SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MODERNITY

CULTURE

L.P. KRYSIN

Is it possible to recognize an intellectual by his speech?

They called you.

intelligent.

From a conversation between husband and wife

One of the most talented domestic linguists E. Polivanov back in the 20s. last century (in a completely “unintelligent” time!) I wondered: what allows us to almost unmistakably identify intelligent voices among the voices we hear on the telephone? After all, sometimes we can’t even make out the words properly, but we nevertheless make a judgment about the intelligence of the voice with confidence. Polivanov himself did not answer this question, but indicated, however, the characteristic phonetic features of what we can call an “intelligent voice” [Polivanov, 1968, p. 232, 235]. In addition to phonetics, speech features that relate to the modulation of the voice are also important, that is, the totality of its characteristics in pitch and timbre, as well as its intonation properties. An intelligent, educated, cultured person these characteristics and properties are richer and more diverse. This assumption is also confirmed experimentally: tape-recorded telephone conversation was presented to the subjects with the task of determining who was speaking - a person from an intelligent environment or from a common people? To prevent the subject from relying on an analysis of the content of the conversation, the recorded speech was deliberately made unintelligible. And yet, the subjects made almost no mistakes in qualifying their voices, and in particular in choosing an intelligent voice.

Are there any other signs? sounding speech by which we can identify an intellectual? To get an answer to this question, we must turn to a certain direction in modern linguistics, which is conventionally called speech portraiture. Specialists working in this area try to create either individual speech portraits of native speakers or speech portraits of entire social groups. For the sake of objectivity, it must be said that this area of ​​research is young, and although its representatives have achieved some success, the main results are apparently still to come. Let's see what scientists are guided by and rely on when setting out to create a speech portrait of a person or group.

Krysin Leonid Petrovich - Doctor of Philology, Professor, Deputy Director of the Russian Language Institute. BB. Vinogradova.

The immediate impetus for the development of the concept of “speech portrait” was the idea of ​​a phonetic portrait, put forward in the mid-60s. XX century outstanding domestic linguist M. Panov. He brilliantly embodied this idea in a number of phonetic portraits politicians, writers, scientists, which he presented in the book "History of Russian literary pronunciation 18th-20th centuries." (Moscow, 1990). The book is remarkable in that from it we can learn not only about the peculiarities of the speech of our contemporaries, but also about how people who lived in the “tape-free” era spoke, for example Peter I, M. Lomonosov, A. Sumarokov... Panov drew their phonetic portraits, collecting and carefully studying them written speech-works, private letters, diaries, household papers, notes...

Although the portraits created by Panov are individual (the manner of pronunciation of an individual, this person), their social and general cultural value is undoubted, since each of the portraits reflects the peculiarities of the speech of a certain social environment (of which the “portraited” is a representative). When choosing a “model” to create a phonetic portrait, Panov justifies his choice precisely by social and sociocultural considerations: belonging to a particular generation, social stratum, following a certain cultural tradition in speech (theatrical, poetic, everyday), the presence of local speech characteristics, etc. p.

The idea of ​​a phonetic and, more broadly, speech portrait was taken up by other researchers. Works have appeared (and continue to appear) in which attempts are made to create speech portraits of a businessman, a child from a certain social environment, a housewife, a scientist, a “new Russian”1... And a Russian intellectual.

But before turning to the speech features on which the speech portrait of an intellectual is built, it is necessary to resolve the question: what do we mean when we use the phrases “modern Russian intellectual”, “modern Russian intelligentsia”? There are hardly at least two people whose interpretations of these phrases would coincide completely. Disagreements are possible and, as our observations show, they really exist - and in understanding the definition of “modern” (the end of the 20th century? its second half? this entire century? - in this article, by modernity I will mean the second half of the 20th century - the beginning XXI century), and in the understanding of who can be called “Russian”. Most likely, a Russian is Russian by culture, by educational system, and not only by place of birth and, of course, not only by blood, although the latest interpretation of the word “Russian” is becoming more and more relevant in modern journalism, contrasting the term “Russian-speaking” . Especially difficult, contradictory and changeable both over time and from one social environment to another, is the understanding of the words intellectual, intelligentsia. Even if we ignore a purely qualitative understanding of these concepts2 and keep in mind the social characteristics of the intellectual and intelligentsia, many questions related to the status of this social stratum remain unclear.

