The dynamics of conceptualizing the term “Community transmission” and its equivalent “интенсивная циркуляция инфекции среди населения”: A perspective from Vladimir M. Leichik’s theory of terminology
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.33910/2686-830X-2026-8-2-78-86Mots-clés :
terminology of the pandemic period, community transmission, cognitive structure of text, awarenessraising materials by the WHO, terminological model by V. M. LeichikRésumé
The paper addresses a body of pandemic-period awareness-raising documents by the WHO comprising 215 parallel texts and presents the relevant cognitive-discursive qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Given the timing and the promptness of their publication, the documents in the collection might have fostered term innovation and consolidation, thus reflecting the thinking of experts and translators about the pandemic. The comparison of text lengths, followed by the Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon statistical test, revealed a significant difference between the lengths of “CT” and “NonCT” texts (i.e. those mentioning and those not mentioning community transmission, respectively). A semantic-discursive approach, driven by the theoretical premises of cognitive linguistics with respect to the roles of: linguistic signs in interpreting the act of thinking; Space as a means of secondary interpretation of the World; combinations of spatial lexical items in conceptualizing dynamic situations; and categorization in addressing the so-called kaleidoscopic concepts, helped identify three groups of meanings of community transmission. They are spatial, processual, and situational. The 100% stacked bar chart showed the dynamic redistribution of these meanings over time. The quarterly dynamics of the usage of translation equivalents revealed a shift from general-language expressions toward specialized terms. The observed redistribution of meanings within the same terminological entity, alongside the overall dynamics of the equivalents in translation, would seem to agree with V. M. Leichik’s theoretical model that emphasizes gradual departure from using the common words and collocations throughout the term lifecycle with the preferential drift toward extralinguistically-imputed semantics and more specialized wordings, at later stages potentially evolving into broader-meaning terms or even desemanticised entities. It is proposed that community transmission primarily operates at the whole-text level as a conceptually significant entity that shapes the cognitive structure of texts.
Références
СПИСОК ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ
Алевизаки, О. Р., Касперова, Л. Т., Славкин, В. В. (2020) Неологизмы в качественной прессе 2020 года. В кн.: Н. В. Козловская (ред.) Новые слова и словари новых слов. СПб.: Изд-во Института лингвистических исследований РАН, с. 22–28.
Алексеева, Л. М., Мишланова, С. Л. (2018) Путь к дискурсивному терминоведению (к 90-летию В. М. Лейчика). Вестник Московского университета. Серия 22. Теория перевода, № 4, c. 78–92.
Ачкасов, А. В. (2021) Межъязыковые аспекты поисковой оптимизации. Известия РГПУ им. А. И. Герцена, № 199, с. 142–149 https://doi.org/10.33910/1992-6464-2021-199-142-149
Бабушкин, А. П. (2019) Категоризация «калейдоскопических» концептов. Когнитивные исследования языка, № 37, с. 131–136.
Богданова, С. Ю. (2023) Концептуализация динамической ситуации с помощью комбинации пространственных лексических единиц. Когнитивные исследования языка, № 3–2 (54), с. 37–42.
Болдырев, Н. Н. (2020) Междисциплинарная доминанта когнитивных лингвистических исследований. Когнитивные исследования языка, № 2 (41), с. 56–62.
Бондарко, А. В. (ред.). (2001) Теория функциональной грамматики: введение, аспектуальность, временная локализованность, таксис. М.: УРСС, 352 с.
Бондарко, А. В. (2014) Соотношение «грамматические — психологические категории» в истолковании А. А. Шахматова и современные исследования в сфере функциональной грамматики. В кн.: Материалы Международной научной конференции, посвященной 150-летию со дня рождения академика А. А. Шахматова. СПб.: НесторИстория, с. 74–76.
Бугаков, А. Н. (2023) Пространство как способ вторичной интерпретации мира в языке. Когнитивные исследования языка, № 3–2 (54), с. 42–47.
Вальтер, Х., Мокиенко, В. М. (2020) Аксиологическое пространство коронавирусной паремиологии (на славянском фоне). В кн.: Новые слова и словари новых слов. СПб.: Изд-во Института лингвистических исследований РАН, с. 32–43.
Вишнякова, О. Д. (2019) О роли языкового знака в процессе интерпретации акта мысли. Когнитивные исследования языка, № 37, c. 44–48.
Езан, И. Е., Ицкарь, К. С. (2024) Лингво-дискурсивная характеристика интернет-комментариев: интратекстуальный уровень (на материале дискурса пандемии Covid-19). В кн.: Гуманитарные науки и вызовы нашего времени. Сборник научных статей по итогам VI Всероссийской (национальной) научной конференции с международным участием. СПб.: Изд-во СПбГЭУ, с. 77–80.
Иваненко, А. А., Журавлева, К. А. (2 020) Что заразнее: оценка употребительности лексем коронавирусной эпохи. В кн.: Новые слова и словари новых слов. СПб.: Изд-во Института лингвистических исследований РАН, c. 61–68.
Кравченко, А. В. (2013) От языкового мифа к биологической реальности. Переосмысляя познавательные установки языкознания. М.: Изд-во Байкальского государственного университета, 388 с.
Лейчик, В. М. (2014) Терминоведение: предмет, методы, структура. 4-е изд. М.: URSS, 254 с.
Москвитин, В. А. (2025) Методологический материализм Марио Бунге: системный подход к метафизике и науке. Семиотические исследования, т. 5, № 3, с. 24–33. https://doi.org/10.18287/2782-2966-2025-5-3-24-33
Романова, Т. В. (2013) Когнитивный анализ текста: работа над методологическими ошибками. Когнитивные исследования языка, № 14, с. 493–496.
