WORD-BUILDING INNOVATIONS IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE INTERNET COMMUNICATION

The purpose of the article is to identify the linguistic specificity of word-building innovations in Internet communication.

Methodology.  In the course of work on the article, a comprehensive research methodology was used, namely, a method of linguistic theoretical analysis of scientific concepts and approaches for the purpose of formulating the conceptual apparatus and research methodology, as well as a method of linguo-semiotic analysis of word-formation innovations in Internet communication.

Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that for the first time the research was done on the basis of text posts posted on social networks by British and American celebrities, people who set trends and have a lot of followers. Moreover, for the first time the classification of word-building innovations in Internet communication was systematized and justified, as well as were identified the most frequently used word-formation models needed for understanding of how the network genre of microblogs functions. 

Conclusion. The study showed that the Internet users pay much attention to the emotional aspect of their text posts, as well as to the brevity. An overall use of emoticons and special characters is a testimony of this. The research made it possible to find out the most frequently used ways of word formation, they are: abbreviation, clipping and compounding. The study also revealed the general tendency of the Internet communication according to which visual communication gradually displaces verbal communication.