It is necessary to make a significant reservation about the differences between the concepts of “intellectual” and “intelligentsia”. Despite the common basis, these words are different in meaning. Sociologists define the intelligentsia as a layer of people who have a certain level of education and culture and are engaged in mental work. And an intellectual is not just, so to speak, one “quantum” of the intelligentsia and not even necessarily a representative of this social stratum, but a person with a great inner-

1 Some of these portraits can be found in the books [Modern... 2003; Language... 1989; Language... 1990].

2 For example, A. Solzhenitsyn in “The Gulag Archipelago” gives the following definition: an intellectual is one whose interests and whose will to the spiritual side of life are persistent and constant, not forced by external circumstances and exist even in spite of them. An intellectual is one whose thought is inimitable.

ancient culture. At the same time, there may be no higher education, so an intellectual can be found in a university classroom, on a factory floor, or at the helm of a combine harvester. In the future we will talk mainly about the intelligentsia as a certain social stratum in the structure of modern Russian society.

But even with this concept, not everything is clear. For example, there is no doubt that the nature of education - whether it is humanitarian or technical - leaves an imprint on the human personality, on the system of its values. In this regard, the question arises: are the humanitarian and technical intelligentsia one cultural and social layer or two different ones? The intelligentsia of the older, middle and younger generations are “the same” or we can talk about some qualitative differences between these generations, including those that are significant from a linguistic point of view (the choice of different linguistic means, differences in tactics of speech behavior, etc.)? Is the intelligentsia of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tula, Kostroma, Irkutsk one social layer or should we talk about local differences that have not only purely territorial, but also some qualitative grounds? Let us limit ourselves only to these questions, although it is obvious that they do not exhaust the ambiguities about the “social face” of the intelligentsia.

It goes without saying that before starting to create a speech portrait of a representative of the intelligentsia, we need to decide what our object is: whose portrait are we going to “draw”? In connection with what has just been said, it seems reasonable to follow the principle of plurality, heterogeneity of the described object - the intelligentsia, and non-uniqueness of the typical representative of this social stratum. Keeping in mind its heterogeneity, it is reasonable to distinguish between the humanitarian and technical intelligentsia, the older, middle and younger generations (respectively, these are people aged 60 years and older; from 36 to 59 years; up to 35 years), territorially marked layers of the intelligentsia, located along the axis of the main opposition: the intelligentsia of the main cultural centers (Moscow and St. Petersburg, with the fixation of linguistic differences between Muscovites and St. Petersburgers) versus the intelligentsia of medium and small cities of Russia (with the fixation of speech differences due to the close proximity of different territorial dialects, which undoubtedly influence oral speech of the intelligentsia).

It is possible, however, that some characteristic features language and speech behavior are characteristic of the intelligentsia as a social stratum as a whole, in contrast to others social strata. Naturally, such features - as touches to speech portrait a typical representative of the modern Russian intelligentsia - should be noted. Let me emphasize: we're talking about it is about the strokes, and not about the complete portrait.

I will indicate the most characteristic features related to the choice of linguistic units and their use in the speech of a representative of the intelligentsia (or any of the groups noted above that make up this layer) and to his speech behavior.

