Lexical Polysemy and Gradability of "Salvation" in Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Christian Contexts

The present study investigated the lexical polysemy of the lexeme "salvation," specifically within Eastern Orthodox Christian and Protestant Christian communities. This study was conducted in two methodological stages using surveys and interviews. Surveys sought to quantitatively identify and confirm various usages of the term "salvation" and compare the uses between the two groups being investigated. Twelve surveys were collected from each group and usages were tagged manually based upon a developing rubric. Once all usages were tagged, the proportion of each usage between the two groups was collected and quantified. Open ended responses to the survey were analyzed inductively in order to assess and investigate patterns. In the second stage of research, interviews were conducted with members of each group who had completed a survey. The individual participants were asked specifically about the usages being investigated and their perceptions of them as a form of member checking and refining conclusions from the research. There was substantial difference in the broadness of the semantic ranges of each group– in the senses used (exemplified by the verbal contexts in which each group used "salvation"), the relationship to time, and the gradability of "salvation" as an adjective. These findings were discussed further in regard to prototype theory and how the contexts of use create various degrees of gradability for ‘salvation’. Further research should be done with a larger sample size to further investigate the corporate versus individual senses, as well as investigating other terms shared by these two groups.