Metalanguage, its properties and role in the language system

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the notion «metalanguage» in modern linguistics. The author analyses approaches to the definition of metalanguage, the place it occupies in the language system, its properties, types, components, and usage. At the beginning of the article the author defines the notion «metalanguage» in the framework of the semiotic approach, specifies who was the first to use the term «metalanguage», and makes reference to the way this phenomenon is interpreted in philosophy. Then the author proceeds to the study of the notion «metalanguage» from the linguistic point of view and starts with a thorough investigation of Roman Jakobson’s opinion on the matter since he was among the first linguists to draw attention to it. The article deals with two main approaches to the place which metalanguage occupies in the language system: according to the first approach, metalanguage is defined as an artificial language; according to the second approach, metalanguage is considered as the part of the natural language. The author also points out key differences between metalanguage and terminology and enumerates the reasons why communicators might want to use metalinguistic elements. Besides, the article describes various types of metalanguage, e.g. everyday metalanguage, linguistic metalanguage, and metametalanguage, the suggested classifications being based on different parameters. Finally, the author analyses possible situations when metalanguage can be used paying specific attention to the metalinguistic features of translation and interpreting. The author comes to the conclusion that in this case it would be right to talk about a metacommunicative function rather than about a metalinguistic one.

Keywords

• metalanguage
• metalinguistic function
• metacommunicative function
• translation and interpreting
• everyday metalanguage
• linguistic metalanguage
• metametalanguage