XVI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2024

Language and thinking represent an inextricable unity, one cannot exist without the other. Language is able not only to designate objects, but also to depict, describe them. The result of such an image is a description of the subject or knowledge of it. This is the thought. Language is a necessary condition for the existence of thought, and in this, first of all, the role of language as a means of forming thought is manifested.

The mentality of the people is undoubtedly reflected not only in language, but also in culture. Language is an integral part of culture and its instrument. The problem of the relationship between language and culture is one of the central ones in linguistics. In the minds of native speakers, a certain linguistic picture of the world arises, through the prism of which a person sees the world. To better understand the originality of the German mentality and culture, you need to delve into history and trace how they formed and developed throughout it.

First of all, it is necessary to turn to the period of history when the state began to form and the German nationality began to develop. It is problematic to talk about the history of the Germans as a nationality, since for centuries they did not have clearly framed boundaries of the territorial, linguistic and cultural space. But the Germans could feel a sense of togetherness despite all sorts of boundaries; generally, they had no shared past and no shared history. Of course, after the collapse of the empire of Charlemagne, the Germans became more and more distant from the Franks, and after some time in the 9th century the unification of the German regions into an independent state followed. In addition, a strict hierarchy in society and an accurate adherence to the rules of behavior of one's class were formed, which indicates the emergence of such a national feature as love of order, which over time became one of the fundamental concepts of German culture "order."

The twentieth century was a very important stage in German history, since by the second half of this century Germany had achieved national unity and became one of the most economically powerful and politically strong world powers. In the conditions of rapid economic growth, different areas of culture developed. The pinnacle of musical creativity is considered the works of L. Beethoven, and the literary - I.V. Goethe. The first representative of classicism in German literature was G. Lessing (1729-1781), who substantiated the realistic aesthetics of national German literature. The great representatives of German (Weimar) classicism were I.V. Goethe (1749-1832), I.F. Schiller (1759-1805) and I.G. Herder (1744-1803). Only the most cursory listing of famous names of German figures speaks of the huge wealth of culture and spiritual heritage.

Such diversity in all directions and genres of art elevates German culture to a very high level. On the one hand, culture forms mentality, and on the other hand, its degree of development is an expression of the mentality of the people. For example, Germans are distinguished by sobriety of mind, accuracy, accuracy, consistency. All these features are necessary for scientists in all fields of science, so it is no coincidence that Germany gave the world a large number of scientists: physicists, chemists, mathematicians, philosophers. Having got to know the Germans better, many may change their attitude towards them. Foreigners see Germans, as a rule, in their public manifestation and never in personal. The German himself considers himself a modest and rather ordinary person. Germans cannot be called greedy, but they do not expect to receive something for nothing and regularly pay taxes. Germans like to dream and consider themselves romantics. They also see themselves as a highly educated nation.

Foreigners consider Germans skillful, cold-blooded, arrogant and oppressive, but excellent financiers and entrepreneurs. Along with the prevailing opinions, and having studied the German lifestyle, one cannot fail to notice how serious Germans are, love order, and are an example of economy.

Germans treat life with incredible seriousness (Ernsthaft). They are very disapproving of any manifestations of frivolity, all sorts of accidents and surprises. Their language lacks such a concept as light sadness, since it cannot be called serious in any way. The very assumption that wonderful ideas can arise spontaneously and be expressed by people who do not have the appropriate qualifications is impossible and, moreover, extremely undesirable. Ultimately, the Germans are more willing to abandon the sensible invention than to get used to the idea that creativity is in many ways a spontaneous and uncontrollable process.

Precisely because they take life seriously, the Germans are so committed to the rules. Schiller wrote that "submission is the first duty," and no German will allow himself to doubt it. This is entirely in line with their ideas of duty and order. Therefore, the Germans prefer not to break even those rules that greatly complicate their lives, guided by the principle that everything that is not allowed is prohibited. If smoking or walking on grass is allowed, you will be notified of this by a special plate.

As for the professional side of life, the desire to take everything seriously means that you cannot afford to dramatically change your life, quit, for example, the work of an accountant or a computer engineer and become a free grain grower or engage in aroma therapy. Such thoughts should be ruthlessly chased as frivolous and dubious.

