NEOLOGISMS OF THE PANDEMIC PERIOD AS A REFLECTION OF SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of neologisms that arose during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and verbalize the events and realities of life in the world. The object of this study is lexical innovations that appeared in the English language during 2020-2021.

A brief overview of theoretical approaches to the problem of studying neologisms has been given. The problem of the duration of neologisms of a certain historical period in the language, their fixation in dictionaries has been emphasized. The changes in social life during the pandemic, the behavior and aspirations of a person in the conditions of isolation, and, accordingly, the changes in the lexical structure of the language due to the need for a new nomination have been analyzed. The name “coronaneologisms” has been proposed in the study to denote lexical innovations formed as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.

As a result of the distribution of the chosen lexical innovations six thematic groups divided into subgroups have been allocated: information, isolation, the person, economy, illness and symptoms, vaccination. The thematic group of neologisms describing isolation during a pandemic includes several subgroups that characterize: strict quarantine and its weakening, social distancing, spending time in quarantine and the consequences of isolation. The thematic group, which includes neologisms formed to denote human behavior during a pandemic, has been divided into lexical innovations that characterize contradictory attitude to restrictions, the human state in the new conditions, age categories of this period. Examples of the most interesting new words and their interpretation have been given.

The article identifies the formation models of lexical innovations of modern English, which arose during the pandemic COVID-19, analyzes their structure, semantics and origin. The most productive ways of formation of the chosen neologisms, as word formation and blending have been allocated. The main functions of new words have been defined. The main reasons for the emergence of new words have been established: the need for nomination, linguistic economy, and word play.

The paper substantiates the need and prospects for further study of new vocabulary related to global catastrophes in the world and drastic changes in society.