Choroba (‘illness/ disease’) as a prototype-based conceptual category

Abstract

The article presents the results of a pilot study on how users of contemporary Polish perceive the category of choroba (‘illness/disease’). The authors refer to the theory of prototype categorisation (Rosch 1975; Taylor 2001; Kleiber 2003) and the radial model of the category of ‘disease’ proposed by Wright (2007). The survey included two tasks: assessing the degree to which 19 names of states and phenomena belong to the category of choroba and assessing the use of selected names in five syntactic patterns with verbs related to illness/disease. Respondents could add their comments to both tasks. The research material includes responses from 205 respondents and 72 comments. The data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results confirm the existence of a prototypical conception of choroba, which in many respects coincides with Wright’s model (e.g. in terms of such features as ‘distinct onset of illness’, ‘noticeable symptoms’, ‘possibility of diagnosis and treatment’ and ‘external cause’). Respondents emphasise the social aspect of illness/disease, its impact on daily functioning and its consequences as to the ability to work more strongly than Wright. They also draw attention to the issue of individual responsibility for the condition (in cases of obesity and alcoholism). The results confirm the fuzzy boundaries of the category of choroba and its overlap with neighbouring categories such as disability, neurodiversity, individual characteristics and physiological phenomena.