Abstract
This paper investigates the lexicalizations of prototypical basic emotion concepts in Polish. A catalogue of all words denoting basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, joy) in Polish has been created to qualitatively and quantitatively explore the lexicalizations and to draw an ethnopsychological profile of Poles. The catalogue contains basic emotion terms and their synonyms in noun, verb, and adjective forms, as well as data pertaining to grammatical gender and word frequency. A quantitative and qualitative exploratory analysis of the catalogued data was conducted to determine which of the six basic emotion concepts are lexicalized most richly and completely, and which types of emotion terms are used most frequently. The results indicate that in Polish emotions are preferentially expressed as nouns, even though they are more frequently lexicalized as adjectives. There are also more words for negative emotions than for positive ones (negative differentiation effect), though the positive emotion words are used more frequently than all the negative words combined (Pollyanna effect). Polish also shows a marked preference for overtly verbalizing the neutral emotion of surprise – the smallest category by number of words denoting the emotion. Implications of the results for psychotherapy and bilingualism studies are discussed.
References
Altarriba, J., L.M. Bauer and C. Benvenuto. 1999. “Concreteness, context availability, and imageability ratings and word associations for abstract, concrete, and emotion words”. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers 31(4). 578–602.10.3758/BF03200738Search in Google Scholar
Averill, J. R. 1975. “A semantic atlas of emotion concepts. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology”. Text 5 (330). Ms. No. 421.Search in Google Scholar
Bańko, M. 1992. “Struktura gramatyczna słownictwa w polsko-angielskim słowniku minimum na tle struktury gramatycznej SJPDor”. Prace Językoznawcze. Filologia Polska 16. 39–50.Search in Google Scholar
Bąk, H. 2022. “EmCat-Eng: A Catalogue of 1,759 basic emotion terms in English”. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 57. 33–59.10.2478/stap-2022-0003Search in Google Scholar
Boroditsky, L., L.A. Schmidt and W. Phillips. 2003. “Sex, syntax, and semantics”. Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought. 61–79.10.7551/mitpress/4117.003.0010Search in Google Scholar
Bradley, M.M. and P.J. Lang. 2010. Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW): Affective ratings of words and instruction manual. University of Florida, Gainesville. FLTechnical Report C-2.Search in Google Scholar
Clore, G.L. and A. Ortony. 1988. “The semantics of the affective lexicon”. In Frijda, N.H., G.H. Bower and V. Hamilton (eds.), Cognitive perspectives on emotion and motivation. Springer, Dordrecht. 367–397.10.1007/978-94-009-2792-6_15Search in Google Scholar
Clore, G.L., A. Ortony and M.A. Foss. 1987. “The psychological foundations of the affective lexicon”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53(4). 751–766.10.1037/0022-3514.53.4.751Search in Google Scholar
Cowen, A.S. and D. Keltner. 2017. “Self-report captures 27 distinct categories of emotion bridged by continuous gradients”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(38). E7900-E7909.10.1073/pnas.1702247114Search in Google Scholar
Cowen, A.S. and D. Keltner. 2020. “What the face displays: Mapping 28 emotions conveyed by naturalistic expression”. American Psychologist 75(3). 349–364.10.1037/amp0000488Search in Google Scholar
Cowen, A.S., D. Sauter, J.L. Tracy and D. Keltner. 2019. “Mapping the passions: Toward a high-dimensional taxonomy of emotional experience and expression”. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 20(1). 69–90.10.1177/1529100619850176Search in Google Scholar
Davitz, J.R. 1969. The language of emotion. New York: Academic Press.10.1016/B978-1-4832-3041-2.50010-5Search in Google Scholar
