Lexical Components Research Articles

Етнокультурна специфіка фразеологічних виразів з зоокомпонентом в українській та німецькій мовах

Abstract. The article presents a comparative analysis of phraseology with zoonymic components in the German and Ukrainian worldviews, which are closely related to national culture. In most phraseologies with the component-zoonym there is a type of metaphorical transfer, which uses the names of animals to describe the characteristics of man, the designation of certain qualities, appearance, character, mental abilities. In addition, zoonyms are often symbols of moral and intellectual qualities of man. The purpose of research is to study phraseological systems with zoomorphic components in a pair of German - Ukrainian, which allows to identify important values of each nation. Results of research. During the study of zoonyms in phraseology, it was noted that the metaphorical nature of zoomorphic phraseology, their inherent subjective-evaluative connotation, the specificity of their semantic parameters and syntactic structure is largely due to their scope, based on their expressed anthropocentrism as a manifestation of traditions of attributing to animals certain traits of human character. In the ethnoculture of different peoples, phraseology, including the names of animals - is primarily a statement about man, his spiritual and social traits. Thus, phraseology with the names of animals can reflect: physical qualities, capabilities; appearance; mental qualities (character traits); intelligence; habits, abilities, skills. Also, the paper explores the common and distinctive features of phraseology of the Ukrainian and German languages, namely the zoocomponents that form complete equivalents. Such phraseological units are equivalent, ie their lexical volume, semantic meaning and meaning are symmetrical. The second group includes partial equivalents. In German and Ukrainian, such phraseological units have the same meaning, but differ in the composition of lexical components, and, consequently, the internal form. The third group includes phraseologies that have no equivalents in another language and are characterized by the fact that these concepts do not have a common object. Such phraseological units often remain outside the scope of bilingual phraseological dictionaries, which is why it is only possible to explain the meaning. Originality is determined by the fact that our study makes a contribution to the development of phraseology in terms of studying phraseological units, namely the animalism of the German and Ukrainian languages. Conclusion. The presence of common and distinctive features in the structures of phraseology of the studied languages, the nature and content of associations are determined not by the properties of animals, but by their life in the national folklore-mythological and literary contexts of each nation, its worldview, human existence.

THE COLOR TERMS FOR BLACK AND WHITE IN BULGARIAN, POLISH AND LITHUANIAN PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

The present paper is contrastive analysis of Bulgarian, Polish and Lithuanian phraseological units containing a color term naming black or white. It traces the way these components reflect the figurative meaning of the unit - through their color semantics or through their function as a cultural signs. The study classiffiеs Bulgarian, Polish and Lithuanian expressions as to their belongings to several groups, which refer to different concepts. In each group the comparison of the examples found in the three phraseological subsystems is based on their semantics, their lexical components and structure. Under observations are substantive, adjectival, adverbial and verbal phraseological units where the colors are used only as an adjective component. The analysis takes into consideration that black has negative symbolism and cultural connotations. Thus the phraseological units with black are linked mainly to the concepts such as death, sorrow, bad life, misfortune. The text suggests that color term for black is rarely used to express neutral or positive meanings. The white has a positive cultural connotation associated to whiteness, light, good life, goodness, but its meaning can vary to neutral or negative in phraseological system of the three languages. The present paper observes similarities of collected phraseological expressions and emphasizes their nation-specific features.

ФРАЗЕОЛОГІЗМИ З КОМПОНЕНТОМ ПЕЧІНКА У СЛОВ’ЯНСЬКИХ МОВАХ

The present article aims to examine phraseological units with the lexical component “liver” in a Slavic languages: Belarussion, Bulgarian, Croatian, Lower Lusatian language, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Ukranian. Somatic phraseology is a relatively new study of phraseology. The comparative semantic analysis of somatic phraseological units from an equivalence perspective allowed to establish their common and distinctive features, which are the reflection of cultural specificity and uniqueness of each language. The analysis was based on the researches of both Ukrainian and world linguists. The source of linguistic material were phraseological dictionaries of different languages. The results of this study may be useful for translators and advanced foreign language learners. This scientific study is a small fragment of the study of comparative somatic phraseology. But even such a fragment can reflect the common and different in the worldview of speakers of different languages. At the present stage of development of phraseology, many different and insufficiently studied problems have been identified, in particular the study of phraseological units in a comparative aspect.

