Журнал «Филоlogos»

The simplification of the morphemic composition of a word in sociolects of the Russian language

Author: Barkalova A.K.

The article deals with the concept of non-affixal word formation and the approaches of contemporary authors to its definition and designation of its place in the classification system of morphemic word formation in the Russian language. There are two main views on the definition of non-affixal word formation. Some researchers characterize it as a method, identical to truncation, not involving the use of affixes, i.e. suffixes and prefixes, while others equate the notion of non-affixal word formation with zero suffixation. Some other authors define it as a broad concept, comprising a number of processes, such as addition, fusion, abbreviation, truncation and substantivation. The examples of vocabulary, studied by researchers, include the lexemes of non-affixal formation, related to youth slang, the jargon of computer video game users, the explanatory dictionary of the Russian language of the early 21th century, as well as the lexemes, created during the "COVID-19" pandemic. In their study, the authors of the article take the view that the non-affixal type of word formation is characterized by the process of truncation of one or more morphemes and does not include other types of word formation. Using the example of ten sociolects, it is proposed to divide the ways of non-affixal word formation into four groups: suffixless (i.e. the truncation of one or more suffixes), non-affixal (i.e. the truncation of the part of a single root, partial or complete truncation of roots in compound words), mixed (i.e. the simultaneous truncation of suffixes and a part of the root) and prefixless (i.e. the truncation of a prefix or the simultaneous truncation of a prefix and a suffix). Depending on the type and number of morphemes truncated, each group presents the classification of types, illustrated by sociolectisms. In each word-formation group, we specify the frequency of use, analyze the diversity of types, single out the most active types of non-affixal word formation and draw conclusions about the reasons for prevalence or infrequent use of certain types. The analysis of the vocabulary of social groups, having no common interests, as well as the review of non-affixal word formation in the works of other authors allow us to conclude that the type of morpheme truncation is active in the present-day colloquial speech .

Key words:
non-affixal type; word formation; truncation; suffix; root; morphemes