Factors that Influence The Development of Contemporary German and English Mass Media Vocabulary

Abstract

Abstract. The media are reaching new virtual horizons in order to provide information for their customers. Online journalism responds quickly to geopolitical processes in the sense of creating new vocabulary. The relevance of the topic is that the study is about today's factors that determine the relationship between language and society. Mass media perform the function to connect people during self-isolation and during pandemic the aim of mass media was to keep public well-informed and to avoid panic. Although there is counterproductive function if we use them as a substitute for real-life social interaction.

The purpose of the research is to analyze the German media vocabulary about the coronavirus in a synchronous aspect through the prism of English and Ukrainian. The goal is to determine the main way of word-building.

Results of research.The German language as well as any other widely used language demonstrated a reasonable range of new words that are associated with the coronavirus. In particular, there are a lot of compound words, the first component of which is Corona. The usage of lexical items (pandemic, quarantine, isolation) has increased that used to be commonly known for people sometimes they were forgotten or rarely applied in communication.

During this coronavirus pandemic, words have been returned to active use although they were on the periphery of the vocabulary and have acquired the same or additional meaning. In times of crisis, the speaker strives for laconic expression of one’s opinion. To achieve such an effect journalists composite clear in meaning, understandable model of word formation, i.e. blending, and abbreviation instead of syntactically heavy constructions. Linguistic ratings capture the most relevant words of the year, which are a socio-political portrait, which is presented with the help of nominative linguistic markers.

The results of the study confirmed the importance of the media's influence on public opinion, the avoidance of manipulation, and the performance of direct media functions. There will be a long-lasting need to comprehensively study the texts of the media: with linguistic mechanisms and the system of language development on one hand, and with the cultural system of action in the intercultural space on the other hand. It should be noted that the vocabulary of the COVID-19 pandemic due to its linguistic reflection is bound to be distinguished in linguistic rankings.