2026-04-24
Ghada Al Karazoun
<p><strong><em>Purpose. </em></strong><em>This study aimed to investigate the translation procedures used in Jordanian patient information leaflets (PILs) to determine whether they are driven by the source language (SL) or the target language (TL), thereby analyzing their impact on readers' cognitive processing.</em></p> <p><strong><em>Methods</em></strong><em>. Using Newmark’s taxonomy (1988), 360 distinct medical terms from 20 English-to-Arabic PILs were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The procedures were classified as SL-driven (those that hinder cognitive ease), TL-driven (those that enhance cognitive ease), or mixed.</em></p> <p><strong><em>Results</em></strong><em>. SL-driven procedures were predominant, accounting for 62.78% (N=226) of all identified occurrences. The most common procedures included calque (33.89%), transference (19.72%), and literal translation (9.17%). In contrast, TL-driven procedures, which enhance readability and comprehension, made up a smaller share of all occurrences (N=77), representing 21.39%. These included procedures like equivalence (11.94%), amplification (4.44%), transposition (3.05%), and modulation (1.94%). The remaining 15.83% (N=57) involved mixed strategies, mostly couplets or triples, used to handle terminological complexity by combining multiple basic procedures. The evidence suggests that translators have prioritized fidelity to the (SL) and precise terminology over addressing the cognitive needs of lay readers.</em></p> <p><strong><em>Conclusion</em></strong><em>. The systemic preference for SL-driven methods imposes a significant cognitive load on patients, highlighting the gap between scientific validity and effective health communication. This notable difference between SL- and TL-driven translation procedures indicates that translating medical terminology in Jordanian PILs primarily emphasizes scientific accuracy and semantic clarity, often at the expense of patient understanding and cultural naturalness. This confirms that the tension between scientific precision and patient comprehension currently favors scientific accuracy in the translated Jordanian PILs.</em></p>
2026-04-24
Amal Alkhawaldeh, Abdel Rahman Mitib Altakhaineh
<p><strong><em>Aims</em></strong><em>. This study aims to explore contronyms (Janus words), which are words that have two opposite meanings, in English and Arabic, by examining the default and dominant meaning of certain selected contronyms to gain a deeper understanding of how individuals comprehend such paradoxical meanings.</em></p> <p><strong><em>Methods.</em></strong><em> Forty Jordanian participants (20 males and 20 females) were asked to provide the first meaning that comes to their mind when reading certain selected contronyms and, then They were asked to give the meaning of the same contronyms in contextualized sentences where three sentences are used for each contronym and; the first sentence bias one meaning, the second sentence bias the opposite meaning and a third sentence that is neutral and allows both interpretation. the frequencies of the participants responses were to calculate using SPSS to analyzed the default (dominant) meaning of the selected contronyms. </em></p> <p><strong><em>Results.</em></strong><em> The analysis revealed the dynamic nature of the semantic memory as that there are common and default senses for these contronyms. The results offer valuable insights for translation and language pedagogy strategies.</em></p> <p><strong><em>Conclusion.</em></strong><em> Exploring contronyms provides valuable insights into the interaction between automatic access and context-driven meaning selection in both Arabic and English. One meaning consistently appeared as the most dominant interpretation, reflecting semantic dominance which is shaped by familiarity, and frequency, often overriding default meanings when sentences biased alternative senses. In general, the study emphasize the centrality of context in psycholinguistic models of lexical access and provides empirical support for the notion that contronyms as the polysemous words are processed through a dynamic interplay of default activation and contextual modulation.</em></p> <p><em>This study has several implications for translation, language teaching strategies, lexicography, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems. Future studies could replicate this study, including participants from various linguistic backgrounds, considering factors such as linguistic proficiency, and socioeconomic background, including more complex contexts, such as narratives, conversations, investigating Online language processing of contronyms using eye-tracking technique, and for Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology, training or even preparing large language models to identify default meanings in neutral contexts, that could lead to a more accurate linguistics models. </em></p>
2026-04-24
Svitlana Namestiuk, Olena Stefurak, Tetiana Kolisnychenko, Alyona Tychinina, Alla Anisimova