Doliński, D. 1996. “The mystery of the Polish soul B.W. Johnson's effect à rebours”. European Journal of Social Psychology 26. 1001–1005.10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199611)26:6<1001::AID-EJSP788>3.0.CO;2-PSearch in Google Scholar
Dubisz, S. 2011. Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. <http://leksykografia.uw.edu.pl/slowniki/18/uniwersalny-slownik-jezyka-polskiegowarszawa-2003> (Accessed August 2020.)Search in Google Scholar
Dziwirek, K. and B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk. 2010. Complex emotions and grammatical mismatches. A contrastive corpus-based study. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783110227758Search in Google Scholar
Ekman, P. 1992. “An argument for basic emotions”. Cognition and Emotion 6(3–4). 169–200.10.1080/02699939208411068Search in Google Scholar
Ekman, P. 1999. “Basic emotions”. In Dalgleish, T. and M. Power (eds.), Handbook of cognition and emotion. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. 45–60.10.1002/0470013494.ch3Search in Google Scholar
Ekman, P. and W.V. Friesen. 1969. “The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding”. Semiotica 1(1). 49–98.10.1515/9783110880021.57Search in Google Scholar
Ekman, P. and W.V. Friesen. 1974. “Detecting deception from the body or face”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 29(3). 288–298.10.1037/h0036006Search in Google Scholar
Ekman, P., R. Sorenson and W.V. Friesen. 1969. “Pan-cultural elements in facial expressions of emotions”. Science 164(3875). 86–88.10.1126/science.164.3875.86Search in Google Scholar
Ekman, P. 1994. “Strong evidence for universals in facial expressions: A reply to Russell’s mistaken critique”. Psychological Bulletin 115(2). 268–287.10.1037/0033-2909.115.2.268Search in Google Scholar
Ekman, P. 2003. “Sixteen enjoyable emotions”. Emotion Researcher 18(2). 6–7.Search in Google Scholar
Elfenbein, H.A. and N. Ambady. 2002. “On the universality and cultural specificity of emotion recognition: A meta-analysis”. Psychological Bulletin 128(2). 203–235.10.1037/0033-2909.128.2.203Search in Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. R. and K.R. Scherer. 2013. “The global meaning structure of the emotion domain: Investigating the complementarity of multiple perspectives on meaning”. In Fontaine, J.R., K.R. Scherer and C. Soriano (eds.) Components of emotional meaning. A sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 106–125.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592746.003.0008Search in Google Scholar
Fontaine, J.R., K.R. Scherer and C. Soriano. 2013. “The why, the what, and the how of the GRID instrument”. In Fontaine, J.R., K.R. Scherer and C. Soriano (eds.), Components of emotional meaning. A sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 83–97.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592746.003.0006Search in Google Scholar
Harkins, J. and A. Wierzbicka (eds.). 2010. Emotions in cross linguistic perspective (Vol. 17). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Search in Google Scholar
Heelas, P. 1996. “Emotion talk across cultures”. In Harré, R. and W.G. Parrott (eds.), The emotions: Social, cultural and biological dimensions. London: SAGE Publications. 171–199.10.4135/9781446221952.n12Search in Google Scholar
Hinojosa, J.A., N. Martínez-García, C. Villalba-García, U. Fernández-Folgueiras, A.J. Sánchez-Carmona, M.A. Pozo and P.R. Montoro. 2016. “Affective norms of 875 Spanish words for five discrete emotional categories and two emotional dimensions”. Behavior Research Methods 48. 272–284.10.3758/s13428-015-0572-5Search in Google Scholar
Hoemann, K. and L. Feldman Barrett. 2019. “Concepts dissolve artificial boundaries in the study of emotion and cognition, uniting body, brain, and mind”. Cognition and Emotion 33(1). 67–76.10.1080/02699931.2018.1535428Search in Google Scholar
