On some parameters of informativeness of Russian and English substandard lexical units

The article deals with the problem of informativeness of lexical units which is closely connected with language economy law and some means of enhancing the informative value of a unit. It is necessary to point out that a simple transfer of information from the Speaker to the Recipient cannot be considered as the purpose of communication. The idea of communication is mainly in orientating the Recipient and directing him/her with the help of various persuasive means including such elements as informativeness, expressiveness, emotiveness and axiology. The informative value of any word unit can be presented as dual: semantic and additional or emotional. The additional information of a word unit can include different degrees of expressiveness and intensity, various aspects of evaluation (pejo-ration or elevation), gender and age characteristics, as well as ethnic and social status parameters of the Speaker/Recipient of the consituation. The author tries to define and explain some of the parameters of informativeness of lexical units taking the substandard lexical systems of Russian and English languages as a model. It is acknowledged that the substandard system is less controlled by rules and norms than the standard system and can be characterized by individual word formation creativity and expressiveness. Expressiveness and axiology are essential for the substandard stratum of the vocabulary. They can be achieved through different means on various levels (phonological, semantic, derivational, syntactic). Some word formation models can contribute an expressive and evaluative element to the word unit in the process of coining a new word. Expressive affixation is rather productive both in the Russian and English languages. The use of diminutive affixes can also indicate age and gender of the Speaker or the Recipient of the communication act. Repetition can also be considered as a universal means of enhancing emotiveness and expressiveness of any unit of the languages concerned. Exclusive for the substandard layer of the vocabulary system is productivity of certain types of word formation which are not very common in the literary stratum (reduplication, onomatopoeia, rhyming slang). They are economically advantageous types of word formation and valued by both the Speaker and the Listener of the communicative act for informativeness and expressiveness. The ease of decoding the information of the unit can be achieved through iconic fixedness of stylistic pejoration, iconicity of certain meanings fixed with certain initial sounds or clusters of sounds, as well as encoding a number of aspects of information into the units of the language system of various levels (semantic, grammatical, phonological, pragmatic).

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