<p><strong>Purpose. </strong>In linguistic cognitive processes, during the word formation, even when combining different languages, bilinguals use the same brain area as monolinguals. However, there are cognitive processes that distinguish bilinguals’ way of language perception – the “language switching” or “code switching” phenomenon. In this context the purpose of the proposed paper is to analyse the problem of language switching in bilingual and monolingual students in the process of learning foreign languages, namely English, against the background of their native languages.</p> <p><strong>Research methods and techniques</strong>. The method of a scientific experiment was used in the paper in order to determine the influence of semantic priming on the speed and accuracy of lexical decision-making. It was an experimental study with the scientific purpose to analyse the mechanisms of language switching among bilingual and monolingual students in the process of learning a foreign language (French as L2). The methodology was based on the phenomenon of semantic priming and the phenomenon of bilingual interactive activation.</p> <p><strong>Results. </strong>The results demonstrated the leading influence of cognitive flexibility and the phenomenon of semantic priming on the efficiency of learning lexical units and understanding speech. The bilingual model of interactive activation made it possible to confirm the hypothesis that in monolinguals, activated lexical representations from the native language enter into competition with the target language. This significantly complicates the language acquisition process. Similarly, the model made it possible to determine the levels of cognitive flexibility in bilinguals, that were much more productive.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions. </strong>А close relationship was found between the ability to inhibitory control and the symmetry or asymmetry of language switching. The results showed that bilingual students had high cognitive flexibility and coped much better with language switching. Bilinguals also demonstrated the effect of L2 repetition preference. While monolingual students had lower flexibility and a tendency to the L1 dominance effect. The proposed scientific investigation emphasizes the importance of taking into account cognitive factors in foreign language teaching methods. Accordingly, the semantic priming can be a helpful tool in overcoming language interference.</p>
2026-04-24
Basil Mashaqba, Eman Abdullah, Anas Huneety, Nazek Azzam
<p><em><strong>Aim.</strong> The present study investigates how English learners of Arabic (ELA) process Arabic plural patterns through the lens of the Dual Mechanism (DM) theory, examining the influence of proficiency, which reflects linguistic exposure, on learners’ability to produce correct plural forms.</em><br><em><strong>Methods</strong>. A lexical elicitation task was designed, encompassing 32 nouns and adjectives as well as nonce words that phonologically resemble actual Arabic words, to assess the mental processing of pluralization. Twenty-one ELA participants with varying proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) completed the task.</em><br><em><strong>Results</strong>. The findings provide evidence that both rule-based and memorybased mechanisms interact in L2 plural formation, with phonological similarity, pattern frequency, and learner proficiency significantly affecting performance, particularly for broken plurals (BP). These results support the DM framework in explaining asymmetrical processing of concatenative and non-concatenative morphology in L2 Arabic.</em><br><em><strong>Conclusions</strong>. The study highlights the need for targeted instruction emphasizing default SFP forms, frequent BP patterns, and analogical generalization strategies, and offers a foundation for developing data-driven tools to support Arabic plural acquisition. Beyond its theoretical contributions, the study carries important applied implications. For Arabic language instruction, the findings suggest that explicit attention to high-productivity default forms, particularly SFP (Sound Feminine Plural), can accelerate learners’ mastery of plural morphology. Structured exposure to frequent BP (Broken Plural) patterns and phonologically similar lexical neighborhoods is also essential, as it strengthens memory-based retrieval mechanisms. Instructional materials could incorporate targeted practice with both real and nonce words to enhance learners’ analogical generalization skills, helping them apply stored morphological patterns to novel vocabulary. Furthermore, adaptive teaching strategies that account for learner proficiency – scaffolding rule-based instruction for lower-proficiency learners and focusing on lexical retrieval for advanced learners – may optimize plural acquisition in classroom and online contexts. From a computational and applied perspective, the collected data provide a foundation for developing data-driven morphological tools, such as automatic plural generators and intelligent tutoring systems, which can simulate native-like processing patterns and offer individualized feedback.</em></p>
2025-11-10
Oleksandr Kholod
<p>The article conducts a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of verbal destruction of youth in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war.<br>The aim was to identify and describe projective models for analysing the verbal destruction of Ukrainians aged 18–22.<br>Methods: projective models as tools for identifying hidden emotions, motives and personal characteristics through the analysis of speech reactions. Five projective models are distinguished: model 1 of explication of verbal contradictions; model 2 of fixation of symbolic images in speech; model 3 of analysis of the frequency of use of emotionally colored lexical units; model 4 of verbal comments on changes in appearance and behavior; model 5 of verbal signals of internal conflict. Each allows us to identify certain aspects of destruction, but reveals only some of its sides. J. Smuts's holistic concept provided a holistic approach to analysis that took into account individual and socio-cultural factors.