Understanding lexico-semantic opposition empty/full in official business texts: Quantitative and qualitative research

: This paper discusses the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in the corpus of legal, military and medical texts. The study analyzes 130 official business texts, in which we examined the problem of defining and constructing the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL. The analysis promoted the construction of quantitative sampling, which demonstrates the weight of the lexemes in the corpus of official business texts. The purpose of the proposed analysis was to determine the distribution of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL, especially to find out the total number of occurrences, the average number of occurrences and the edge limits of the lexeme EMPTY and the lexeme FULL in the corpus of texts. The main results of the study outline the diversity of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in different contexts, that underlines the functional diversification of the lexeme EMPTY and lexeme FULL. The results showed that in legal texts lexemes EMPTY/FULL nominate a legal concept; in medical texts they perform the function of medical conditions assessment; within the limits of military texts, they establish an associative connection between the nomination and semantic components (military actions, targets and objects of military use, consequences of war). Another important finding was the determination of the dominant lexeme in the corpus of legal texts and the dominant lexeme in the corpus of military texts. The similarities between EMPTY and FULL are primarily due to their antonymy. However, their differences are fixed in their distinct core meanings, contextual usage, pragmatic significance and connotations. These differences make them adaptable in various contexts of military, legal and medical texts to convey precise and often contrasting information about the state of objects and concepts.


Introduction
Document analysis is a social research method that "is itself an important research tool and is a significant part of most triangulation schemes," combining different methodologies in the study of the same phenomenon (Bowen, 2009).Researchers typically use different data and methods to confirm qualitative estimates.Thus, according to Glan Bowen, the purpose of triangulation in linguistics is to provide a combination of facts that have a convincing meaning [Ibid].Validation of results across datasets can reduce the impact of potential bias (Farahani, 2021) by examining information collected using different methods (Grisot, 2018).Moreover, a combination of qualitative and quantitative indicators is sometimes included in the analysis of official documents (Tymbay, 2022), which reinforces the mechanisms of identification and differentiation (Fellbaum, 2019).This process achieves positive results through blending techniques.
Special attention in our research is devoted to the functional classification proposed by Cabre (2003), in which the researcher offers the system of the functional load classification of the official documents: instructive and informative.Documents from the military, medical and legal domains are selected for research due to their significance, informative and unique characteristics.Analyzing texts from these domains assists us understand by what means language adapts to convey complex and precise concepts, making them valuable for studying specialized language (Munger, 2015).Military, medical and legal texts require a high level of precision in communication.Researching these documents allows linguists to explore in what way language achieves this precision, offering insights into the mechanisms that underlie language clarity.Documents from these fields have a direct impact on society.Legal documents show the legal framework and social norms (Samuel, 2019), medical texts reveal the influence of healthcare policies on society (Fadlallah et al. 2019) and military texts highlight the national defense strategies, operations, military tasks (Quran, 2008).Investigating the language units in these documents provides insights into how language influences and interacts with the society.
The exploration of adjectives EMPTY and FULL in a corpus of military, medical and legal texts is attributed to several factors.Firstly, these adjectives are frequently used in various contexts within military, medical and legal texts.As a consequence of their frequent occurrence, the indicated adjectives serve as excellent candidates for linguistic analysis.Secondly, the meanings of EMPTY and FULL may differ significantly depending on the specific context in which they are used.Investigating how the above mentioned adjectives adapt their semantics to various domains provides insights into their multifaceted nature.These adjectives are also lexical-semantic opposition that is often used to convey crucial information about the presence or absence of certain elements, conditions and requirements (Coffey, 2022).In this article the quantitative method was used to determine the pecularities of lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL.The correct understanding of these pecularities ensures the precise communication and reduces the misinterpretation.In legal texts, EMPTY and FULL are used to describe the fulfillment of legal obligations in contracts and agreements.In military contexts, knowing whether resources are EMPTY or FULL is critical for operational readiness and effective resource allocation.Researching the lexical-semantic opposition assists in making informed decisions regarding resource distribution and logistics.In medical texts, EMPTY and FULL are employed in diagnostic assessments.Understanding the specific medical contexts and interpretations of the opposition is vital for accurate diagnoses and patient care.We refer to the analysis of these adjectives for the reason that they contribute to the development of decision-making processes (Oripova, 2022).Evidently, they can assist legal experts in drafting contracts, military officials in resource allocation and healthcare professionals in improving diagnostic practices.
In this research, analysis of lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY and FULL sheds light on the multidisciplinary perspective of language usage in the official business texts.The article shows the way the frequency of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL influences on the conveying specific concepts.This research contributes to the pragmatic use of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL, revealing how it is employed strategically in various contexts.This study has the potential to contribute to the deeper understanding of the similiarities and differences between lexical-semantic opposition in the legal, military and medical texts.Therefore, the research offers a qualitative cross-domain and comprehensive analysis that uncovers both shared and distinct patterns of EMPTY/FULL in official business texts.

