An extremely high ability to think distinguishes a person from other highly organized animals. But it would be much weaker if the person hadn’t possessed a powerful addition to it - speech. The importance of speech for the development of thinking was highlighted by many physiologists and psychologists. Speech for each person is the main way of transmitting information, a necessary means of communication, with the help of which he is involved in the social environment, forms significant connections for himself, this is what connects the child with his mother from the very first days of life. Speech is also a source through which cultural traditions are transmitted to generations that influence the way of thinking and acting, on our mentality.
There are a number of important roles that she performs. In the scientific literature there are three functions of speech:
- representative, representing through speech signs (words) any objects and phenomena. The meaning of each word in our consciousness is associated with a certain idea of something;
- expressive, expressing the subjective perception of the speaker, his emotional attitude to what he says, and to what meaning he puts into what was said;
- appeal function, inducing. The spoken word necessarily assumes a listener, and accordingly, a response to the statement is expected, thus, it prompts action, has a psychological effect on the participant in communication.
To more clearly represent these three basic functions of speech, we give a simple example. The most common monosyllabic phrase “Snow” indicates meteorological precipitation. The speaker can pronounce it with a certain intonation, emotional coloring, which will show his attitude to this phenomenon, his state of mind and other emotional shades. In addition, this phrase addressed to someone may contain a call to action (for example, to dress better or go sledding), a reminder of something, etc.
In addition to the above, there are other, more abstract functions of speech, which, however, overlap with them.
The first of them is a significative or designation function. The language has many words that denote objects and phenomena that are absent in the actual field of perception, express abstract objects that are not subject to sensory experience. Words for native speakers of the same language are intermediaries by means of which mutual understanding between people is achieved. At the same time, the word is also a keeper of information about phenomena, events and objects.
The second function of speech is generalization. Speaking about it, it must be said that one word can have many meanings, just like many words in a language indicate the same phenomenon, object or concept. Expressing in speech only one of the meanings, the word provides an opportunity for generalizations, and this is one of the important factors in the development of abstract thinking.
Finally, it is necessary to highlight the importance of another function of speech - communicative. It is necessary to establish contacts with other people, to transmit information. In the process of communication, a person not only transfers his knowledge and opinions to another, but also expresses an emotional attitude to various phenomena of reality. Any speech utterance is both a message and a way of self-expression of a person.
Thus, speech and its functions are an important link in the development and formation of a person in the physiological, mental and social aspects. Speech communication is the main way of informing others, it is a way of transmitting an expressive and emotional assessment to the environment, and finally, it is a way of expression of will, expression of intent or intent of the speaker.
The functions of speech are closely interconnected, in the process of speech communication they exist in parallel and each of them performs its role.