Language in the time of plague. On the impact of the pan-demic on the Polish and Russian lexical system Cover Image

Język w czasach zarazy. O wpływie pandemii na system leksykalny języka polskiego i rosyjskiego
Language in the time of plague. On the impact of the pan-demic on the Polish and Russian lexical system

Author(s): Katarzyna Kuligowska
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Psychology, Applied Linguistics, Sociology, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie
Keywords: koronawirus; pandemia; neologizmy; okazjonalizmy; kontaminacje leksykalne; złożenia

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyses the dynamic changes in the Polish and Russian lexi-cal system taking place under the influence of the coronavirus pandemic. The research material was excerpted from Polish and Russian magazines, TV news and internet texts from the first half of 2020. A structural and semantic analysis of neologisms demon-strated the impact that extralinguistic factors have on the language. Since the news about the increasing numbers of cases of COVID-19 appeared, keywords have been activated in both languages acting as a word-formation base for new compounds, contaminations and simple derivatives. Some common words have acquired a new meaning or a completely different connotation. A large number of specialist words, derived mainly from medical terminology, have penetrated the general variety of both language systems under study. The pandemic has irreversibly changed many aspects of contemporary life. It has also left a strong mark on the lexical system of Polish and Russian.

  • Issue Year: 3/2020
  • Issue No: XXV
  • Page Range: 109-126
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Polish