On the linguistic status and speech functions of English xenolexis which has its doublets in the Russian language

The use of a foreign lexical element in a recipient language is justified by a number of factors, which have been thoroughly described in linguistic literature. The new trend is to use English lexical units instead of their Russian equivalents in conversations between two or several interlocutors, or in mass communication, without translating or explaining them. The article discusses some linguistic properties and speech functions of this specific layer of English loan words, whose units occur with a various degree of consistency in the speech of a certain group of educated Russian speakers. The author singles out a group of non-assimilated or partially assimilated English lexis which all have one common feature - they have their doublets in the Russian language. This lexical phenomenon is termed as xenolexis with their doublets in Russian and it is studied within the framework of linguistics. Xenolexis with their doublets in Russian can belong to different parts of speech and perform different functions in a sentence; they can either be completely non-assimilated or posses a certain degree of assimilation; some of them are a result of a direct borrowing from English, while others are homonyms of loan words existing in the language. The use of xenolexis is socially determined, as these words are predominantly used by those native speakers of Russian who have a good command of English and possess a certain type of personal identity - metro ethnicity. Earlier, these vocabulary units have been mostly used in fiction for the purposes of character drawing and speech characterization. Now you can hear them being used by real people in a variety of situations. Their frequency in modern Russian discourse is often explained by a certain vogue for foreign lexis which is associated with the ideas of power and prestige; and the laziness of interlocutors who do not bother to translate or explain the foreign insertions they use. The author has revealed a number of other functions performed by English xenolexis with their doublets in Russian. They can be a means of opposition and social distancing if the interlocutors choose the strategy of confrontation. They can perform the solidarity function, being the quickest way of self presentation and creating bonds with like-minded individuals. The creativity function is revealed through the choices that the speakers make every time they opt for this or that foreign lexical unit, etc. The conclusion is that although English xenolexis with Russian doublets is not likely to become a stable source of new words for the Russian language, destined to remain on the periphery of the Russian word stock, they are important milestones of language development reflecting the peculiar features and the dynamic character of Russian culture at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

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