LANGUAGE INNOVATION IN ITALIAN MASS MEDIA: THEMATIC GROUPS OF NEOLOGISMS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of linguistic innovation in the Italian mass media and the analysis of neologisms as an important indicator of the contemporary development of the Italian language. In recent decades, there has been an active upgrade of the lexical composition, which is due to both internal linguistic processes and external social, political, and technological factors. Particular attention is paid to the emergence of neologisms in media discourse, where new words become established in the mass consciousness and ensure the transmission of relevant concepts into the public sphere.
To systematize lexical innovations, a classification of neologisms into main thematic groups is proposed: these are political, economic, environmental, cultural-social, and technological ones. Each group reflects the specific communication needs arising in connection with contemporary social and cultural transformations. The reasons and mechanisms for the emergence of new words are considered, including borrowings from English, calques, semantic extensions, and internal word formation.
Particular attention is paid to trends in 2021–2025, when new terms reflecting the pandemic, digitalization, environmental challenges, and social and cultural changes are recorded in the media and dictionaries. The mechanisms for establishing neologisms in the media space and their role in shaping public consciousness are analyzed.
In conclusion, it is found that the Italian language demonstrates a high degree of adaptability to contemporary changes, actively integrating new concepts and maintaining a balance between borrowings and internal word formation mechanisms. The study provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between language and society, identifies trends in the development of media discourse, and outlines prospects for further linguistic innovations in Italian.