Abstract

The article is devoted to the philosophical analysis of the phenomenon of «tip of the tongue». To explain this phenomenon, the author turns to the ideas of generative linguistics, to the general parametric theory of systems, to the semantic analysis of categories of a definite, indeterminate, arbitrary. The analysis TOT-phenomenon on the example of A. Chekhov’s story «Horse name» and traditional koans of Zen Buddhism is represent in article. Categories – definite, indefinite, arbitrary are considered as innate, pre-linguistic concepts. A definite is always an indication of an object discovered of its existence. In the phenomenon «tip-ofthe-tongue» it is the realization of forgetting, stopping the flow of memory. The category of indefinite is connected with the experience of the uncertainty of being. Experiencing the feeling «tip-of-the-tongue», a person starts to seek an answer among arbitrary objects, but intellectual efforts aimed at remembering do not bring any result. «Tip of the tongue» is presented as an important of linguistics and philosophical phenomenon, which requires further research.