THE CONFLICTOGENIC PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS WITH THE COMPONENTS БОГ (ГОСПОДЬ) / БІС (ЧОРТ)

The purpose of the article is to characterize the conflictogenic phraseological units with the components БОГ (ГОСПОДЬ) / БІС (ЧОРТ). The object of study is Ukrainian-language phraseological units with the components БОГ (ГОСПОДЬ) / БІС (ЧОРТ) to denote conflict communication. The subject of research is the quantitative and qualitative classification of the conflictogenic phraseological units with the components БОГ (ГОСПОДЬ) / БІС (ЧОРТ). Among the applied research methods: descriptive (for selection, classification and characteristics of the studied phraseology), linguo-cultural (to determine the cultural content of the lexical components БОГ (ГОСПОДЬ) / БІС (ЧОРТ)), contextual analysis (to characterize the contextual environment of the studied phraseology), distributive analysis (for segmentation of conflict communication texts and identification of relevant phraseological units within them). Conflictogenic phraseological units with the components БОГ (ГОСПОДЬ) / БІС (ЧОРТ) – stable figurative expressions with evaluative connotations, used in various situations of conflict communication. It can be stated that the dichotomy ‘good / evil’ between these ethnoculturally significant tokens is erased, leveled – all the phraseological units that contain them in their component composition appear mostly negative. The largest group among the recorded phraseology with the component БОГ is formed focused on the expression of various negative feelings towards someone or something (dissatisfaction in particular); "middle" groups form phraseological units that express: warnings in the process of conflict; characteristics of a mentally handicapped person who is unable to act as an adequate subject of a conflict situation; a sense of agreement in a conflict situation; with the help of one phraseological unit several different feelings at the same time, mostly of a negative plan; threat; cruelty of behavior; singly used phraseological units with a component БОГ express: meaningless communication; categorical objection during communication; ridicule in the process of communication; feelings of despair in a conflict situation; feelings of affect in a conflict situation; harassment; an appeal to shame after a conflict situation. The largest share among the recorded phraseology with the component БІС is formed by focusing on the expression of various negative feelings towards someone or something; the middle position is occupied by phraseology, which expresses: a sharp reluctance to interact with someone (something), to communicate; complete denial in the process of conflict; indifference, reconciliation with the conflict situation; single phraseological units with the component БІС are used as a curse and as a sign of inexpediency, nonsense. In the future – a multifaceted, comprehensive analysis of other groups of the conflictogenic phraseological units of the Ukrainian language.

The Pragmatics of Cultural Codes in Literary text

The article discusses the pragmatic specificity of the cultural codes’ representatives in the literary text containing foreign language inclusions. Pragmatic approach in history and criticism of literature allows to identify the features of the decoding copyright process, their impact on the reader, as well as describe various language products and methods for coding literary communication as a whole. Ethnic identification, equated, including in person axiology, dictates the search for deep patterns in texts containing foreign language inclusions. The complex nature of such literary text is determined primarily by the fact that such text manifests assimilation aspects of the literary personality of cultural codes of other national affiliation. The consequence of the use of such lexical components is the actualization of markers of lingvoculture and deepening the pragmatic potential of the literary text. The relevance of the article is determined by the need to establish the status of cultural codes in the organization of the semantic space of literary text, in the transmission of cultural meanings, meaningful both in the individually-copyright picture of the world and in the functioning of the collective consciousness of the nation. The purpose of the article is to determine the pragmatic specificity of cultural codes in the literary text, influencing the receptive-interpretative activity of the reader, on the example of the implementation of foreign language inclusions as markers of cultural codes in the essay “Caucasian” (1841) and the fairy tale “Ashik-Kerib” (1837) by M.Yu. Lermontov. As a carrier of the world national painting, the author of the literary text, in the event of a certain literary plan, is able to use the means of two languages, and the individual-author’s picture of the world of such a literary personality is characterized by the dynamism determined by the representation of linguistic components, which also include foreign language inclusions (orequivalent vocabulary (realities, exotic, ethnographs)). The literary text, which presents other-speaking inclusions, specially reflects the historical, socio-political, cultural and ethical being of the ethnos, which ultimately determines the author’s desire to expand the aesthetic opportunities of cultural codes marked in a special way in such a text.

