THE GERMAN LANGUAGE VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT BASED ON LOANWORDS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of lexical changes in the German language vocabulary, caused by loanwords. The research material is based on the last decade neologisms, which have come into the German language under the influence of foreign languages. They have been selected from the online dictionary of neologisms on the IDS OWID Internet portal using the continuous sampling method and classified according to the type of formation and morphological characteristics. It has been defined that more than half of loanwords are loanwords taken directly from foreign languages; others are reproduced by the German language according to foreign language models or are formed according to German structures using borrowed elements of word-formation. Semantic changes in lexical units under the influence of foreign languages are less frequent. According to the forms of loanwords, the following types are singled out: new loanwords, new linguistic calques, new linguistic half-calques, new meanings (first of all, borrowed ones) and derivational constructions based on borrowed derivational elements. Most loanwords come from the English language or are based on English examples. The lexical units borrowed from the English language are integrated into the German system of language and may be morphologically segmented relatively easily, which allows including them into the German system of word-formation. Linguistic calques, linguistic half-calques and derivational constructions based on borrowed derivational elements are considered to be the areas of the processes of borrowing and word-formation overlapping in the process on vocabulary enrichment. The borrowed lexical units are widely used in the German word-formation in the context of composition, less frequently – in derivation and contamination. Vocabulary enrichment occurs in different spheres of social life and is closely connected with changes in these spheres.