STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF POTENTIAL NEOLOGISMS IN MODERN ENGLISH

Purpose. The article deals with analyzing potential neologisms in the English language for the period of 2021–2022, aiming to establish their relevance to a certain part of speech, determine their thematic focus and describe the most productive ways of creating potential neologisms in modern English. Methodology. The basic research methods of this work are the method of continuous sampling from a lexicographic source; semantic and word-formation analysis of dictionary definitions; the method of statistical data analysis. Results. Vocabulary, being the most mobile component of the language, constantly reacts to the processes and phenomena of the surrounding reality by creating new lexical units designed to replace traditional speech patterns, to conceptualize new phenomena of reality. The vast majority of potential lexemes are nouns or phrases in which the main role belongs to this particular part of speech, proving that the main function of new word formations is nominative. The analysis made it possible to identify 17 thematic groups, which include potential neologisms: “climate, the environment”, “society”, “medicine and diseases”, “technologies”, “work”, “hobbies, recreation, entertainment”, “sports and healthy lifestyle”, “business”, “food and drinks”, “housing, building and architecture”, “transport”, “literature, music, art”, “clothing, jewellery, fashion”, “crime”, “animals”, “education”, “space”. The study also showed that the most productive ways of forming new lexical units are compounding, merging and affixing, while reduction turned out to be a little less common, and conversion, borrowing and onomatopoeia proved to be the least productive. Practical implications. The results of the study can be applied in the field of lexicology and lexicography, stylistics and translation practice, as well as in the practice of language teaching.