VERBS IN MEDICAL DISCOURSE AS A MEANS FOR QUANTIFYING SPECIAL PROCESSES

The complex process of examining and perceiving of the world by a person cannot occur without measuring of the objects which surround a human being or events and processes they observe or experience. The findings of these investigations are reflected in the language by various means. Measurements and their results are of particular importance in medicine. The article studies the semantics and linguistic means of representing quantification incorporated in verbs which function in medical discourse. These quantitative measurements are considered the representatives of the category of quantity. About 825 verbs nominating special medical processes and conditions were investigated. A complex of methods including definitional, etymological, interpretative and statistical analyses used in the survey helped to reveal and describe the category of quantity in the verbs at the level of its cognitive, semantic, and linguistic representation. The category of quantity can be studied as a complex category consisting at least of two subcategories. On the one hand, it represents the numerical manifestation of the process (the number of repeated actions, the number of stages for the process performance, the quantitative characteristics of the result of the action) and the correlation between the “part” and the “whole” during the process implementation. On the other hand, it demonstrates the intensity of the process. A set of separated or interrelated concepts, each combining verbs with similar semantic features, forms each subcategory. The sets include the concepts like definite and indefinite quantity, the whole and the part, loss of something, upward or downward change of the amount, increase or decrease of intensity, equalizing of the amount, the measurement of the quantity. Derivational affixes, mostly prefixes, verbalizing these concepts are also studied in the article. They are believed to contribute to the visualization of the semantics of the verbs because they are highly productive and allow deciphering the meaning of the verb. However, some of them demand a medical specialist to have some background knowledge. The category is not a confined one, it interacts with those of time, space, consequence. Thus, the performed investigation shows that this category is widely represented by verbs denoting special medical processes and conditions, reflects cognition and its results in the field of medicine.

verb, medical discourse, quantity, intensity, category, concept, semantics, seme, English