The Concept of Morality in English-Speaking Linguistic Culture Based on Narrow Contextual Distribution of the Lexeme "Morals"

This study investigates the contextual distribution of the lexeme "morals" within the British National Corpus (BNC), drawing on 345 samples from diverse genres, including fiction, academic texts, journalism, legal discourse, and conversational data. The analysis explores the semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic dimensions of "morals" to uncover how it functions within the English language. The semantic analysis identified three primary categories: ethical frameworks, subjective interpretations, and prescriptive uses. They illustrate how the lexeme "morals" conveys societal norms, personal beliefs, moral hypocrisy, and regulatory principles. The syntactic analysis showed that "morals" consistently functions as a plural abstract noun, frequently occurring with collocates such as "standards," "values," and "behavior," while modifiers like "individual," societal and "ethical" provide contextual specificity. Pragmatic analysis highlighted the term's role in expressing judgment, moral conflict, and ethical critique. The findings demonstrate that "morals" is a term embedded in cultural, ethical, and societal discourse. This research contributes to lexical and discourse studies by offering detailed observations on the interplay between language, morality, and social expectations, enriching our understanding of moral concepts in contemporary English.