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How Has COVID-19 Impacted Our Language Use?
Pisano, Francesca; Manfredini, Alessio; Brachi, Daniela; Landi, Luana; Sorrentino, Lucia; Bottone, Marianna; Incoccia, Chiara; Marangolo, Paola.
  • Pisano F; Department of Humanities Studies, University Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy.
  • Manfredini A; Department of Humanities Studies, University Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy.
  • Brachi D; Department of Humanities Studies, University Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy.
  • Landi L; Department of Humanities Studies, University Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy.
  • Sorrentino L; Department of Humanities Studies, University Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy.
  • Bottone M; Department of Humanities Studies, University Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy.
  • Incoccia C; IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, 00179 Rome, Italy.
  • Marangolo P; Department of Humanities Studies, University Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health ; 19(21)2022 Oct 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2082186
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to severe consequences for people's mental health. The pandemic has also influenced our language use, shaping our word formation habits. The overuse of new metaphorical meanings has received particular attention from the media. Here, we wanted to investigate whether these metaphors have led to the formation of new semantic associations in memory. A sample of 120 university students was asked to decide whether a target word was or was not related to a prime stimulus. Responses for pandemic pairs in which the target referred to the newly acquired metaphorical meaning of the prime (i.e., "trench"-"hospital") were compared to pre-existing semantically related pairs (i.e., "trench"-"soldier") and neutral pairs (i.e., "trench"-"response"). Results revealed greater accuracy and faster response times for pandemic pairs than for semantic pairs and for semantic pairs compared to neutral ones. These findings suggest that the newly learned pandemic associations have created stronger semantic links in our memory compared to the pre-existing ones. Thus, this work confirms the adaptive nature of human language, and it underlines how the overuse of metaphors evoking dramatic images has been, in part, responsible for many psychological disorders still reported among people nowadays.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 / Language Type of study: Experimental Studies / Observational study Limits: Humans Language: English Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Ijerph192113836

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 / Language Type of study: Experimental Studies / Observational study Limits: Humans Language: English Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Ijerph192113836