<br>The methodology included observation, psycholinguistic experiments, measurement, content and discourse analysis, and questionnaires administered to 45 people who performed test tasks (WHO-5, GAD-7, PSS-10, and temperament determination) and completed incomplete sentences, which enabled the collection of empirical material.<br>The results showed that verbal destruction manifests itself both in the form of negative emotional reactions and in the use of destructive strategies aimed at expressing powerlessness, guilt, ambivalence, and rationalisation of traumatic experience. The author emphasises that projective models allow not only to identify patterns of destruction, but also to trace the connection between speech manifestations and psychological processes caused by the war.<br>The conclusions emphasise the need to develop projective models for analysing destruction in conditions of social upheaval and integrating psycholinguistic approaches in helping young people.</p>
2025-11-10
Vitalii Stepanov, Olena Yemelianovа, Svitlana Baranova, Мaryna Nabok
<p><strong><em>Purpose.</em></strong><em> The article represents a new methodology of researching mental evolution, reconsideration and commemoration of the Ukrainian statehood phenomenon</em> <em>in the social linguistic consciousness via interdisciplinary tools of cognitive linguistics and synergetics. It is the first attempt to study the mental dynamic reconsideration and commemoration of the Ukrainian statehood as its evolution via purely linguistic techniques (cognitive approach), although on the basis of the historical discourse whose authentic resources are taken as a single corpus.</em></p> <p><strong><em>Research methods and techniques.</em></strong><em> In this paper, the concept UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD is regarded in terms of dynamic ontologies: as a mental dynamically reconsidered informational systemic unit whose title reflects collective contacts with the reality, explains a respective attitude and shows social development. To select a proper empirical material for reproducing mental evolution, reconsideration and commemoration of the concept UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD, we have taken the English transcript of the YouTube stream “The Ukrainian Statehood: Over 1000 Years of Tradition” by Vladlen Maraiev, a Ukrainian PhD in History. As a corpus of audiovisual and textual resources, this historical transcript is analyzed via the linguistic methodology of determining logical predicates to find semes. They are further interpreted cognitively to produce macrodomain matrixes of stages in mental evolution, reconsideration and commemoration of the concept UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD. </em></p> <p><strong><em>Results.</em></strong><em> The obtained matrixes were checked for self-similarity to conclude if the mental evolution and commemorating reconsideration model of the concept UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD is truly synergetically systemic</em> <em>in social linguistic consciousness. The same methodology may be properly used to study mental evolution, reconsideration and commemoration of other Ukrainian concepts in historical or other discourses, which can be regarded as a prospect for future research. Simultaneously, this methodology may be applied by postgraduate students in their PhD projects.</em></p>
2025-11-10
Serhii Zasiekin, Diana Kalishchuk
<div><em><strong>Aim</strong>. This paper aims to examine the extent to which AI-based translation tools can capture the psychological and linguistic features of trauma discourse by identifying discrepancies between original and machine-translated texts.</em></div> <div> </div> <div><em><strong>Methods. </strong>The dataset comprises 299 narratives written by young Ukrainians sharing their personal experiences of the Russia-Ukraine war. These war testimonies were translated into English by DeepL and Google Translate. Using the Ukrainian and English versions of the LIWC2015 (Pennebaker et al., 2015), the authors analysed emotional and stylistic variation and calculated the Categorical-Dynamic Index (CDI) </em><em>(Jordan & Pennebaker, 2017) of the selected original and two translated sets of texts. A one-way ANOVA was employed to determine statistically significant differences among the three groups.</em></div> <div> </div> <div><em><strong>Results. </strong>Neural Machine Translation (NMT) systems’ target versions intensified the narratives’ affective language. Both NMT tools distorted the original disruptive pattern of trauma discourse, producing more dynamic and personalised translations and transforming the original ‘analytical’ style to a more ‘narrative’ one. Although more coherent at the local level, the target versions were deficient in terms of thematic structure and global discourse coherence due to a lack of linguistic fillers. No statistically significant differences were found between the two NMT tools across all psycholinguistic and content dimensions, suggesting comparable performance in translation quality. The findings indicate that the NMT systems under consideration are still far from keeping the cognitive, emotional, and stylistic complexity of war-related </em><em>trauma narratives. Therefore, it remains premature to consider NMT a substitute for human translators, particularly when translating emotionally sensitive or trauma-related content.</em></div>