Стеблецова, А. О. (2022) Когнитивные структуры научного текста: этнолингвистический аспект. Вопросы психолингвистики, № 2(52), с. 99–110. https://doi.org/10.30982/2077-5911-2022-52-2-99-110
Шахматов, А. А. (2015) Синтаксис русского языка. 2-е изд. М.: Флинта, 714 с.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Situation Report — 157. (2020) World Health Organization. [Online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/situation-report---157 (accessed 01.06.2026).
REFERENCES
Achkasov, A. V. (2021) Interlinguistic Implications of Search Engine Optimization. Izvestia: Herzen University Journal of Humanities & Sciences, no. 199, pp. 142–149 https://doi.org/10.33910/1992-6464-2021-199-142-149 (In Russian)
Alekseeva, L. M., Mishlanova, S. L. (2018) The way to discursive terminology: Celebrating the 90th anniversary of Vladimir M. Leitchik’s birth. Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin, no. 4, pp. 78–92. (In Russian)
Alevizaki, O. R., Kasperova, L. T., Slavkin, V. V. (2020) Neologisms in HighQuality Print Media 2020. In: New Words and Dictionaries of New Words. Saint Petersburg: Institute of Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., pp. 22–28. (In Russian)
Babushkin, A. P. (2019) Categorization of “Kaleidoscopic” concepts. Cognitive Studies of Language, no. 37, pp. 131–136. (In Russian)
Bogdanova, S. Yu. (2023) Conceptualization of a dynamic situation by means of a combination of spatial lexical items. Cognitive Studies of Language, no. 3–2 (54), pp. 37–42. (In Russian)
Boldyrev, N. N. (2020) A multidisciplinary dominant of cognitive linguistic research. Cognitive Studies of Language, no. 2 (41), pp. 56–62. (In Russian)
Bondarko, A. V. (ed.). (2001) Theory of functional grammar: Introduction, aspectuality, temporal localization, taxis. Moscow: URSS Publ., 352 p. (In Russian)
Bondarko, A. V. (2014) The relationship between “grammatical and psychological categories” in the works of A. A. Shakhmatov and contemporary research in functional grammar. In: Proceedings of the international scientific conference celebrating 150th of academician A. A. Shakhmatov’s birth. Saint Petersburg: Nestor Istoriya Publ., pp. 74–76. (In Russian)
Bugakov, A. N. (2023) Space as a means of secondary language interpretation of the world. Cognitive Studies of Language, no. 3–2 (54), pp. 42–46. (In Russian)
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Situation Report — 157. (2020) World Health Organization. [Online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/situation-report---157 (accessed 01.06.2026). (In English)
Ezan, I. E., Itskar›, K. S. (2024) Linguistic and discursive characteristics of German internet comments: The intratextual level (based on the Covid-19 pandemic discourse). In: Humanities and challenges of our time: A collection of scientific articles based on the results of the VI All-Russian (National) scientific conference with international participation. Saint Petersburg: Saint Petersburg State University of Economics Publ., pp. 77–80. (In Russian)
Ivanenko, A. A., Zhuravleva, K. A. (2020) What is more contagious: Evaluation of the usage of coronavirus-era lexemes. In: New words and dictionaries of New words. Saint Petersburg: Institute of Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., pp. 61–68. (In Russian)
Kravchenko, A. V. (2013) From language myth to biological reality. Rethinking the cognitive framework of linguistics. Moscow: Baikal State University Publ., 388 p. (In Russian)
Lejchik, V. M. (2014) Terminology studies: Subject matter, methods, and structure. 4th ed. Moscow: URSS Publ., 254 p. (In Russian)
Moskvitin, V. A. (2025) Mario Bunge’s methodological materialism: A systematic approach to metaphysics and science. Semiotic Studies, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 24–33. https://doi.org/10.18287/2782-2966-2025-5-3-24-33 (In Russian)
Romanova, T. V. (2013) Сognitive analysis of the text: Working on methodological mistakes. Cognitive Studies of Language, no. 14, pp. 493–496 (In Russian)
Shakhmatov, A. A. (2015) Syntax of the Russian Language. 2nd ed. M.: Flinta Publ., 714 p. (In Russian)
Stebletsova, A. O. (2022) Cognitive structures of the research text: Ethnolinguistic aspect. Journal of Psycholinguistics, no. 2(52), pp. 99–110. https://doi.org/10.30982/2077-5911-2022-52-2-99-110 (In Russian)
Val’ter, Kh., Mokienko, V. M. (2020) Axiological space of coronavirus paremiology (on a Slavic Background). In: New words and dictionaries of new words. Saint Petersburg: Institute of Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., pp. 32–43. (In Russian)
Vishnyakova, O. D. (2019) On the role of a linguistic sign in the process of the act of thought interpretation. Cognitive Studies of Language, no. 37, pp. 44–48. (In Russian)
Téléchargements
Publiée
Numéro
Rubrique
Licence
(c) Copyright Mikhail A. Demidov 2026
Ce travail est disponible sous la licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International .
The work is provided under the terms of the Public Offer and of Creative Commons public license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
This license permits an unlimited number of users to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, including commercial use.
This license retains copyright for the authors but allows others to freely distribute, use, and adapt the work, on the mandatory condition that appropriate credit is given. Users must provide a correct link to the original publication in our journal, cite the authors' names, and indicate if any changes were made.
Copyright remains with the authors. The CC BY 4.0 license does not transfer rights to third parties but rather grants users prior permission for use, provided the attribution condition is met. Any use of the work will be governed by the terms of this license.
