Czy kompetencja j zykowa jest wiedz ? (Is linguistic competence knowledge?)

The subject of this article is the nature of linguistic competence. My consideration starts with the question whether a competence in our native language should be conceived as a kind of knowledge. The answer is positive, and the main reason is the fact that while describing linguistic competence we use the words “to know”, “knowledge”. Looking at the problem in this way leads to the next question: what is the nature of this kind of knowledge? More precisely, the problem which I consider concerns the nature of cognitive relation between a speaker and his or her mother tongue, or rather one of its aspects, namely the meaning. My discussion of this question begins with the criticism of the conception which treats the knowledge of our native tongue as the knowledge of a theory of meaning of this language. After that, I examine the possibility of using the distinction between know that and know how to investigate and solve that problem. I indicate that linguistic knowledge is neither classically or narrowly conceived knowledge that (a collection of true and justified beliefs), nor such a practical skill like the ability to swim. On the other hand, in the first place, a knowledge of a language satisfies grammatical criteria of knowledge that, however, a content of that knowledge is not beliefs, but rather rules – rules which are constitutive not regulative. From that I draw the conclusion that a linguistic competence cannot be explained from outside of any language. Secondly, one cannot deny that knowledge of a language is a practical ability, but it is a capacity of a very special kind. One of essential features of linguistic knowledge, which I emphasize, is its ostensive character. It is revealed, among other things, in the fact that learning our native language and the world constitute one process.It is worth stressing that the discussed question has a great significance to analytic philosophy. Many adherents of this trend claim that philosophical knowledge, if it exists at all, is knowledge about meanings of expressions which are considered fundamental from philosophical point of view, and about relations between them. So, without determining the nature of linguistic competence it is impossible to understand the essence of philosophical activity.