This study aims to explore neologisms related to Covid-19 through the lens of the language-mind relationship, in terms of linguistic relativity. From a list of 25 Covid-19 neologisms collected from online dictionaries and Twitter.com, eight scientific and pop culture neologisms were selected to assess the motive of creation by exploring their first recorded use. Subsequently, the usage of Covid-19 neologisms in social media discourse was contextually analysed using the SFL framework of field, tenor, and mode to investigate whether it was illustrative of language influence over perception, or vice versa. A cyclic relationship was observed, in which perception prompted the creation of neologisms, whereas language influence on perception was evident in their usage in discourse.

Code-switching is practicing two different grammatical systems where multilinguals also move between two languages or between two dialects or registers of the same language. In the current article, code-switching is characterized as the simultaneous use of two or more languages or dialects within a conversation. The current study focused on code-switching practices on the social media website Twitter. While posting on Twitter, multilinguals may use several languages. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze code-switched Tweets for any recurring patterns and practices. The population of this study involved Twitter users living in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad area of Pakistan. The Tweets were collected on the basis of time and location through a random cluster sampling method. A qualitative analysis of the individual Tweets was done, and recurring patterns were pointed out. This was purely observational research. It was found that the sampled Tweets only code-switched between Urdu and English. Code-switching at the intra-sentential level was more common than at the inter-sentential level. Code-switching at the level of clauses was the most common form of intra-sentential code-switching. Over half of the inter-sentential code-switching had the English sentence(s) preceding the Urdu sentence(s). The findings suggest that code-switching between English and Urdu occurs more commonly at the intra-sentential level. They further imply that the population generally prefers to start inter-sentential code-switching with English before code-switching to Urdu. The results of this study may be useful in demystifying the phenomenon of code-switching in online spaces.

Sensory perceptual experiences are now directly associated with the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Given that autism is a heterogenous disorder, literature abounds in evidences that report varied sensory perceptual issues affecting daily lives of individuals with autism. One question that motivated the current study is “Why do they report to have varied sensory profiles?” The answer lies in the way their bodies interact with the world around them—theory of embodiment in cognitive linguistics. Thirteen children with autism were observed through SPCR (Sensory Profile Checklist Revised (Bogdashina, 2003)) against 20 categories, which Bogdashina (2003) refers to as their bodily resources. Out of seven modalities, only three—vision, hearing and proprioception—were studied for current study. The findings were consistent with the embodiment thesis offered by cognitive linguistics—human beings are embodied beings.

Code-switching is practicing two different grammatical systems where multilinguals also move between two languages or between two dialects or registers of the same language. In the current article, code-switching is characterized as the simultaneous use of two or more languages or dialects within a conversation. The current study focused on code-switching practices on the social media website Twitter. While posting on Twitter, multilinguals may use several languages. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze code-switched Tweets for any recurring patterns and practices. The population of this study involved Twitter users living in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad area of Pakistan. The Tweets were collected on the basis of time and location through a random cluster sampling method. A qualitative analysis of the individual Tweets was done, and recurring patterns were pointed out. This was purely observational research. It was found that the sampled Tweets only code-switched between Urdu and English. Code-switching at the intra-sentential level was more common than at the inter-sentential level. Code-switching at the level of clauses was the most common form of intra-sentential code-switching. Over half of the inter-sentential code-switching had the English sentence(s) preceding the Urdu sentence(s). The findings suggest that code-switching between English and Urdu occurs more commonly at the intra-sentential level. They further imply that the population generally prefers to start inter-sentential code-switching with English before code-switching to Urdu. The results of this study may be useful in demystifying the phenomenon of code-switching in online spaces.