On a Newly-Coined Group of Verbs in Bulgarian and Russian Under the Influence of the Internet Language

Abstract

e influence of the Internet can be felt in all aspects of our lives – people live online, read online, getinformed and even get married online. Online communication has become our main source of exchanging ideas, getting information and even broadening our personal vocabulary. The language of the Internet has started being used on a daily basis, notwithstanding the age, status and occupation of the people involved in this kind of communication. In fact, the ones that appear to be most influenced by the Internet language are the younger generation. Not surprisingly, their imagination can becompared to a deep well abounding in new words and phrases that they automatically adopt in their everyday conversations using various Internet platforms. Even before youngsters can speak English, they start using certain phrases so as to sound cool and attractive, thus receiving more attention. And since the language on the Internet is a language of active communication, the hereby presented paper deals with the coinage of a new group of verbs in Bulgarian and Russian which have entered the youth slang, namely verbs such as хейтвам, лайквам, фейсбуквам (Bulgarian) ; апгрейдить, блинковать, юзать (Russian). Their appearance is influenced by the Internet and social media, which have proven to be a constant part of the life of teenagers, as well as English, which is the language of the Internet. What is investigated are the reasons for the coinage of this group of neologisms in both languages of interest, their word-formative patterns, and the peculiarities in their usage in Bulgarian and Russian.