Verbal contour of the ‘CYBERSPACE’ concept in the modern english-language world’s picture

Abstract

The article explores word innovations in modern English in the sphere of cyberspace. Such subgroups as INTERNET, E-MAIL, DATA, SOCIAL NETWORKING, PROGRAMMING AND SOFTWARE, HACKING AND HACKERS, IT-TECHNOLOGIES are considered as parts of the suggested concept. But it should be pointed out that three subgroups of the mentioned concept: INTERNET, E-MAIL, DATA are investigated as the representative ones. Beginning with studies that have gradually emerged as linguocultural studies, linguists have chosen the notion of the linguistic picture of the world as central to describing a complex and multidimensional mechanism of reflection in the language of reality and consciousness. Gradually, it became clear that the linguistic picture of the world is a multilayered entity and embraces verbalized frames, concepts, stereotypes, customs, rituals and values. The concepts themselves, frames, belong to the conceptual picture of the world or the concept sphere. The conceptual picture of the world is at the heart of the linguistic picture of the world, it is a more universal concept. The linguistic picture of the world is created in the nomination process, it is a key component of national culture. The basic elements of the linguistic picture of the world are verbalized universals and nominations denoting national-specific concepts. Universal and nationally labeled concepts can be verbalized in both individual words and idiomatic units. In the context of our research, we aimed to describe key concepts as part of the conceptosphere of modern British society, namely the 'CYBERSPACE' concept. The main value concepts were selected as a result of the analysis of non-fiction, including newspapers and magazines in print and electronic. The UK is a multinational country, but the study did not take into account the values of the individual national groups that make up the British nation, because it was interesting to explore the value concepts shared by the majority in the country and help reflect the most common features of the British national mentality. The development of society, economy, expansion of spheres of activity and sources of profit influenced the lexical formulation of concepts. The concept of 'CYBERSPACE' is represented by the following sub-groups: INTERNET, E-MAIL, DATA, SOCIAL NETWORKING, PROGRAMMING AND SOFTWARE, HACKING AND HACKERS, IT-TECHNOLOGIES. It is well known that modern society has existed in the age of IT-technologies, so the emergence of such a concept as 'CYBERSPACE' may be explained by the fact that the information revolution in the early 21st century continued to be the most influential factor in the processes of replenishing the English vocabulary. The «Internet» of society, in particular, is associated with the largest number of vocabulary and phraseological innovations of recent times.