Fragments of communication as basic units of language use

This paper is a sequel to 'The notion of 'language' in actual language use' by the same author (Magyar Nyelvor, 2008/2: 129-150). It constitutes an attempt to describe the real process of language use, albeit in gross terms. The author comes to the conclusion that in that linguistic process, regulated by thinking, the role of primary linguistic units is performed by fragments of communication (FCs). In a speech act, and on the basis of concrete prototypical patterns, FCs can amalgamate into holistic linguistic expressions. FCs and their complexes may elicit various reactions in the mind of the speaker. An expression coming into being via linguistic images and from their amalgamations either undergoes the interpretative operation of thinking, or else thinking is directed at a thought being embodied in the given linguistic expression. In that way, that expression is compared with other FCs and, contributing its own fields of association, widens it own potential, and melts into the conglomerate of linguistic memory.