Етнічна ментальність як когнітивно-лінгвістична матриця: нові напрями дослідження

Language, as a means of communication, also functions as a core instrument for encoding and transmitting cultural and cognitive frameworks. It embodies the speakers’ worldview, value orientations, and sociocultural norms, acting as a reflection of ethnic mentality and modes of thinking. This paper synthesizes key insights from linguocultural, psycholinguistic, and social/biosocial perspectives to conceptualize the interdependence among mentality, ethnos and language. Ethnic mentality, understood as a system of culturally conditioned cognitive dispositions, shapes communicative strategies, linguistic choices, and interpretive practices. Theoretical foundations trace back to classical linguistics and philosophy of language, which emphasized the link between national language and spiritual culture. Contemporary research extends this view, highlighting mentality as a determinant of communicative norms and cultural scripts. Intercultural communication studies reveal that successful interaction in globalized contexts requires negotiating intersecting identities and cultural resources, while migration research underscores ambivalence between heritage maintenance and host-society integration. Language education research demonstrates the role of metacognitive strategies such as planning, monitoring, evaluating in regulating second-language acquisition, linking cognitive dispositions to communicative performance. Psycholinguistic models, including mindshaping theory, argue that language not only conveys information but also structures thought, externalizing beliefs and enabling shared cognition. Stereotypes, as culturally and linguistically embedded constructs, further illustrate how mentality manifests in discourse: they organize social perception, influence pragmatic expectations, and sustain identity boundaries. Finally, conceptions of ethnos, whether social or biosocial, anchor these dynamics in historical, territorial, and cultural frameworks, reinforcing the interplay between biological, social, and symbolic dimensions. Integrating these strands provides a holistic understanding of language as both a reflection and a constitutive force of ethnic mentality and cognition, with implications for intercultural competence, educational policy, and the mitigation of communicative barriers in multilingual societies.