Inner form of word: myths and reality

The article one of the most complicated linguistic phenomena - the notion and term ''inner form of the word''. Many linguists, philosophers, logicians and psychologists researched this problem. The given definitions of the term include some myths and attempts of real, attention-worthy interpretation of it. In the first part of the article the author considers the myths connected with the inner form of the word, showing their illegitimacy and giving the counterarguments proving the important multifunctional role of the inner form of the word in different spheres of its application. In the second part of the article the definitions of the inner form of the word by various scholars from its founder academician A.A. Potebnya to his followers are considered. Attention is paid to the intrinsic characteristics of the term, its components, approaches to its interpretation, to continuity and development in its perception and definition, to dependence of definitions of the inner form on the branch of science that uses the term. In the third part of the article opinions of the author are stated on the divergence reasons in definitions of the inner form of the word in the linguistics of the present and the past. The definition of the inner form of the word offered by the author within motivology - a morpho-semantic structure of the word, allowing to realize the interconditionality of its sound form and meaning - is broadly and diversely approved not only during psycholinguistic experiments on the thematic groups of phitonyms, zoonyms, names of household lexicon of Slavic, Indo-European, Turkic languages (in total more than 414300 items of metalanguage consciousness of respondents), but also as a result of carrying out researches in different aspects: ontological, functional, dynamic, lexicographic, comparative, etc. The offered definition of the inner form of the word reflects the comprehensive approach considering the intrinsic characteristics of the considered notion: elements (morpho-semantic structure made by a set of significant segments of the sound form of the word), purpose (detection of interconditionality of the sound form and the meaning of the word), way of detection of links between the sound form and the meaning (responses of metalanguage consciousness of native speakers). At last, the definition of the inner form of the word offered by the author allowed to develop the term-notion in different aspects: the structure of the inner form of the word is revealed not only horizontally (motivational form and motivational meaning), but also vertically (the motivating part of the inner form of the word and the formant part); types of the inner form are defined (alternative, metaphorical, lexicalized); its functions are revealed (explicating, systematizing, informative, nominative, aesthetic, metalanguage, etc.).

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