The internet media space as a new form of dialect vocabulary

The aim of the article is to identify the transformational processes occurring in the sphere of dialect vocabulary as it "enters" the Internet, as well as to determine its role in shaping the digital space. The object of analysis is internet comments extracted from the social network VKontakte. The material consists of over 1,000 internet comments containing dialect words labeled "dialect proper" in the Vershininsky Dictionary. The comments were extracted from VKontakte by searching within 23 regional communities of the cities of Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, and Tomsk. The study employs the method of scientific description, component analysis, and discourse analysis. The novelty of the article is determined by its focus on the problem of dialect word functioning within internet communities, whose comments reflect the current state of oral and written communication, and capture diverse processes taking place in the Russian language. Two main questions are considered: What does dialect contribute to discursive practices functioning on the Internet, and what role does the Internet play in the fate of Russian dialects? It is revealed that the role of vocabulary in shaping the polyfunctionality of internet space lies in its potential ability to serve as a means of expressing various functions. The following functions of dialect vocabulary have been identified: nominative, identifying, characterizing, addressing, stylistic, volitional, invective, and emotional-expressive. The formation of polysemanticity in the communicative space of the Internet has been established, driven by the emergence of new meanings and shades of meaning in dialect lexemes not recorded in dialect communication. It is determined that the activation of users' metalinguistic consciousness in social networks manifests in attempts to comprehend facts of their native language through correlating a word's phonetic form with its lexical meaning or by appealing to other social network users. A list of internet projects dedicated to dialect is outlined. The existence of such resources is evidence of love for one's native language and an attempt to comprehend it, demonstrating users' desire to preserve the memory of the past and to understand themselves and others as language personalities. The Internet, as a variety of new media, records changes occurring in contemporary Russian and reflects trends in its development. Local words are found both in discussions within specialized communities and in various popular science podcasts. The functioning of dialect units in resources of different types, genres, and formats contributes to their actualization, attracting the attention of both professional linguistic community representatives and non-specialists to folk speech. The emergence of fundamentally new formats, uncharacteristic of dialect words, reflects trends in modern science and society as a whole-to talk about complex things in a simple and accessible language. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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