Феминитивы в коммуникативном пространстве современности: проблемы словообразования и словоупотребления

Abstract

The paper aims at describing derivational models used to form feminitiveswhich functionin the modern Russian language in diachronic and synchronic aspects. Considering the history of emergence of these word-formation models, the author classifies the stages of development of feminitives in parallel with the historical milestones in the life of the Russian state and society, and gives a general description of their functioning in the modern linguistic situation. Words naming women have existed in the Russian language since ancient times, but at the moment feminitives are becoming more and more widespread. We witness a spontaneous emergence of numerous neologisms nominating females. The relevance of using such words, often not recorded in dictionaries and unfamiliar to many people, causes heated debate both among professional linguists and among "naive linguists" – native speakers who put forward their judgments about linguistic phenomena based on personal experience of language use. We claim that describing the history of feminitives in the Russian language and the derivational models involved in their formation is urgent for establishing the role of feminitives in the communicative space of our time. The review given in the article confirms that the studied vocabulary group is not new and has been actively expanding and functioning in the Russian language for several centuries, which allows to talk about the prospects for the formation and use of feminitives today.