Review of research literature
Theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of lexical-semantic opposition requires taking into account the specifics of the context in which actualization of relevant language units is potentially possible.English-language official business texts of military, medical and legal spheres outline a wide range of linguistic units.As claimed by Y. V. Boyko, the interdisciplinary research becomes potentially possible due to the segmentation of the discursive module (Boyko, 2022).
As mentioned above, official business texts perform a dual function: instructive and informative (Cabre, 2003).The implementation of these functions is encoded in the internal form of language units (Farr, 2019), including lexical-semantic opposition (Hasselgren, 2020).It is a well-known fact that official business documents are characterized by objectivity and the highest degree of literature, as well as an instant response to changes in political life (Goldman, 2008).That is why the lexical-semantic opposition in official business texts is the material of analysis in our study.Among the most well-known thorough modern studies in the field of lexical-semantic opposition, we consider the work "Verbal semantic oppositions in the system of paradigmatic relations" (Pats, 2016).It may be said that determination of systematic relations between lexical units is one of the main issues in modern linguistics.Moreover, the work "Analysis of oppositions as a method of researching lexical semantics" by Kateryna Blyznyuk (Blyznyuk, 2017) extends the analysis of lexical opposition.The researcher studies the history of the origin and development of the theory of oppositions, and also detects that the most productive analysis for researching the lexical level of language is the analysis of oppositions by the relations between their members, in particular by the commonality of their morphological and semantical indicators.

Methodology
The current study research questions were as follows: 1) What is the fundamental role of lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in the corpus of legal, military and medical texts?2) Which is the dominant lexeme EMPTY or FULL in the corpus of texts? 3) Are there any differences or similarities in the usage of lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL?
The present study is focusing on two primary research methodologies-quantitative and qualitative methods.The combination of quantitative and qualitative methods reflects a comprehensive approach to linguistic research (Walker and Baxter, 2019).This dual approach permits scientists to explore language phenomena from multiple angles, addressing not only the statistical and structural aspects of language but also delving into the contextual, cultural and social dimensions of linguistic expression.We created the corpus of military, legal, and medical texts in Orange software with aim to provide appropriate quantitative analysis of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL (for research questions one and two).The frequency and the list of words belonging to the EMPTY-FULL opposition were counted based on the corpus.Natural Language Toolkit was used to provide interface to the corpus (Bird, 2006), where the lexico-semantic opposition is analysed.Within the framework of quantitative analysis we also visualized the statistical data in three types of texts and calculated the number of occurrences of the lexeme EMPTY and the lexeme FULL in one document and then demonstrated the cross-occurrence of each of the lexemes in full corpus.The distribution of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL is used to determine the total number of occurrences, the average number of occurrences, and the edge limits of the lexeme EMPTY and the lexeme FULL in 130 texts.
The countries of origin of each of the documents presented on the map were intended to provide a comprehensive representation of the textual embodiment of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in the corpus of texts.
To find out the differences and simularities among lexemes the qualitative method was used (for research question three).Qualitative method involves the collection of non-numerical data, such as text, interviews, observations (Ugwu, 2023).In linguistics, qualitative method encompasses discourse analysis and content analysis of linguistic structures or phenomena in specific contexts (Tebogo, 2014).This research is valuable for exploring differences and similarities between lexemes, their cultural implications, social aspects, as it allows for in-depth interpretation.