Order in German culture, covers all spheres of social and spiritual life. Order - 1) an orderly lifestyle, 2) following the rules established by the state and controlled by it, 3) a public hierarchy, 4) a special form of unification of people, 5) a religious, space organization of the world. Germans are very practical people who value comfort and convenience. And you probably won't meet a young girl in high heels and a skirt in the hallways of a higher institution. But this is not a reason to consider German women not interesting or beautiful, they simply do not consider it necessary to be attractive and do not know how to submit themselves.

Germans are proud of their workability, organization, discipline, neatness and punctuality. After all, this makes up the order (Ordnung), which contains not only such concepts as cleanliness, but also correctness, decency, purpose and many other wonderful things. No phrase warms the heart of a German like: "allés in Ordnung," meaning that everything is in order, everything is as it should be. The categorical imperative that every German honors is: "Ordnung muss sein," which means: "Order is above all."

Along with "order," the concept of "labor" is important for the German mentality. If anything the Germans like, it's Labour. He is the basis of the basics. Once abroad, the Germans are amazed at the sight of dug-up buildings littered with litter streets, unwashed cars. Waiting a long time for a train on the London Underground, they wonder how these crazy British can put up with this state of affairs instead of arranging everything properly. At home, the Germans are much better at dealing with such things. Words can be just as difficult and spoken out guttural, but there are no problems with pronunciation - as you hear and write, not that in English. The streets are clean, the houses are freshly painted, the garbage is where he should be - in the garbage cans. In general - the complete "Ordnung," i.e. order.

Germans are known for their law-abiding nature. Strict obedience to laws and rules affects their daily life, even when it comes to absolutely simple and obvious things. There are rules that must be followed, otherwise you can cause displeasure and indignation from more law-abiding citizens. Otherwise, they can complain to the appropriate authorities. If, for example, one of the neighbors behaves a little louder than others later than the allowed hour, then he is offensive and disrespectful to people living nearby, and this is unacceptable for the Germans.

Order also affects such important aspects of life as the state and society. Order must reign in the house, and since the country is a big house, then everything has its own place in it.

This article defines the essence and describes the structure of the men-tality. Analyzing the sources, I came to the conclusion that mentality is inherent in each person, individual people and humanity as a whole and has common signs for them. The mentality of an individual people is also based on the above categories, but has special separate linguistic means for expressing it. In addition, it can be argued that there is a universal human mentality that generalizes the spiritual state of all people on earth, on its basis communication between people is possible. If there were no general mentality, then the translation of texts from one language to another would be impossible. It is important to note that the German proposal is an embodiment of the order where information is submitted in a certain way, and many members of the proposal take up places strictly reserved for them. One of the main features of the German mentality, the order and desire for harmony, are realized in the compositional construction of the sentence. That is, for representatives of the German nation, such national traits as love for order, purity, economy, discipline, ethical attitude towards other people and manifestation of care for them are typical. The highlighted signs do not exhaust the content of the mentality of the German people. It is possible that over time they will replenish, change or disappear.

The article revealed the relationship and mutual influence of culture and men-tone. On the one hand, culture forms mentality, but on the other hand, its degree of development is an expression of the mentality of the people.

REFERENCES

1. Береснева В.А. Синкретизм временных форм в современном немецком языке: дисс. ... канд. филолог. наук. - Н.Новгород, 1999. - 203 с.

2. Behagel-Thomsen H., Lundquist-Mog A., Mog P. Typisch deutsch? Arbeitsbuch zu Aspekten deutscher Mentalität. - 1993. - 144 s.

3. ГумбольдтВ. Избранныетрудыпоязыкознанию. - М.: Прогресс, 1984. - 400 с.

4. Friederich W. Moderne deutsche Idiomatik. Alphabetisches Wörterbuch mit Definitionen und Beispielen. - Max Hueber Verlag, 2001. - 565 s.

5. Зеленов Л.А. Русский менталитет // Культура и мир: Восток - Запад: Тезисы докладов междунар. научн. конф. - Нижний Новгород: НГЛУ им. Н.А. Добролюбова, 1995. - С. 165-167.

6. Кузнецова О.Г. Дирекционал и средства его выражения в современном немецком языке: дисс. ... канд. филолог. наук. - Н.Новгород, 1996. - 175 с.

7. Lexikon der Sprichwörter und Zitate. - Harenberg, 2001

8. Фещенко Е.В. Менталитет человека, его эволюция и особенности в Западной Европе и в России: Тексты лекций по спецкурсу. - Новосибирск: НГАЗиУ 1999. - 73 с.