Linguistic Analysis of English Composites in the Ukrainian Studies Corpus

The article deals with a comprehensive analysis of English compound words in the Ukrainian studies corpus, namely in the field of culture. The global significance of this topic in the context of the russian-Ukrainian war is emphasised. The definition of a compound as a lexical unit is presented and thematic groups that are the focus of the research are proposed. The studied category is analysed at the multifunctional level – phonetic, orthographic, morphological and semantic. Within the phonetic aspect, those words are identified which have the main stress on the first and second components. It is emphasised that the correct phonetic reproduction contributes to the proper perception and dissemination of Ukrainian realities in the world. In terms of orthographic features, the spelling of the components of compound words as a single unit, separately, hyphenated and variable spelling is highlighted. In the context of morphological peculiarities, the authors identify typical models of word formation of complex lexemes and reveals the frequent use of the lexemes home, hand, white, which accurately reflect the symbolism and values of Ukrainian culture. At the word-formation level, composites formed from both simple and derived stems are considered. Additionally, polycomponent lexical units that emerged through the merging of a phrase into a single expression are noted. The ways of combining the stems are identified – without a linking word (juxtaposition) and with a preposition and a conjunction as linking elements. It is found out that most English compound lexemes in the Ukrainian studies corpus are represented by syntactic composites, while a smaller portion consists of analogous formations. From the semantic point of view, endocentric and coordinative words are distinguished. Within the studied lexical group, colouronyms represented by names of shades are identified; their descriptive and symbolic functions are determined.