Results of the research 4.1. Corpus of military, legal, and medical texts
In a recent study, Wulff and Deyne (2019) explored linguistic and semantic changes of the mental lexicon as well as connotations.It was confirmed that the key distinction of lexemes is the representations from statistical regularities in a large-scale corpus of texts.
The concern in the current study was to find out lexical and semantical distinctions between EMPTY and FULL in the corpus of texts.Thus, we conducted quantitative analysis and included a wide range of official business documents (military, medical and legal) into it.Codes and themes serve to integrate data collected through quantitative method (McEnery, 2006).In this investigation, we have used the concept of document analysis which deals with the process of documents evaluation to obtain empirical calculations and to develop understanding of the specified method of quantitative analysis.
First, the military, legal and medical texts were extracted from the corpus of Orange software (Orange software is an open source machine learning and data visualization) (Janez, 2013) that contains a certain number of EMPTY and FULL in the considered domains.The selection of the corpus was made in view of the representativeness of the material (Teubert, 2007), which ensured its use as a research tool of lexical-semantic opposition.
In order to conduct a quantitative analysis of the lexico-semantic opposition of EMPTY/FULL in the corpus of legal, military and medical texts, it was necessary to compile a list of words belonging to this opposition.Second, we used software to analyze the corpus of texts and to count the frequency of these words.
To get a more complete picture, we also revised the context in which the words from the EMPTY-FULL list were used and explored their semantic spectrum in different texts.For instance, in legal texts, the word EMPTY is used in the context of enterprises, property, agreements, while in military texts-in the context of warehouses, cities, transportation and in medical texts-in the context of empty stomachs or containers for medical supplies.
Through such analysis, we can better understand the peculiarities of using vocabulary in specific fields and improve the quality of translation of foreign texts that use similar vocabulary.
To study the context of word usage of EMPTY-FULL in the corpus of texts, an additional tool such as concordance was implemented.In our research to create concordance, we used the NLTK library in Python.
Accordingly, we consider an example of using concordance for the word EMPTY in corpus of texts (medical texts): The results show that the word EMPTY is used in the medical texts in the following contexts: • empty chief physician of a medical institution, • after an empty annual report, • regardless of whether this position is empty or filled, • an empty cell is counted towards the total, • number, an empty cell.
The general list of words EMPTY-FULL include: EMPTY: vacant, impersonal, absent, unoccupied, unfilled, unstocked, unequipped, unfurnished, unadorned, unfilled, untouched, impassable, unopened, unrevealed, undisturbed, immobile, unused, unfulfilled, independent, unfillable; FULL: filled, saturated, equipped, furnished, unfolded, revealed, disturbed, mobile, used, completed, occupied, fillable.In our research we present some examples in which words from the EMPTY/FULL opposition were used in the legal and military texts: "If an __ empty wallet is found during the operation, the creditor is entitled to protection against fraudsters.""Limited Liability Company 'Internet Shop' undertakes to take responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided about the goods it sells, in case of falsity of which the customer may incur a loss in the form of an __ empty order." "Military units must always be prepared to perform tasks and not allow __ empty positions in their defense lines." "The purchase of a vehicle subject to registration is made by the owner of the vehicle or his representative on the basis of a __ full set of documents." "An additional condition for compensation may be the presence of a __ full list of damaged items specified in the property inspection report." The general context in which words from the EMPTY-FULL list were used reflects their use in various areas such as business, law, military affairs, property relations and others.In most cases, words from the EMPTY-FULL list are used to describe different states and circumstances that are important for understanding the context in which they are used.
Below in Table 1 is a schematic comparison of the lexemes EMPTY and FULL in the corpus of military, medical and legal texts.Corresponding to Table 1, in legal texts, EMPTY is used in the context of deception, non-fulfillment of a promise, empty person, or empty-handedness, while FULL is used in the context of full disclosure, compliance with rules, and full compensation.In the medical texts, EMPTY is used in the context of an empty stomach, bladder or syringe, while FULL is used in the context of full recovery, full dosage of medication and full health.In the military texts, EMPTY is used in the context of empty barracks, ammunition or combat zone, while FULL is used in the context of full armor, full battalion and full-scale attack.
At the same stage, we conduct additional quantitative analysis.The Figure 1 depicts the visualization of statistical data in three types of texts.Carrying out the research task, we calculated the number of occurrences of the lexeme EMPTY and the lexeme FULL in one document and demonstrated the cross-occurrence of lexemes in the corpus of texts.The data (cf.Figure 1 above) show the quantitative differences between the occurrence of the lexeme EMPTY and the lexeme FULL in the corpus of military, medical and legal texts.For instance, the occurrence of the lexeme FULL in nine texts is from 1 to 2 words per text.The software highlighted eight texts on military topics and one text on medical topic, where the mentioned lexeme was found.The result supports the concept that the lexeme EMPTY has the minimal occurrence in nine texts, only once per text.Another important finding was the occurrence of the lexeme FULL-1 time in the medical and legal texts and the occurrence of the lexeme EMPTY more than 3 times in both types of texts.Moreover, our observation was interesting in case of the lexeme FULL, the number of its occurrence is more than 8 times in military and medical texts (more than 3 words per text).the occurrence of the lexeme EMPTY prevails the lexeme FULL in legal texts, and the frequency of the lexeme FULL is higher in the military texts.
Overall, this analysis provides insight into how EMPTY and FULL are used in different contexts and highlights the importance of understanding these language units in specific spheres.