Фразеологизми с орнитонимском саставницом у српском језику

The subject of this paper is phraseology with the name of the bird in its lexical structure (such as crn kao gavran, držati se kao pokisli vrabac, zaplesti se kao pile u kučine, podmetnuti kukavičje jaje etc.). These units were analyzed in order to present the language picture of the animal world of Serbian speakers. The research is based on linguocultural approach to language ‒ Zykova’s conceptual theory of phraseology and culture (Зыкова, 2015). Attention is mostly paid to the problem of motivation of the observed phraseologisms and the phraseological semantic processes. There are several different types of information that motivate the creation of phraseology with the name of the bird as their lexical component: the appearance of the bird, its sound and behavior, as well as its symbolic value.

Vocabulary in English Language Learning, Teaching, and Testing in Vietnam: A Review

This review paper aims to provide an overview of vocabulary in English language learning, teaching, and testing in Vietnam. First, we review studies on the vocabulary knowledge of Vietnamese EFL learners. Recent research evaluating different aspects of vocabulary knowledge shows that Vietnamese EFL learners generally have limited knowledge of both single words and formulaic language. Next, we discuss contemporary approaches to teaching vocabulary in Vietnam to reveal current issues and provide relevant recommendations. Empirical studies on Vietnamese EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition are also discussed with an aim to shed light on how vocabulary can be acquired by Vietnamese EFL learners and subsequently draw important pedagogical implications. In addition, we look into the lexical component of high-stakes English tests in Vietnam, calling for more attention to the lexical profiles and lexical coverage of those tests. Finally, we provide concluding remarks and research-informed recommendations for EFL vocabulary learning and teaching in Vietnam to elaborate on how vocabulary can be effectively learned and taught.

The Semantics of White in Russian, Polish and Lithuanian: A Contrastive Analysis

The paper presents the results of the contrastive semantic analysis of the Russian lexeme белый ‘white’ and its Polish and Lithuanian equivalents — biały / baltas. The research aimed at comparing the collocability of the terms of ‘white’ with names of various objects and phenomena (both in the literal and figurative senses) including the identification of the prototype references and connotative meanings. The analysis has illustrated that Rus. белый / Pol. Biały / Lith. baltas have similar ranges of use and develop almost identical connotations. In all languages, whiteness is interpreted as the lightest color whose qualitative prototype pattern is SNOW, and the quantitative prototype pattern is DAYLIGHT. The prototype references create characteristic connotation chains: ‘as white as snow’ — ‘pure (also morally)’ — ‘innocent’ — ‘honest’ — ‘good’; ‘as white (light) as daylight’ — ‘transparent’ — ‘obvious’ — ‘legal’ — ‘good’. The differences between the discussed units are mainly noted on the level of the lexical components with individual connotations. Apart from the few phenomena that are culturally specific, in the use of the lexemes белый / biały / baltas there are no major discrepancies. Instead, it is possible to note only the asymmetry as it is in the case with the related meanings ‘clarity’ and ‘legality’.

Discourse “Declaration of Love”: Problem of Automatic Identification (Works of A. P. Chekhov»)

The problem of revealing the “Declaration of Love” discourse in works of art is considered. The author’s development on the automatic detection of the situation of declaration of love, tested on the material of the work of A. P. Chekhov, is presented. The search was carried out on the basis of the Russian National Corpus. In total, more than 200 texts have been identified containing textual representations of the situation of declaration of love. 40 out of 200 texts are identified by the authors of the article as the most fully representative of the desired situation. The set of textual passages describing it is viewed as a cognitive-discursive set of declarations of love. The development of the algorithm was carried out based on the identification of the cognitive schemes of the writer and the statistical analysis of the lexical composition of the situation of declaration of love. Among the frequency components of the cognitive model, which A. P. Chekhov follows in describing the process of declaring love, an open space filled with plants, birds, etc. was revealed. In the general cognitive-discursive set of declarations of love, the nuclear and satellite zones were identified and analyzed, the lexical components of which belong to certain functional-semantic classes and functional-semantic groups.

