GLOBALISATION OF THE UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE LEXICAL SYSTEM: AGE, GENDER AND EDUCATIONAL DIMENSIONS

Abstract

The article is aimed at the analysis of a linguistic problem of the use of Anglo-American loanwords in the Ukrainian language connected with the English globalisation and transformation into the language of international communication. The authors argue that the Anglo-Americanisms can be transferable to the original Ukrainian synonymous words because there are analogues and one-word equivalents for them. The youth slang is considered as a separate part of the national language, which represents the development of society. Therefore, the authors make an attempt to identify its role in globalisation processes. The hypothesis of the research is that the use of Anglo-Americanisms depends on the age, gender and educational dimensions. The analysis of linguistic behaviour based on empirical data was carried out. In order to achieve the aim of the research, a set of scientific methods was used, namely: analysis, synthesis, comparing, generalisation, questioning and interviewing. The study involved 300 people, 150 women and 150 men. Gender has a certain influence on the degree of the use of Anglo-Americanisms in the speech of youth: young men use English loans more often than young women. The participants were divided into two age groups of 17-18 years old and 19-20 years old. The difference between two groups is not significant. Participants were also subdivided into two groups depending on the factor where they received their education. One group consisted of the students studying in higher educational institutions, and the second one was made up of students from colleges and technical schools. The loanwords are typical of the speech of all the young people regardless of their speciality. The youth slang affects the use of English loanwords in the Ukrainian language. The majority of respondents (64%) showed the increasing number of Anglo-Americanisms in their vocabulary. Most of young people prefer them to the Ukrainian equivalents. The Ukrainian youth slang is full of Anglo-Americanisms and this process is getting more intense