Lexical meaning and the world: a cognitive-semantic perspective on the pandemic lexicon

O LÉXICO DA PANDEMIA SOB UMA PERSPECTIVA SEMÂNTICO-COGNITIVA

Abstract

The present paper aims at analyzing Brazilian Portuguese lexical items related to the new coronavirus pandemic from a cognitive-semantic perspective. Lexical items were selected based on the following criteria: lexical items (i) that designate important concepts regarding the pandemics; (ii) that represent a cognitive phenomena of meaning extension; (iii) that are related to cultural aspects or to experiences directly related to the pandemics; (iv) that have their usage verified in web search engines. Conceptual metaphor theory, prototype theory and frame semantics were used to analyze the items covidário [COVID wing], máscara [mask], cloroquina [chloroquine], and CPI da Pandemia [Pandemics Congressional Investigation Commission]. The study highlights the descriptive adequacy cognitive semantics provides to the evaluation of the flexibility and the dynamicity of the pandemic lexicon. It also sheds light on the role encyclopedic knowledge plays in accurately describing socio-cultural issues involved in this type of semantic analysis.