the Russian language, the meaning of which is quite difficult to understand, came to us from other languages. In order not to pass for ignorance, you sometimes have to look for the origin of the word and find out its direct meaning, because in the modern world most words have long lost their root meaning and are used in a different context. For example, "concretization". This word is understandable to any modern person, but what was the meaning of it originally and how to describe its meaning?
Origin of the word
Like most words, “concretization” came to us from Latin. There is a term from the word concretus , which can be translated as "formed", "harmonious", "condensed". Initially, this term appeared in philosophy and represents a certain combination of knowledge of the world. “Concretization”, the meaning of which we are figuring out, in itself implies some other foundation, which is the abstraction (distraction), some kind of deepening into the essence of the issue. These two methods of cognition are closely interconnected and do not exist without each other.
In the modern world, "concretization" is the term in practical psychology. According to this criterion, the ability of a person to remember any details with which the general idea is composed is most often assessed.
Nevertheless, the word "concretization", the definition of which is strictly scientific and hardly understandable to the average layman, is used in everyday life.
Concretization in everyday life
In a practical sense, for any ordinary person, concretization is any distinguishing feature of an object or situation. Most often they specify something with the help of the indicative pronouns "this", "this", "these", with the help of any signs (color, shape, size) or by any other attribute. All this is concretization. The synonyms of this term in the meaning of colloquial speech are "refinement", "detailing". The more detailed something is painted, the more understandable what the conversation is about.
In this case, the word itself may not be mentioned in the conversation, more often people just ask to explain more specifically, and then the person clarifies the details, arranging the situation on the shelves.
In addition to the philosophical and psychological sciences, whose representatives actively use their professional vocabulary, where in everyday life can you find this term? Indeed, as it turned out, concretization is a method not only of scientific knowledge, but of informative communication in general.
Way of knowing
The ability to specify any details determines the ability of a person to perceive information in general. Many psychologists conduct various kinds of tests with children in order to teach them critical thinking, and the correct perception, and processing of information in general.
This ability is also useful for schoolchildren, since in this way their ability to theoretical thinking is formed. It is much easier to learn any material, being able to compose logical chains, taking into account various factors that affect the situation as a whole. Thus, a person can develop their abilities in the exact sciences.
Flight Specification
You will most likely come across such a service if you contact a travel company that provides trips to various countries. Most often, a travel agency offers its customers this service for a fee, less often it is already included in the price. What does it consist of?
Do you often fly with the same airline? It doesn’t matter if the travel agency takes care of this and picks up tickets from this airline. Limited vacation or scheduled appointments in another country? The tour operator will choose the most reliable flight, which will be canceled with the least probability and which will fly at a convenient time for you. Do you prefer to depart from a specific airport? It is from this place that you will be provided with tickets.
Clarification of the departure date, airline, place and time of flight departure - all this is a concretization, the value of which is greatly underestimated by tourists. Quite often, people still face the fact that flights are canceled and there is no way to get on an airplane, so such a service is often necessary. Specifying a flight does not give a full guarantee that you will arrive in the right country at the right time, since the travel agency cannot directly affect the airline schedule, but the date and place of departure are precisely guaranteed.
Specification as a translation technique
The language barrier is one of the main problems that arise when translating a document. Both in English and in Russian there are words with very broad meanings, which creates certain difficulties, therefore translators often use the concretization technique - replacing words with others with a narrower range of meanings. The most important thing in the craft of a translator is to convey the essence of the issue, and for this, foreign expressions can and should be adapted to another language.
Another option is the contextual replacement of words for more convenient adaptation to another language. For example, in one language, a word can have many meanings, while in another - only one, so there is confusion. It is especially difficult to understand various idioms, proverbs and sayings, as well as stable expressions that simply cannot be translated. In this case, analogues are found in the target language. All of this in aggregate is concretization.
Concretization in the debate
For a person participating in a debate, it is important not only to defend one’s point of view, but to provide concrete evidence that he is right. The speeches of many figures often consist of a greeting, thesis, proof, and conclusion, where proof is concretization. The meaning of the word of this in this context means that reliable data with specific numbers, such as statistics, are provided, and, referring to them, a person forms his point of view. Concrete is the main weapon of many politicians, experienced businessmen, scientific candidates, and so on.
The phenomenon opposite to concretization is an abstraction, when the essence is singled out from the whole question and attention is not paid to details completely, everything is generalized and becomes a single whole. However, one should not forget that this integrity is born primarily from the details, and specificity in some issues is sometimes necessary.