Distribution of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL
Our next step was to determine the distribution of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL, in other words to determine the total number of occurrences, the average number of occurrences and the edge limits of the lexeme EMPTY and the lexeme FULL in 130 texts.The Figure 2 shows the distribution of the lexeme Full in the corpus of texts.The quantitative analysis based on the surrounding of individual units in the text gives grounds for conclusions that the lexeme FULL is nominated by several markers (full federal highway funding, full international community, full utilization of quotas, full tribunal hearing, full military support).As can be seen in the Figure 2, in the context of legal texts, the lexeme FULL has the largest number of additional components (from 3 to 3.5 words), followed by texts on military topics (from 2 to 3 words).Deviation from the context is 1 word.
In this respect, the lexeme FULL indicates the complex semantic formation that includes militarystrategic, legal, social, medical-informational and many other lexical components.
Corpus-linguistic research can be conducted for any word, depending on the aim of the study.The Figure 3 demonstrates the distribution of the lexeme EMPTY in the corpus of texts on the basis of its connectivity with other linguistic units.Our observations of the dynamics of quantitative distribution give us reasons for certain conclusions: 1) the number of EMPTY lexemes in the corpus of texts is constant and the context of these units does not go beyond the legal topic; 2) the lexeme EMPTY also covers the conceptual aspect the medical official documents; 3) the domain of the lexeme EMPTY consists of 3 to 4 words.It should be noted that any changes in the lexical-semantic opposition can be decoded.
The statistical correlation of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in the corpus of texts is systematized in Figure 4. Our calculations show that a significant place in the canvas of the legal text is given to the lexeme EMPTY.At the same time, the analyzed texts represent a detailed use of thematic vocabulary to indicate the legal sphere of activity.A special place belongs to phrases on the EMPTY foundation: empty position, empty homes program, empty property strategies compulsory, empty support, empty service.
Finally, the research results obtained in the second step of the analysis clearly demonstrate that the occurrence of the lexeme FULL in the corpus of texts is fewer.Overall, its thematization in the corpus of texts is implemented in two main directions: military and legal.
The diversity of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in the corpus of texts caused the functional diversification of the lexeme EMPTY and the lexeme FULL: in legal texts they nominate a legal concept; in medical texts perform the function of medical conditions assessment; within the limits of military texts, they establish an associative connection between the nomination and semantic components (military actions, targets and objects of military use, consequences of war).In addition, the research data collected during investigation construct the model of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in the corpus of texts and allow a systematic and complex depiction of the countries of origin of each of the documents in the selected collection.Figure 5 shows the origin of the analyzed official documents.The countries of origin of each of the documents presented on the map were intended to provide a comprehensive representation of the textual embodiment of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in the corpus of texts.The selection of text elements that collectively constitute a mass of various information about the countries of origin of official documents and the inclusion of EMPTY/FULL lexemes in their composition is obvious.Frequently, lexemes, oppositions, terms, syntactic constructions, which are actualized only in the context and thereby realize their semantics, fall into the field of view of researchers (Perez-Paredes, 2010, Machnievski, 2006).Meanwhile, other components of the text are neutralized.Overall than, the word out of context has only a potential meaning.
As it can be seen, the outline of the lexical-semantic opposition within the corpus of texts is absolutely obvious.At the same time, one and the same lexeme EMPTY/FULL can be included (partially and in some cases completely) in military, medical and legal texts.Regularly, lexemes border each and everyone, but sometimes they can even be layered on top of each other (cf. Figure 1 above).Connection between lexemes reveals itself in two main ways: firstly, by a systematic approach to the study of linguistic phenomena, which is implemented at all levels of language, in particular at the lexicalsemantic level; secondly, by the quantitative content analysis, which makes it possible to establish parallels between the components of the lexical-semantic opposition.

