FUNCTIONING OF THE NOUN DISTRESS IN GENDER-SPECIFIC CONTEXTS

Abstract. Lexis of English as a global academic language becomes increasingly part of institutional communication across the world. This process also involves some common English words such as happiness, tiredness or distress which, apart from everyday speech, are used in professional communication to refer to subject-matter of academic research. As there is no single established academic definition for concepts of this type, their transfer into other linguistic communities (e.g. through translation or borrowings) frequently results in miscommunications, impeding cross-cultural comprehensibility in academic settings. This study aims to describe the semantic structure of the English word distress in non-academic contexts. We assume that, in the absence of a universally accepted definition, this structure serves as a semantic base for the academic uses of the term distress.

This report presents the contextual semantic analysis of the word distress based on 264 contexts retrieved from the British National Corpus (BNC) and Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Our findings show that distress refers to a state of lasting discomfort (caused by unmet vital needs or disruption of routine) which makes the subject seek assistance.

To clarify the content of the word distress and its value as a research instrument, uses of this term in gender-specific contexts were analysed. The material provides valuable information on the gendered understandings of “vital needs” and of socially acceptable manifestations of distress in English-speaking cultures.

Over the course of the study, the semantic structure of the word distress has revealed great potential as a diagnostic tool for inquiry into English-speaking cultures, opening new avenues for comparative and translation research.

Keywords: lexicology, semantics, gender, academic communication, intercultural communication