Imbir, K.K. 2016. “Affective norms for 4900 Polish words reload (ANPW_R): assessments for valence, arousal, dominance, origin, significance, concreteness, imageability and, age of acquisition”. Frontiers in Psychology 7. 1–18.10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01081Search in Google Scholar
Kashdan, T.B., L. Feldman Barrett and P.E. McKnight. 2015. “Unpacking emotion differentiation: Transforming unpleasant experience by perceiving distinctions in negativity”. Current Directions in Psychological Science 24(1). 10–16.10.1177/0963721414550708Search in Google Scholar
Lindquist, K.A., M. Gendron, L. Feldman Barrett and B.C. Dickerson. 2014. “Emotion perception, but not affect perception, is impaired with semantic memory loss”. Emotion 14(2). 375–387.10.1037/a0035293Search in Google Scholar
Majid, A. and S.C. Levinson. 2010. “WEIRD languages have misled us too. Commentary on Henrich et al.”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 33. 103.10.1017/S0140525X1000018XSearch in Google Scholar
Mandera, P., E. Keuleers, Z. Wodniecka and M. Brysbaert. 2015. “Subtlex-pl: subtitlebased word frequency estimates for Polish”. Behavior Research Methods 47(2). 471–483.10.3758/s13428-014-0489-4Search in Google Scholar
Nabi, R.L. 2002. “The theoretical versus the lay meaning of disgust: Implications for emotion research”. Cognition and Emotion 16(5). 695–703.10.1080/02699930143000437Search in Google Scholar
Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego 2008-2012. [National Corpus of the Polish Language] <http://www.nkjp.pl> (Accessed 1 September 2018.)Search in Google Scholar
Noordewier, M.K. and S.M. Breugelmans. 2013. “On the valence of surprise”. Cognition and Emotion 27(7). 1326–1334.10.1080/02699931.2013.777660Search in Google Scholar
Ogarkova, A. 2013. “Folk emotion concepts: Lexicalization of emotional experiences across languages and cultures”. In Fontaine, J.R., K.R. Scherer and C. Soriano (eds.), Components of emotional meaning. A sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 46–62.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592746.003.0004Search in Google Scholar
Ogińska-Bulik, N. and Z. Juczyński. 2009. “Type D personality in Poland: Validity and application of the Polish DS14”. Polish Psychological Bulletin 40(3). 130–136.10.2478/s10059-009-0029-8Search in Google Scholar
Osgood, C.E., W.H. May and M.S. Miron. 1975. Cross-cultural universals of affective meaning. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Search in Google Scholar
Riegel, M., M. Wierzba, M. Wypych, Ł. Żurawski, K. Jednoróg, A. Grabowska and A. Marchewka. 2015. “Nencki Affective Word List (NAWL): The cultural adaptation of the Berlin Affective Word List-Reloaded (BAWL-R) for Polish”. Behavior Research Methods 47. 1222–1236.10.3758/s13428-014-0552-1Search in Google Scholar
Rozin, P. and E.B. Royzman. 2001. “Negativity bias, negativity dominance, and contagion”. Personality and Social Psychology Review 5(4). 296–320.10.1207/S15327957PSPR0504_2Search in Google Scholar
Rozin, P., L. Lowery, S. Imada and J. Haidt. 1999. “The CAD triad hypothesis: a mapping between three moral emotions (contempt, anger, disgust) and three moral codes (community, autonomy, divinity)”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76(4). 574–586.10.1037/0022-3514.76.4.574Search in Google Scholar
Rozin, P., L. Berman and E.B. Royzman. 2010. “Biases in use of positive and negative words across twenty natural languages”. Cognition and Emotion 24(3). 536–548.10.1080/02699930902793462Search in Google Scholar
Russell, J.A. 1980. “A circumplex model of affect”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39(6). 1161–1178.10.1037/h0077714Search in Google Scholar
Russell, J.A. and L.F. Barrett. 1999. “Core affect, prototypical emotional episodes, and other things called emotion: dissecting the elephant”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76(5). 80–819.10.1037/0022-3514.76.5.805Search in Google Scholar
