Noun as a Means of Prepositional Semantics Representation

In the article, the interrelation of linguistic and mental units on the basis of the connection of semantics of the noun with the propositional mental structure is considered. It is shown that this connection is clearly manifested in speech in the functioning of nouns as parts of different syntactic constructions. The methodology of the research is based on the combination of component and contextological analysis of semantics of substantive and verbal lexemes in the conditions of a discursive realization of this semantics. The obtained results are interpreted in the categories of cognitive semantics based on the typology of mental units, in this case on the proposition and partly the scenario as means of knowledge organization. Taking into consideration the aspect of analysis, the understanding of the polysemantic term 'proposition' is specified in this article. Proposition is understood as a means of organizing knowledge about realities (denotation) in the aspect of its typical situational connections with other realities (denotations), that is in the categories of components of a situation - actants and adjuncts: subject, object, addressee, instrument, place, etc. The problem under study is considered on the material of nouns of different lexical grammatical and lexical semantic categories, which, being parts of different constructions, can reflect not only things (person, artifact, action, time interval, etc.), but also the situation as a whole a typical or unique element of which is the thing (subject, object, instrument, place, time) nouns denote, and the thing is capable of marking the type of the situation. The essence of this idea can be illustrated on the example of the reflection of the situation of visiting a hospital (treatment) with the help of nouns of different semantic categories that denote the person, the institution, the action, or the instrument of the action: went to the doctor - went to hospital - went for a surgery - went under the scalpel; went to the nurse - went to the treatment room - went for an injection. The difference in the semantics of the above mentioned constructions which are discursive synonyms lies in the fact that different constructions focus attention on different components of the same situation. Notwithstanding the choice of the noun, all the mentioned constructions indicate the situation as a whole, including the nature of actions, the status of the person in this action, the instrument of the action, the typical place. On the basis of the research, the conclusion is made that the ability of the noun to reflect a situation, that is to reflect propositional semantics in speech, is explained by the fact that linguistic units are connected with mental ones. In this very case it is the connection of the substantive word with its lexical semantics and the proposition that organizes knowledge of the situation.

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