Prefixoids as evaluation means

Abstract

This article focuses on the analysis of active word-formation trends in the Russian language during the early 21st century. The study centers on prefixoids, which constitute an open system characterized by various dynamic processes. While certain elements of this system undergo de-actualization, novel word-formation formants and new meanings of polysemantic prefixoids emerge and gain relevance. The status of prefixoids within the structure of derivative words is examined, and their relationship with prefixes is elucidated based on function, positional features, and their consistent role in expressing specific types of word-formation meanings. The paper also presents an analysis of lexicographic practices in describing these formants within explanatory dictionaries, including both traditional and contemporary vocabulary dictionaries. The primary empirical material comprises modern media discourse, which serves as a field for the realization of prefixoids' potential in conveying evaluative aspects of communicative contexts. Considering discursive factors in the interpretation of word-formation idioms involving prefixoids, along with the interrelations of formants within the system, enables the identification of the productivity of particular prefixoids. To address this issue, corpus linguistic tools were employed. Special attention is given to semantic shifts in the meanings of topical prefixoids and new formants documented in the Integrum-Profi information and analytical database, as well as the “New in Russian vocabulary. Dictionary materials” retrieval lexicographic resource. Some novel prefixoids, while not yet lexicographically recorded, repeatedly occur – unlike mere occasionalisms – within mass media discourse. The word-formation data demonstrate the effectiveness of T. V. Shmeleva’s methodology for analyzing “words of the moment”. The analysis reveals observable trends within the word-formation system of contemporary Russian, most notably the specialization of semantically overlapping prefixoids and the acquisition by neutral prefixoids of the capacity to express a range of evaluations, both rational and emotional-expressive, contingent on the lexical base of the generator.