‘Beyond the Grave’: Equivalence of Specialized Phraseological Units Containing Dead Metaphors in an English-Spanish Dictionary of Commerce and Economics

This article examines a question of the interest of scholars dealing with phraseology, terminology and translation, namely the task of translating and finding equivalents of idiomatic expressions, such as specialized phraseological units (henceforth SPUs), especially those in which a dead metaphor underlies. Among the unsolved questions that phraseology still struggles with to establish itself as a discipline on its own right there are two hindering factors that are related to terminology and translation: on the one hand, specialized phraseology is an under-explored and a not institutionalized line of research, to the point of being deemed a non-coherent research field (Kjær, 2007, p. 507). On the other hand, phraseology is considered to be a missing training subject in translation academic syllabi (Corpas Pastor, 2003, p. 222). Therefore, this study intends to offer descriptive data that could be used as a starting point for finding answers regarding the identification and even the creation of equivalents for SPUs that include dead metaphors among their lexical components. The aim of this article is two-fold, (i) it will offer a series of linguistic analyses (morphosyntactic and semantic) of the word forms in the SPUs being analyzed, and their equivalents and (ii) it will shed light on the translation techniques (Molina & Hurtado Albir, 2002, pp. 509-511) used to coin the equivalents of these SPUs.

Close Gap Test Strategies for Students with Severe Speech Impairment

Introduction. The level of formedness of text competence at secondary school in the aspect of understanding the text’s factual information ensures the successful grasping of the learning content. The purpose of the research was to identify the specifics of the functioning of linear deployment mechanisms and probabilistic forecasting among learners of 5–10th grade (form) with specific language impairment. Материалы и методы. The modified close gap test method was used as the main research method at the level of the ascertaining experiment. The results of the close gap tests, filled by learners, were exposed to quantitative and qualitative analysis. The research was conducted by applying theoretical (interpretive) and empirical (ascertaining experiment based on author’s method) methods. The analytical stage involved the use of the method of correlation analysis, the mathematical processing was carried out with the help of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results. Analysis of experimental data helped determine the close gap test strategies in adolescent students with specific language impairment. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of studentsʼ work was applied to determine three main groups of strategies for linear deployment and probabilistic forecasting: strategies for establishing semantic links at the level of the lexical component, a strategy for establishing links at the level of associations, and no strategy. Furthermore, the analysis of substitutes with regard to their compliance with grammatical requirements revealed the following typology of manifestations of agrammatism: the use of an inadequate part of speech, deficiencies of grammatical presentation in phrases, non-compliance of the grammatical form of the substitute with the requirements for the grammatical design of the sentence. Correlation analysis was applied to establish links between different types of close gap test strategies used by adolescents with specific language impairment, as well as their relationship with the levels of understanding the factual content of the text. Discussion and Conclusion. The results obtained contribute to the development of developmental psycholinguistics, special pedagogy, speech therapy and school methods of speech development.

From absurdisation to subjectification in the play “Terrorism” by the Presnyakov Brothers

The article is devoted to the functioning of absurdist elements and the ways of their organisation in the play “Terrorismˮ by the Presnyakov brothers, as well as to the illustration of subjectivity as one of the most significant categories for the “new new dramaˮ. The emphasis in the work is on paratextual elements, primarily remarks. At the beginning of the study, the thesis about the belonging of “Terrorismˮ to the “new dramaˮ of the 21st century is confirmed, and therefore, about the specificity of the compositional and plot organisations. The article is based on a textual analysis of the theatre note element, which allows us to trace the formation and forms of existence of absurdist components, as well as the emergence of various forms of subjectivity. In the process of analysis, a list of means and techniques of absurdisation is determined, among which the main ones include the elaboration of the structure of the utterance (violation of logic, slowing down the action by introducing similar or tautological constructions), working with the lexical component (various types of artistic shifts, as well as the frequency introduction of modal components). It is proved that the fictionalisation of the play through the inclusion of the lyrical component in the text violates the way of reading and allows one to partially correlate the drama with the play for reading, which, in turn, increases the interpretativeness of the text and makes it possible to talk about the introduction of the reader's figure into it. The conclusion is made about the correlation of the processes of absurdisation and subjectification in the space of the play. The absurd, in turn, is designated as an element that determines the type of perception; a component that contributes to the multiplication of forms of subjectivity; spatial and textual dominant, demonstrating the relationship of the text of the play with reality.