Phonetic, that is, pronunciation, features are the most characteristic indicator of a person’s speech: let us remember Professor Higgins, who determined the speaker’s social affiliation precisely by these features. In addition, the pronunciation and intonation skills that a person masters from childhood are not realized by the speaker himself, they act automatically (in contrast to the choice of words, which is often quite conscious and balanced): self-control of how you pronounce this or that sound, in normal speech is difficult or even impossible. After all, if you begin to pay attention to the sound side of your words and thereby become distracted from their meaning, you will soon lose the thread of the conversation, and verbal communication will be disrupted. Therefore, the manner of pronunciation is quite objective

Reading time: 2 min

Intelligence is a whole set of characterological, mental and social qualities of an individual that contribute to meeting the expectations of society that are presented to members of a cultural society and other representatives of its highest part. Human intelligence implies a highly developed mental and cognitive processes, which allows a person to evaluate and make his own judgments about various areas of human manifestation. It is also a certain personal maturity, responsible for the ability to make independent decisions and have one’s own point of view on the concept of the world order. Of the characterological characteristics, a person’s intelligence is manifested in reliability and nobility, consistency of thoughts, words and actions, as well as the presence of an active interest in culture, history and art.

What is intelligence

An intelligent person demonstrates his personal dignity in professional and social sphere, trying to achieve best results and represent with their activities benefits for humanity on the scale to which the chosen specialization allows. The concept of decency and honor is inseparable from intelligence and is manifested in the adequacy of actions, orientation towards one’s own meanings and values, non-susceptibility to external influence, correctness towards others, regardless of their position and behavior.

The intelligentsia is a special community of people engaged in mental work, striving to accumulate and systematize existing knowledge, as well as its further transfer and the discovery of new experience. The desire of a person to give in to his own intellectual and sensory experience reflective analysis, the ability to notice details and patterns, strive for knowledge and never-ending curiosity can be characterized as internal intelligence. This should also include the presence of high internal values in maintaining the moral and ethical qualities and manifestations of humanity.

Inner intelligence is impossible without a broad outlook and great internal experience, as well as constant openness to new things. There is no place for dictatorship, that in the behavior of other people, in their preferences, traditions and beliefs are not condemned. Before making a conclusion about someone, an intelligent person will try to understand as much as possible about a particular action, and if the action turns out to be beyond the limits of what is permissible by morality, then it is the action, not the person, that will be subject to censure.

The concept of intelligence appeared to characterize a certain group of people (intelligentsia) engaged in mental work, when the number of such people increased compared to ancient times, where physical work predominated. When activities that did not bring visible and quick results began to actively shape society and the paths of human development, certain markers appeared for classifying a person as an intelligentsia. Just intellectual work is not enough; it is necessary that the activity corresponds to the maintenance of cultural values ​​and contributes to the development of both an individual person (which is clearly represented by the activities of teachers) and large human associations (which concerns the establishment of legislative state law).

In many societies, the concept of the intelligentsia is replaced by the concept of intellectuals who are engaged in the same type of activity, but do not pretend to bring new good meaning to the masses. These people are characterized by greater modesty, less desire to rank people by class and merit, and also give everyone their own priorities based on their judgments. At the same time, they continue to develop themselves and develop the surrounding space with their own professional contribution.

And there are quite a lot of similar varieties and branches, which complicates the description of intelligence as an unambiguous concept with clear parameters and characteristics. Several centuries ago, for example, even the intelligentsia was divided into certain classes, where there were representatives: the highest intelligentsia, involved in the social and spiritual sphere, having a fairly large influence on the formation of the moral requirements of society; the average intelligentsia also find employment in the social sphere, but their activities are more practical (if the former see the people, the latter see specific faces and destinies), these people are directly involved in the implementation of good ideas (teachers and doctors); The lower intelligentsia is also called semi-intelligentsia and is engaged in helping the middle intelligentsia, combining physical and social development activities (these are physician assistants, assistants, technicians, laboratory assistants).

But, despite such crude attempts to divide people and intelligence itself on the basis of the activity performed, this turned out to be incorrect and reflects only one aspect of the manifestation, while innate intelligence can manifest itself in a person of physical labor and not high intellectual abilities. Here, behavior and the ability to analyze what is happening, draw conclusions, as well as the style of interaction with others come first. This aspect is closely related to upbringing, which can be instilled, or can be a consequence of a person’s inner worldview. And then the signs of intelligence become not the activity performed, but the presence of a person’s constant desire for development, the ability to behave with dignity, regardless of the circumstances and who is in front of him.

