Old age as a basic concept of social gerontology: Linguistic-theoretical aspect

Abstract

This article examines the views of modern scientists on the phenomenon of old age, as well as the range of problems and concepts of special social science –gerontology, designed to solve demographic, socio-economic problems of aging. It is noted that social gerontology, which is a branch of the abovementioned science, also relates to the group of sciences of the linguistic cycle: culture of speech, stylistics, sociolinguistics and others. It is pointed out that the speeches of elderly people are characterised by specific lexical units and idiomatic expressions. Issues related to the old age and the ageing of man since ancient times have been in the focus of philosophers' attention. The article mentions the works of the famous statesman of the Roman Empire, politician, philosopher and orator Mark Tullius Cicero (106-43). The author concludes that the integration of social gerontology with linguistic science may lead to the emergence of a new scientific field, that will possibly be named linguistic gerontology or gerontological linguistics.