Scherer, K.R. 1997. “The role of culture in emotion-antecedent appraisal”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73(5). 902–922.10.1037/0022-3514.73.5.902Search in Google Scholar
Słownik Języka Polskiego Polskiego Wydawnictwa Naukowego Online. [A dictionary of the Polish language, Polish Scientific Press Online] <http://www.sjp.pwn.pl> (Accessed 1 September 2018.)Search in Google Scholar
Słownik języka polskiego 1958–1969. [A dictionary of the Polish language 1958–1969]. Doroszewski, W. (ed.). Warszawa: Polskie Wydawnictwo Naukowe.Search in Google Scholar
Soriano, C., J.R. Fontaine, K.R. Scherer, G. Akçalan Akırmak, P. Alarcón, I. Alonso-Arbiol, G. Bellelli, C. Chau Pérez-Aranibar, M. Eid, P. Ellsworth, D. Galati, S. Hareli, U. Hess, K. Ishii, C. Jonker, B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, D. Meiring, M. Mortillaro, Y. Niiya, A. Ogarkova, N. Panasenko, A. Protopapas, A. Realo, P.E. Ricci-Bitti, Y.-L. Shen, C.-F. Sheu, M. Siiroinen, D. Sunar, H. Tissari, E.M.W. Tong, Y. van Osch, S. Wong, D.Y. Yeung and A. Zitouni. 2013. “Cross cultural data collection with the GRID instrument.” In Fontaine, J.R., K.R. Scherer and C. Soriano (eds.), Components of emotional meaning. A sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 98–105.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592746.003.0007Search in Google Scholar
Stadthagen-Gonzalez, H., C. Imbault, M.A.P. Sánchez and M. Brysbaert. 2017. “Norms of valence and arousal for 14,031 Spanish words”. Behavior Research Methods 49(1). 111–123.10.3758/s13428-015-0700-2Search in Google Scholar
Stevenson, R.A., J.A. Mikels and T.. James. 2007. “Characterization of the affective norms for English words by discrete emotional categories”. Behavior Research Methods 39(4). 1020–1024.10.3758/BF03192999Search in Google Scholar
Szarota, P., K. Cantarero and D. Matsumoto. 2015. “Emotional frankness and friendship in Polish culture”. Polish Psychological Bulletin 46(2). 181–185.10.1515/ppb-2015-0024Search in Google Scholar
Tomkins, S.S. 1962. Affect imagery consciousness: Volume I: The negative affects (Vol. 2). New York: Springer.Search in Google Scholar
Tugade, M.M., B.L. Fredrickson and L. Feldman Barrett. 2004. “Psychological resilience and positive emotional granularity: Examining the benefits of positive emotions on coping and health”. Journal of Personality 72(6). 1161–1190.10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00294.xSearch in Google Scholar
Võ, M.L., A.M. Jacobs and M. Conrad. 2006. “Cross-validating the Berlin affective word list”. Behavior Research Methods 38(4). 606–609.10.3758/BF03193892Search in Google Scholar
Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego PWN [The PWN universal dictionary of Polish] oraz Wielki słownik wyrazów bliskoznacznych PWN [Great dictionary of synonyms], W. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN S.A. <https://USJP.pwn.pl/>Search in Google Scholar
Wallace, A.F. and M.T. Carson. 1973. “Sharing and diversity in emotion terminology”. Ethos. 1–29.10.1525/eth.1973.1.1.02a00020Search in Google Scholar
Warriner, A.B., V. Kuperman and M. Brysbaert. 2013. “Norms of valence, arousal, and dominance for 13,915 English lemmas”. Behavior Research Methods 45(4). 1191–1207.10.3758/s13428-012-0314-xSearch in Google Scholar
Wierzba, M., M. Riegel, M. Wypych, K. Jednoróg, P. Turnau, A. Grabowska and A. Marchewka. 2015. “Basic emotions in the Nencki Affective Word List (NAWLBE): New method of classifying emotional stimuli”. PLoS One 10(7). 1–16.10.1371/journal.pone.0132305Search in Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A. 1999. Emotions across languages and cultures: Diversity and universals. Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511521256Search in Google Scholar
Wojciszke, B. 2005. “The Negative Social World: The Polish culture of complaining”. International Journal of Sociology 34(4). 38–59.10.1080/00207659.2004.11043140Search in Google Scholar
© 2022 Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland