Axiological potential of the English words of the year 2022

Abstract

The paper examines the issue of axiological orientation as exemplified by the iconic lexis acknowledged as the words of the year 2022. The aim of the research is to determine the axiological markedness of the words of the year 2022, as well as to identify value and antivalue dominants foregrounding the axiological sphere of modern media space. It was found that the process of list formation for words of the year is one of the forms of professional communicative-semiotic activity. The paper presents the author-developed definition of axiological potential, describes evaluative fluctuations in the semantics of words of the year, determines both value (lawfulness, liberty, stability) and antivalue (fabrication, fraud, manipulation, exploitation) dominants. The scientific novelty lies in the development of pragmatic capability of the basic (lexicographical) and contextual semantics of words of the year, which is expressed in the modelling of monolingual media space and determination of the subject-matter and axiological vectors of its focus. The research findings revealed the tendency toward reality negativisation with the emphasis on the unfavourable eventivity as the determining modern social life factor.