This thesis develops a new graph-based approach to constructing cognitive matrices of the LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ / PANDEMIC in Ukrainian and English.
For the first time in modern linguistics, the expediency of using the graph-corpus approach to study the mental reflection of the ideas of English and Ukrainian speakers about the phenomenon of a pandemic and the organization of the units that objectify it in the form of LSF with regard to the data of language corpora is substantiated. The tools of the corpus manager Sketch Engine were used to expand, firstly, the traditional dictionary synonymy of the LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ / PANDEMIC, and secondly, to determine the indicators of the frequency of their use in the corpora and the first mention of the LSF lexeme-name. The constructed fields in the two languages are visualized in the form of cognitive-family graphs, which are mental models that visually reflect multidimensional knowledge about the pandemic.
On the basis of dictionaries of synonyms, synonyms for the names of the LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ / PANDEMIC in the amount of 6 units and 10 derivatives in Ukrainian, 20 units for the key lexeme pandemic and 25 derivatives in English were built. The quantitative potential of the synonymic series was verified and expanded using the corpus manager Sketch Engine, where 696 corpus synonyms for the lexeme пандемія and 1 000 corpus synonyms for the lexeme pandemic were obtained.
Indicators of the frequency of use of the name of the LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ / PANDEMIC in the corpora of the Ukrainian and English languages are determined. The first mention of the lexeme пандемія in the GRAC was recorded in 1889 with a frequency of 2.78, from 1983 to 1999 – 0.24, and from 2020 – an increase in frequency to 2.82, in 2021 the frequency of use increased almost 7.8 times – to 21.76. The first mention of the lexeme pandemic was found in 1799 in the English Historical Book Collection; in the British National Corpus in 1975 with a frequency of 5.9, and then its frequency decreases over the years and in 1991 became 0.07. In the Timestamped JSI web corpus in 2020, the frequency of use was 546.5, and then began to decrease and in 2021 was 372.9. The high frequency of use of the lexemes пандемія / pandemic in 2020-2021 can be explained by the global outbreak of coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The cognitive matrices of the LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ / PANDEMIC with the values of all field units were constructed: it was found that there are no absolute synonyms for the names of the LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ / PANDEMIC, while there are absolute synonyms between the units of the LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ (dictionary: моровиця, мор і пошесть and corpus: хвороба, захворювання, недуга / недуг; пияцтво й алкоголізм); absolute synonyms were found between the units of the LSF PANDEMIC in the corpora: influenza, flu. One common meaning for relative synonyms in English was recorded: the common meaning “an illness” – for the units condition, sickness, complaint, ailment; the meaning “disease” – for the units infirmity, affection, malady; the meaning “malady” – for infirmity, affection.
There are 43 relative dictionary and corpus synonyms and 659 corpus relative-potential synonyms for the name LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ; 73 units and 957 corpus relative-potential synonyms for the name LSF PANDEMIC. The cognitive-semantic graphs of the LSF ПАНДЕМІЯ / PANDEMIC in the compared languages were constructed.