«A Baptism of Fire»: Towards a Practical Hybrid Approach for the Lexicographic Indexation of Phraseological Units with Religious Lexical Components in English and Spanish

Traditionally, researchers have had a particular interest in the study of the relationship between phraseology and lexicography [e.g., Alonso Ramos (2006); Mellado Blanco (2008); Buendía Castro and Faber (2015); Paquot (2015); Nuccorini (2020)] to the point of having labeled it a «scientific marriage» (Leroyer 2006). In addition, scholars have been increasingly interested in the semantic analysis of phraseological units (henceforth PUs) [e.g., Grčić Simeunović and de Santiago (2016) and Torijano and Recio (2019)]. Among the problems that these and several other studies have pointed out, there is the recurrent reference to inaccuracy and difficulty in indexing PUs in lexicographic resources. Although some scholars consider onomasiological approaches as an interesting starting point [e.g., Bosque (2017) and Siepmann (2008)], a systematic methodology in phraseology that includes both the semantical analysis of the entries and their indexation is still needed.
 We intend to address that need here through the analysis of 242 idioms (199 in Spanish and 43 in English) extracted from a 21,045-idiom database that was compiled from two phraseological dictionaries: the Diccionario fraseológico documentado del español actual (henceforth DFDEA) (Seco, Andrés et al., 2004), and the Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms (henceforth CCDOI) (Sinclair and Moon 1997). The criteria employed to select the resulting analysis units were: (i) they had to include at least one lexical component related to religion, and (ii) the idiom had to be nominal or verbal. The religious component was identified semi-automatically by using the UCREL’s Semantic Analysis System (USAS) (Archer et al., 2002).
 The contributions of this paper are as follows: (i) it presents a lexicographic analysis of the macrostructure and microstructure of the two phraseological resources previously mentioned, (ii) it offers a model of semantic analysis for PUs with religion-related components, (iii) it proposes an alternative indexation method of PUs in lexicographic resources involving semasiological and onomasiological approaches; and finally, (iv) it shows a systematic way to use semantic and pragmatic information in order to create semantic entries for PUs.
 In conclusion, by closely examining said set of phraseological entries, this study sheds light on the semantic composition of Pus. It also suggests a systematic hybrid approach for their lexicographic indexation in English and Spanish.

Correlation between Metadiscourse, Lexical Complexity, Readability and Writing Performance in EFL University Students’ Research-based Essays

Metadiscourse is a tool for writers to guide and interact with readers through texts. Yet in most student texts, one of the points lacking is the interaction between writers and readers. In this study, frequency and type of interactive and interactional metadiscourse features were explored via students’ research-based essays based on Hyland’s metadiscourse taxonomy. Additionally, the students’ English Vocabulary Profile (EVP), lexical diversity, lexical density, and readability features of the texts in the corpus were scrutinized, which serve as an indicator of writing quality. Finally, the relationship of metadiscourse use with students’ writing performance, lexical diversity, lexical density, and readability was explored through statistical measures. Findings show that following explicit metadiscourse instruction, students’ research-based essays included more interactive metadiscourse than interactional metadiscourse, indicating that the students were dealing with more textual features, such as coherence, than interactional metadiscourse. Apart from findings regarding EVP such as lexical diversity, lexical density, and readability features, a positive relationship was explored between metadiscourse use and writing performance, lexical components, and textual features. It is concluded that metadiscourse should be integrated into the writing syllabus since it has a positive relationship with students’ use of academic vocabulary in their essays.

Volkstümliche Namen vorgeschichtlicher Felsgravierungen im Gebiet der iberoromanischen Sprachen

Places known for their prehistoric petroglyphs are often named after the carved images and symbols found there. Focusing on a corpus of 115 representative toponyms from the Spanish, Galician and Portuguese speaking areas, the present article explores the interaction between the lexical components of place names and the rock carvings to which they refer. This analysis allows us to distinguish between several types of name motivation and to explain the manner in which such enigmatic testimonies of past cultures were perceived and interpreted before they became the subject of scholarly research.

Evaluation of the Coherence of Polish Texts Using Neural Network Models

Coherence evaluation of texts falls into a category of natural language processing tasks. The evaluation of texts’ coherence implies the estimation of their semantic and logical integrity; such a feature of a text can be utilized during the solving of multidisciplinary tasks (SEO analysis, medicine area, detection of fake texts, etc.). In this paper, different state-of-the-art coherence evaluation methods based on machine learning models have been analyzed. The investigation of the effectiveness of different methods for the coherence estimation of Polish texts has been performed. The impact of text’s features on the output coherence value has been analyzed using different approaches of a semantic similarity graph. Two neural networks based on LSTM layers and a pre-trained BERT model correspondingly have been designed and trained for the coherence estimation of input texts. The results obtained may indicate that both lexical and semantic components should be taken into account during the coherence evaluation of Polish documents; moreover, it is advisable to analyze corresponding documents in a sentence-by-sentence manner taking into account word order. According to the retrieved accuracy of the proposed neural networks, it can be concluded that suggested models may be used in order to solve typical coherence estimation tasks for a Polish corpus.