How to become an intelligent person

An intelligent person is able to restrain his emotional manifestations, negative emotions, knows how to process them, and learn from mistakes made. Criticism is perceived as a tool for self-improvement, and having self-confidence helps to treat others with respect and tolerance.

The intelligentsia, as a social stratum, does not always contain exclusively intelligent people. Often there are doctors who are rude to people, teachers who do not respect the individual, but with such frequency you can meet an exceptionally kind and caring technician or a cultured and courteous girl who does not have a higher education. Confusing these concepts is a serious mistake, because class division cannot reflect the totality personal qualities.

Innate intelligence is not the only factor determining the presence of intelligent manifestations. Of course, some character traits, innate mechanisms nervous system those responsible for the type of response, and the upbringing environment influence the personality, but this is not a given, but only prerequisites with which it will be either easier or more difficult to absorb the principles of decent behavior. Moreover, how the process occurs depends solely on the person and his motivation, accordingly, if you make an effort, you can achieve anything.

The basic concepts of intelligence include cultural behavior, benevolence and tolerance towards people and their manifestations, and only second are breadth of outlook and the ability for global or divergent thinking. Therefore, it is necessary to develop your ability to interact with others, starting with goodwill, which will attract more attentive and positive views to you. Look in the mirror and evaluate your gaze (it is the one that creates the first impression upon contact), and if you look gloomy, aggressive, cold, if your gaze makes you want to defend yourself or remain silent, then you should train another one. An open, warm look with a slight smile will endear you to a person and show that you are ready to interact, and not to attack and conflict. Goodwill in communication is manifested by a culture of communication, which implies the absence of obscene words and respect for personal boundaries (beware of inappropriate questions or overly direct, especially negative comments). When communicating, set yourself the goal of making a person’s day a little better, and then act according to the situation - someone needs to be listened to, someone needs to be helped, and for others, tactfulness in not noticing mistakes will be enough.

A tolerant attitude means accepting the existence of other points of view, but this does not mean that they should change your beliefs. If a person acts against your moral values, show tolerance and do not persist in setting him on the right path, but distance yourself, not allowing own feelings suffer. Respect other people's choices and demand respect for yours, but not with hysterics and anger, but with a dignified removal from the source of discomfort.

Expand your knowledge, and for this you don’t have to memorize tedious textbooks, the world is much wider and more multifaceted, so look for what interests you. The main thing is to develop and learn new things at least a little from everywhere; in such cases, it is better to go to a concert of a new group than to rewatch the series for the fifth time.

Modesty and sincerity will lead you to a better quality of life, and the ability to live according to your own conscience develops your personality. Try not to weigh yourself down with false merits (like artificial diamonds), but to find and develop your strong traits and.

How many people of the current generation think about what intelligence is? How is it expressed and is it necessary for society at all? There were times when this word sounded like an insult, and sometimes vice versa - this was the name given to groups of people trying to pull Russia out of the darkness of ignorance and stupidity.

Etymology of the word

“Intelligence” is a word that comes from Latin. Iintelligence- cognitive power, the ability of perception, which, in turn, comes from the Latin intellectus- understanding, thinking. Despite the Latin origin of the word, the concept of “intellectual” is considered originally Russian and in the vast majority of cases is used only in the territory former USSR and among the Russian-speaking segments of the population.

The father of the term “intelligentsia” is considered to be the Russian liberalist writer Pyotr Bobrykin (1836-1921), who repeatedly used it in his critical articles, essays and novels. Initially, this was the name given to people of mental work: writers, artists and teachers, engineers and doctors. In those days there were very few such professions and people were grouped according to common interests.

Who is an intelligent person?

“Cultural and not swearing,” many will say. Some will add: “Smart.” And then they’ll add something about being educated and well-read. But are all doctors of science and great minds of this world intellectuals?

There are enough people in the world with a huge amount of knowledge, who have read thousands of books, polyglots and true masters of their craft. Does this automatically make them part of the intelligentsia, the social stratum?

