LEXICAL TRENDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: WORDS OF THE YEAR 2024

Abstract

The article deals with the semantic and morphological analysis of lexical units selected by authoritative dictionaries of the English language (Oxford Dictionary, Collins Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary) as key vocabulary units of 2024. Such lexical units, differing in semantic component, in particular connotative meaning, part of speech and word formation method, include brain rot (another spelling is brainrot), brat, manifest, polarization, etc. The final list of key words is much wider, therefore, based on this material, a number of conclusions are made about the lexical trends in the development of the English language. The purpose of the study is to characterize the selected words and expressions in terms of semantics, morphology, word formation, as well as functioning in speech through the analysis of examples from open online resources. The article contributes to general linguistics and English lexicology. In addition, the results of this study may be useful in teaching English as a foreign language to students of different educational profiles, since they demonstrate real trends and patterns of lexical unit use.