Issues Of National Methodological Identity And Expression Of National Color In Translation

Style is a unique feature of each author, which implies that each artist has his own style - the ideological direction of his work, the artistic means used in the text, lexical and phraseological elements and specific components related to the artistic form. Re-creation of each author's own "language", ie style, is one of the important conditions of literary translation and requires great artistic skill from the translator. The stylistic diversity, the charm of form and meaning is a great treasure of every national literature. Were it not for the variety of styles and colors, there would have been a single stylistic ambiguity, ambiguity, ambiguity. Such a situation would have led to intellectual bluntness, artistic poverty.

The influence of the lexical and grammatical component of speech on the formation of speech competence of younger adolescents in primary school

In the article, the author points out the need for the development of a speech personality in educational institutions as a prerequisite for the development of harmonization of the personality, its successful socialization in society. Modern documents and regulations indicate exactly this. A number of statistical data is also provided on the insufficient level of development of the adolescents' speech competence as a component of the communicative competence, which in turn creates unfavorable conditions for the adolescent's socialization and his/her adaptation in society.
 The article also examines the features of the development of the lexical and grammatical component of the speech of younger adolescents in the conditions of primary school as a necessary component of the speech competence formation. The necessity of developing a special speech environment in a school is substantiated, the participants of which should be both objects of educational influence (adolescents) and teachers, specialists working in the educational space of a basic school. According to the results of the experiment, the peculiarities of the development of the lexical and grammatical aspects of speech of adolescents, studying in the inclusive environment of the primary, school are determined. The analysis of the influence of the level of formation of the lexical and grammatical aspect of speech on the formation of negative character traits in adolescents is carried out. The necessity of correction of speech disorders in adolescents has been proved in order to prevent difficulties in the educational process and socialization of the personality. These facts, in turn, prove the need for active speech therapy support for younger adolescents in a basic school environment

Coronavirus Disease 2019: Exploring Media Portrayals of Public Sentiment on Funerals Using Linguistic Dimensions.

Funerals are a reflective practice to bid farewell to the departed soul. Different religions, cultural traditions, rituals, and social beliefs guide how funeral practices take place. Family and friends gather together to support each other in times of grief. However, during the coronavirus pandemic, the way funerals are taking place is affected by the country's rules and region to avoid the spread of infection. The present study explores the media portrayal of public sentiments over funerals. In particular, the present study tried to identify linguistic dimensions associated with lexical components of social processes, affective processes, fear, and disgust. An exhaustive search of newspaper coverage of funeral and related articles was made for a specific corona period. After an initial screening for the details and language used, a total of 46 newspaper articles on funerals were finalized for the analysis. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software was used to determine the association between linguistic dimensions of function words and words related to social and affective processes, as presented in the newspaper articles. Sentiment Analysis and Cognition Engine (SEANCE) was applied for the analysis of sentiment, social cognition, and social order. Bayesian correlation analysis and regression revealed positive and significant associations between function words and affective processes, between pronouns and social processes, and between negative adjectives and psychological processes of fear and disgust. Also, significant negative associations were found between polarity nouns and psychological processes of fear and disgust and between polarity verbs and psychological processes of fear and disgust. Bayes factor 10 provides strong evidence in favor of the study hypotheses. The media is influenced by the prevailing sentiments in society and reflects their perception of the current social order and beliefs. The findings provide a glimpse into the prevailing sentiment of society through the lens of media coverage. These understandings are expected to enhance our observations of how people express their feelings over the loss of their loved ones and help mental health professionals develop their therapeutic protocols to treat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-affected population.

Accounting for lexical tones when modeling phonological distance

Methods of quantifying distance between sound sequences are known as phonological distance measures. Despite the wide application across subfields, phonological distance has been calculated mainly with features related to consonants and vowels. This research report establishes new measurements of phonological distance that incorporate lexical tone through experimental approaches and modeling, using Hong Kong Cantonese as a case study. Results show correspondences between the experimental data and predictions from information-theoretic measures, including entropy measures and functional load, suggesting that lexical components which play a more crucial role in phonological distance judgments are lexically less predictable as well. Implications for phonological distance measures are discussed.