The simplest definition of intelligence

One of the greatest minds Silver Age gave a very short but succinct definition of the concept of intelligence: “This is the highest culture of the human spirit, aimed at preserving the dignity of one’s neighbor.”

Such intelligence is that daily work is constant self-improvement, the result of a huge educational process on oneself, one’s personality, which first of all cultivates in a person the ability to be attentive and empathetic towards another living being. An intellectual, even if he commits a dishonest act under the will of circumstances, will suffer greatly from this and be tormented by remorse. He will rather do harm to himself, but will not be tainted by base things.

Universal human values ​​inherent in an intellectual

According to the results of a social survey, the majority of people indicated the importance of education and good manners. But the great Faina Ranevskaya said: “It is better to be known as a good, but swearing, than a well-mannered bastard.” That's why higher education and knowledge of etiquette does not mean that in front of you is an intellectual of the old school. The following factors are more important:

• Compassion for the pain of others, no matter whether it is a person or an animal.
• Patriotism, expressed in actions, and not in shouting from the podium at rallies.
• Respect for other people's property: therefore, a true intellectual always pays debts, but takes them out extremely rarely, in the most critical cases.
• Politeness, compliance and gentleness of character are mandatory - they are the first calling card of the intelligentsia. Tactfulness is at the top of their attitude towards people: he will never put uncomfortable position another person.
• The ability to forgive.
• Absence of rudeness towards anyone: even if an impudent person pushes an intellectual, he will be the first to apologize for the inconvenience caused. Just don’t confuse this with cowardice: a coward is afraid, but an intellectual respects all people, no matter what they are.
• Lack of intrusiveness: out of respect for strangers, they are more likely to remain silent than to be frank with just anyone.
• Sincerity and unwillingness to lie: again, out of decency and love for the people around you, but more out of respect for yourself.
• An intellectual respects himself so much that he will not allow himself to be uneducated, unenlightened.
• A craving for beauty: a hole in the floor or a book thrown into the dirt excites their soul more than the lack of dinner.

From all this it becomes obvious that education and intelligence are not related concepts, although they interact. An intellectual is a rather complexly structured personality, which is why he is never loved by the lower strata of society: against the background of an esthete who has a keen sense of the world, they feel flawed and do not understand anything, and this is why anger manifests itself, leading to violence.

Modern intellectual

What is intelligence today? Is it even possible to be like this in the arena of total degradation and dullness from the media, social networks and television shows?

All this is true, but universal human values ​​do not change from era to era: at any time, tolerance and respect for others, compassion and the ability to put oneself in the place of another are important. Honor, inner freedom and the depth of the soul, together with a keen mind and a thirst for beauty, have always been and will be of paramount importance for evolution. And today's intellectuals are not much different from their brothers in the spirit of the century before last, when man - this really sounded proud. They are modest, honest with themselves and others, and are always kind from the heart, and not for the sake of PR. On the contrary, a spiritually developed person will never boast of his actions, achievements and actions, but at the same time he will try to do everything possible to become at least a little better, knowing that by changing himself, he changes the entire world around him for the better.

Do modern society need intellectuals?

Education and intelligence are now as important an aspect as global warming or cruelty to animals. The thirst for money and universal adoration has so captured society that modest attempts by individuals to raise the level of human awareness resemble the painful efforts of a woman giving birth, who, despite all the pain, sacredly believes in a successful outcome.

It is necessary to believe that intelligence is such a culture of the soul. This is not the amount of knowledge, but actions in accordance with moral principles. Perhaps then our world, mired in the mud of a distorted mind, will be saved. Humanity needs bright-hearted individuals, intellectuals of the spirit, who will promote the purity of relationships without mercantile motives, the importance of spiritual growth and the need for knowledge as the initial basis for subsequent development.

When does the formation of moral qualities occur?

In order to be, or rather, to feel like an intellectual and not be burdened by this burden, it is necessary to absorb the inclinations with mother’s milk, to be brought up in the appropriate environment and environment, then highly moral behavior will be like a part of the being, like a hand or an eye.

