Psycholinguistic database TurkWordPerception as a lexicographic source (assessments of the contribution of perception modalities to semantics)

Abstract

This article presents TurkWordPerception (http://clingv.ru:3839/), a psycholinguistic database (PBD) on the assessment of 600 words of the Khakas and Tatar languages. The PBD was created within the framework of the project for studying the linguistic diversity of Southern Siberia. The article substantiates the theoretical foundations, data structure, methods of collecting the material. Using the descriptive statistical data based on the database materials, source studies capabilities of the PBD are assessed. When creating the database, the authors employed works in the field of the theory of embodied cognition, the study of linguistic relativity and the theory of the bilingual mental lexicon. The database includes assessments of 200 nouns, 200 adjectives, and 200 verbs for both Tatar and Khakas, which are translated equivalents of RuWordPerception data words. Information about the assessment of the relationship between the words of the two Turkic languages and the modalities of perception was collected using the questionnaire method based on the seven-point Likert scale. Data collection was carried out using paper questionnaires or in the experiment created in the PsychoPy software. Metadata about the respondents were also collected based on the sociolinguistic questionnaire and the language experience questionnaire. Currently, the database includes assessments of 600 words of the Tatar language in 5 modalities of perception, received from 75 respondents -142,225 assessments; 600 words of the Khakas language in 5 modalities of perception, received from 93 respondents - 188,370 assessments. The article uses descriptive statistics to monitor primary data sources, which are compared with similar RuWordPerception data. Speakers of the Tatar and Khakas languages give assessments of strong connection with all modalities of perception and of average connection - above 4. Tatar speakers give lower assessments in all modalities of perception compared to Khakas speakers (the significance level p=0.00 according to the Mann-Whitney test). Comparison of these data with assessments of Russian translated equivalents given by speakers of the Tatar and Khakas languages revealed a high degree of generality of the level of assessments given by representatives of the two language communities, with an inverse relationship: the Tatar give higher assessments of Russian translation equivalents compared to the Khakas. Evaluating the words of the Russian language, the speakers of Tatar and Khakas give lower assessments to them than to the words of their native languages. TurkWordPerception data can serve as a basis for conducting a multilateral analysis with the data obtained in world psycholinguistics on the material of other languages, and in general will contribute to the introduction of the Tatar and Khakas languages into the paradigm of psycholinguistic research. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.