Лексика немецкого пандемического дискурса

Дискурс. 2022. Т. 8. № 4. С. 158–171.

Trofimova N., Орлова О. А., Придорогина Е. А., Новикова С. Ю.

Introduction. The paper presents a synchronous snapshot in the development of the
vocabulary of the German language during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examines
the sources and composition of neologisms, reveals specific features of current derivational
processes and analyses the functional features of linguistic metaphor in the process of
reflection on a new reality.
Methodology and sources. The research is based on the theory of neology, cognitive wordformation and the theory of conceptual metaphor. The sources for the linguistic material
collection are the online dictionary of pandemic neologisms, created at the Leibniz Institute
for the German Language in Mannheim (Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, IDS), news
and journalistic texts in the German mass media placed in the Internet.
Results and discussion. The semantic content of neologisms and loanwords, and their
functioning have been identified. The analysis of the word-formation categorization of the
pandemic reality showed the productivity of traditional word-formation models and
frequent use of the terminological elements “Corona”, “Covid” in the process of formation
of vocabulary in common use. The authors argue that newly appeared words are features
of the German language.
Conclusion. The article concludes that appearance of new and metaphorically rethought
vocabulary is a way to adapt to the new reality and express an emotional attitude to it, as
well as a way to overcome the fear of getting infected.
 

Keywords: лингвокультура, языковая игра, словообразование, word-formation, концептуальная метафора, language game, неология, neology, conceptual metaphor, linguistic culture, pandemic discourse, пандемический дискурс