It is for this reason that it is important not only to raise a child in the right direction, but also to set a clear example with rational actions, correct actions, and not just words.

Academician D.S. Likhachev wrote: “Intelligence is equal to moral health, and health is needed to live a long time - not only physically, but also mentally.”

In this article we will talk about what it means to be an intelligent person and whether it can be learned.

Be intelligent in society

There is an opinion that you can only be an intelligent person with a higher education. However, formal education has little in common with intelligence. Intelligence is the “higher education” of the heart, as well as human behavior in society, which is determined by the following characteristics:

• Upbringing. An intelligent person knows etiquette well and knows how to present himself in society. He is usually a polite and tolerant person towards others.
• Susceptibility. To be intelligent, you don’t have to re-read the classics and constantly go to the theater. It is enough to have an interest in acquiring new knowledge and not show indifference.
• Respect. An intelligent person is endowed with respect for everything. He respects not only people, but also nature, history, culture different countries. The absence of rudeness and gloating in character is what distinguishes an intelligent person in modern society.

You can read more about the signs of an intelligent person in the article.

Thus, intelligence is inextricably linked with our behavior. It cannot be learned, but it can be developed in oneself. We also recommend that you read our articles

BASICS OF SPEECH

FUNDAMENTALS OF ART SPEECH

Speech courses
delivering a competent, beautiful speech
correct pronunciation of words
construct phrases correctly
vocabulary expansion
put the emphasis correctly
remove speech errors
the ability to clearly express one's thoughts
study of speech intonation
speech indicates the cultural level of the speaker
a person’s speech characterizes his cultural level
learning articulation

Courses literate speech

setting literature, beautiful speech
the correct pronunciation of words
construct sentences correctly
vocabulary
the right to put the emphasis
remove speech errors
the ability to articulate
speech intonation study
it tests to the cultural level of the speaker
man it characterizes its cultural level
articulation

A person is not born with the ready ability to express his thoughts beautifully. The gift of speech is acquired through working on oneself over many years.
Man is not born with a ready ability to beautifully express their thoughts. Speechless acquired by working on yourself over the years.

Well-delivered speech, combined with a beautiful-sounding voice, sometimes helps to find a way out of even the most difficult situations that arise in the process of communication. Such speech is perfectly perceived by the audience and contributes to the achievement of goals.
(Good speech delivered in conjunction with a beautifully sounding voice helps, sometimes, to find a way, even the most difficult situations that arise in the process of communication. Such speech is perceived by the audience perfectly, it contributes to achieving the objectives)

And the ability to put words into sentences harmoniously and harmoniously will be useful in any field of activity.
(And the ability to harmoniously and sweetly put words into sentences is useful in any field of activity.)

Well-delivered speech: how to make your speech clear, understandable and competent?
Good question posed: how to make your speech clear, understandable and correct?

A person who has a pleasant competent speech and good vocabulary, I always want to listen. Interlocutors perceive such a person as very educated and intelligent, since he knows how to express his thoughts clearly and coherently, and his speech is extremely understandable.
(A person with a pleasant literate speech and a good vocabulary, you always want to listen. The interlocutors perceive such a person as a very educated and intelligent as he is able and available consistently express their thoughts, and his speech was very clear.)

When introducing a new fancy word into your personal dictionary, find out its exact meaning, ask where it came from
(By introducing the new personal dictionary intricate word, find its exact meaning, ask where it came)

perfect methods of constructing a speech, comprehend the art of pronouncing it, be able to speak concisely, impressively, figuratively.
(improved methods for constructing speech, grasp the pronunciation of her art, to be able to speak briefly, impressively, figuratively.)

A bright, interesting idea must be expressed in a good form.
Bright, interesting idea is to speak in good shape.

The course is designed for those who need the skill public speaking: reports, presentations, negotiations, pitching, interviews, as well as for solving problems related to personnel management.
(The course is designed for those who need the skill of public speaking: reports, presentations, negotiations, Pitching, interviews, as well as to solve problems related to the management staff.)