Qualitative aspect
In the framework of legal, military and medical texts the lexemes EMPTY and FULL indicate distinct meanings.Analazing these lexemes in the legal documents we should emphasise that EMPTY refers to the absence of legal obligations, rights and content in a contract, agreement or document.It might imply that something is not specified and the certain provisions are missing.For instance, the contract remains EMPTY on the matter of intellectual property rights.FULL, in contrast, indicates that the document, agreement and condition is complete, comprehensive and legally binding.For example, the legal document is now FULL, and all parties have agreed to its terms.
At the same time, the lexeme EMPTY in the military documents impacts on describing location, facility, storage, container that is devoid of personnel, equipment and supplies.It also implies a lack of specific orders.As can be seen in the sentence, The supply depot is currently EMPTY, awaiting resupplies.Instead the lexeme FULL indicates that a location, storage area and personnel unit is adequately stocked, armed and staffed.It could suggest readiness for action.For example, the ammunition bunker is now FULL and ready for combat operations.
Accordingly, we also examined medical documents.In this sense, the lexeme EMPTY expresses a bodily condition that is free from specific substances, symptoms and anomalies.As one can see in the following sentence, The patient's X-ray shows an EMPTY space where the tumor was removed.Conversely, FULL in a medical texts specifies the presence of certain elements, symptoms.For instance, the patient's medical record is FULL of symptoms consistent with the flu.
In other words, EMPTY and FULL are used to convey significant information regarding the absence or presence of specific elements, whether they are legal clauses, military supplies or medical diagnosis.The interpretation depends on the specific domain and the surrounding context of the text.
In spite of the fact that EMPTY and FULL typically express different meanings, they do share some similarities in legal, military and medical documents.In all three types of documents, both EMPTY and FULL can be used to describe the completeness of a situation and document.They provide a sense of the entirety and thoroughness of the subject matter.The two of them are used to describe the current state of affairs in a legal, military and medical context.They inform the reader about whether something is complete or missing, available or absent.In the medical context, one describes a condition without certain expected elements (e.g., an EMPTY bladder) and the other outlines the presence of specific symptoms and substances (e.g., FULL of pathological findings).
Moreover, in the legal documents both of them apply to the fulfillment of the legal obligations.It means that the contract can be described as FULL when all parties have fulfilled their obligations and it can be seen as EMPTY when obligations are not met.
Despite their inherent differences, EMPTY and FULL in three types of texts serve as binary markers that assist convey the completeness of specific subjects.The choice between these lexemes depends on the specific context and the information the text seeks to communicate.

Conclusion
The contribution has attempted to show the review, interpretation, and generalization of theoretical statements of official business documents and to reveal the difference between different types of discourse in the corpus of texts.This process consists of the data collection and data coding, as well as the combing of such components as lexemes, word combinations, and term combinations.The sequence of application of the complex methodology was aimed at the selection of the lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL from the corpus of military, legal and medical texts.Moreover, this analysis identifies the differentiation and delineation of the text boundaries in the corpus of texts and reveals the meaning of the main phenomenon within the framework of three types of discourse.
The data of the current research have revealed the numerous terminological phrases.Their informative potential is embedded in the semantic structure of the EMPTY/FULL opposition.The most frequent patterns give the opposition a qualification-evaluative marking.The significant predominance of the lexeme FULL in military texts and the predominance of the lexeme EMPTY in legal texts sheds light on the corpus aspect of the problem of analyzing oppositional lexical-semantic constructions.
The lexical-semantic field of the EMPTY/FULL opposition in the corpus of military, legal and medical texts is formed by 270 lexemes.Consequently, 170 of them is the frequency of appearance of FULL in the values of which 217,133 tokens and 100 EMPTY tokens function with a total number of 51,551 tokens.
This study made us realize that the tendency to interpret individual marked units of language in the corpus of texts can be used to provide the fragments of texts with linguistic information.There is a wide range of linguistic units in the corpus of texts Ukraine (311), Russian (189), forces (94), weapons (62), health (50), united (40), wars (33).
The verbalization of our knowledge about the official business documents is embodied in the canvas of the legal text, in which a special place is given to the lexeme EMPTY.Therefore, in this study, we pointed out that the analyzed texts show a detailed use of thematic vocabulary to indicate the legal sphere of activity.Their informative potential is embedded in the semantic structure of word combinations based on EMPTY lexeme: empty position, empty homes program, empty property strategies compulsory, empty support, empty service.The results of the quantitative analysis allow us to mention the nomination of the lexeme FULL in military texts is made by several markers (full federal highway funding, full international community, full utilization of quotas, full tribunal hearing, full military support).
The findings of the present study have the significant influence on our perception of lexemes EMPTY and FULL which are antonyms.They are paired concepts representing two ends of a spectrum-one representing the absence of something and the other representing the presence of something.Both EMPTY and FULL are adjectives, which serve as modifiers to describe the state of a noun.This shared feature contributes to their linguistic similarity.These lexemes are allocated by the semantic relationship, specifically one of contrast.Their meanings are closely related due to their antonymy.The two words can carry distinct connotations based on context.EMPTY is associated with negative connotations like depletion and deficiency, while FULL has positive connotations such as fulfillment and abundance.These connotations influence how these words are used in various official business documents.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Distribution of the lexeme FULL in the corpus of texts.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Distribution of the lexeme EMPTY in the corpus of texts.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Statistical indicators of the correlation of lexical-semantic opposition EMPTY/FULL in three types of texts.

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Map of origin of official documents.

Table 1 .
Comparison of the lexemes EMPTY and FULL.