Лингвокультурологические аспекты детского словотворчества
The article presents the results of the empirical study of children’s word creation in the linguocultural aspect. Based on the analysis of diary records of the large family Matonins-Morozovs (O. Solovki, 1981–2001), the word formation methods and the features of the thinking of children at different ages are systematised, the conclusions about the patterns of the reflecting of vision of world in the speech are drawed. Lexical material has obtained as result of the observations on the speech development of the half-brothers and sisters: Valya (1981), Katya (1983), Masha (1982), Vitalik (1984), Alexandra (1986) and Nicholay (1993). The utterances of the friends with whom the brothers and sisters Matonins-Morozovs communicated are also used. The indivisibility of children’s consciousness and the inartificial ways of child self-expression makes us wonder on the complex connection of thoughts and language in the process of the personality development and formation. As a result of the study, the following speech features of childrenfrom two to five years are noted. The animistic and totemic worldview manifestations, characteristic of the tribal communities culture, are characterized to children’s speech.In particular, they are expressed in the symbolic perception of reality, in the animating of toys and everyday life objects.At this age children use such forms of the word creation as compounding, saving of linguistic resources, using of well-known lexical forms to create neologisms based on onomatopoeia or familiar function of a thing by analogy. The blending can be calledas a special phenomenon in children’s speech. It manifests itself at all language levels. Preschoolers at the age of five or six often formulate thoughts in the short, fantastic stories, parables or fairy tales form. This is the most comfortable form of their communication. It has the language game character.Jargon expressions, imitation of the adults, misuse of terminology and unfamiliar words appear and dominate in the youngsters’s speech.
- Research Article
- 10.22363/2618-8163-2025-23-2-275-289
- Dec 15, 2025
- Russian Language Studies
The relevance of the study lies in the need for a detailed examination of occasional vocabulary in modern Russian animated series and the definition of its derivational specificity. The aim of the study is to provide a structural and semantic characteristic of occasionalisms in the animated series “The Fixies” taking into account the opinion of representatives of the Kazan linguistic school on the methods of word formation and to identify the role of these units in the language game with the viewer. The research material, which is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, is individual-authorial neologisms in the animated series “The Fixies”. The work uses the descriptive-analytical method and the method of continuous sampling, as well as methods and techniques of structural-semantic and functional-stylistic analysis. Usual (prefixation, suffixation, composition and its varieties) and non-usual (hendiadys, conversion, palindrome, dieresis, contamination, and substitutive derivation) methods of creating occasionalisms have been established; their productivity has been revealed. The author determined that occasionalisms with the element “fixie” in the animated series are the most frequent, they form a word-formation nest. The age of the character is inversely proportional to the frequency of using occasionalisms in speech. The individual author’s word creation makes the animated series “The Fixies” interesting for children and attracts their attention. Such word creation in this cartoon is primarily due to the language game. The prospects of the work consist in increasing the research base by comparing occasionalisms with other linguistic units of “The Fixies” in the language game, as well as in comparing the new formations presented in this cartoon with occasionalisms functioning in other animated series.
- Research Article
2
- 10.5204/mcj.693
- Aug 20, 2013
- M/C Journal
Resilience is, as a concept and as a discourse, a cultural resource that has experienced a growing importance over the last two decades, especially in the field of psychology. In September 2013, the most important database for scientific productions in psychology (www.psycinfo.org) contained more than 14,000 references concerning resilience. In French-speaking countries, for example, each new book by Boris Cyrulnik, the famous neuropsychiatrist who imported the notion of resilience into the psychological field, sells like hotcakes, with total sales of several million copies (see Marquis).
- Research Article
- 10.36622/mlmdr.2022.97.93.004
- Dec 31, 2022
- Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches
Problem statement. The study of the means of creating a language game in a certain discourse, which gives expressiveness and pragmatic potential to speech, is very relevant for the development of language theory. The study of linguistic means, the use of which is effective for generating a language game in advertising discourse, in particular French, is of particular importance, because knowledge of such means and the ability to apply them in advertising texts is very important not only for the development of language theory, but also for the development of marketing, trade and many other spheres of social life. The importance of the place of advertising in various areas of social life, as well as the interdisciplinary status of the language game implemented in the advertising discourse, determine the high degree of relevance of this article. The results of the study. In the course of research within the framework of the French advertising discourse of numerous texts, the object of which is a certain product (product, service, etc.), the language levels at which the language game is implemented, as well as linguistic means through the use of which the language game is generated, are revealed. It is established that it is implemented at all language levels – phonetic, lexical, grammatical. The paradigm of linguistic means is defined, the use of which allows the author of the advertising text to actualize the language game at each level of the language. It is revealed that in one advertising text it is possible to use both one path or one figure, and several different paths or figures. Moreover, the implementation of only one path or one figure in the advertising text is much more frequent. Conclusion. The results of the study allow us to conclude that the language game is a very productive phenomenon in the French advertising discourse. At the phonetic level, it is generated through the use of puns, associative consonances; at the lexical level – through metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, antithesis; at the grammatical level – with the help of adjectives in the degree of comparison, repetitive lexical units, constructions with syntactic parallelism. The language game allows you to use the advertising text not only to inform the recipient, but also to convince and encourage him to purchase the advertised product.
- Research Article
- 10.17951/ff.2018.36.2.183-201
- Jan 18, 2019
- Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, sectio FF – Philologiae
<p>Jednym z celów artykułu jest próba przeglądu informacji historycznych o compositach w słowiańskiej literaturze językoznawczej. Przedstawiono w nim również poglądy na temat specyfiki złożeń w zagranicznej literaturze slawistycznej. W opracowaniu skupiono się na analizie tego typu konstrukcji jako jednym z najbardziej produktywnych sposobów tworzenia słów w językach słowiańskich w aspekcie diachronicznym. Najważniejszymi metodami badawczymi zastosowanymi w niniejszej analizie są: metoda opisu lingwistycznego połączonego z obserwacją i systematyzacją faktów i zjawisk językowych oraz metody statystyczna, porównawcza i złożona. Na podstawie przeprowadzonego badania sformułowano następujące wnioski: 1. Łączenie słów jest jedną z najstarszych metod w słowotwórstwie, znaną od początków rozwoju rosyjskiego języka literackiego.2. Metody i techniki łączenia słów ulegają zmianom: stare modele są ulepszane i udoskonalane, natomiast przestarzałe zanikają, ustępując miejsca nowym. 3. Wśród nowych formacji funkcjonujących we współczesnych językach słowiańskich composita stanowią znaczącą warstwę słownictwa o wyraźnych wzorcach strukturalnych i semantycznych. 4. Spośród różnych metod stosowanych w słowotwórstwie języków słowiańskich szczególne miejsce zajmuje łączenie słów. 5. Badaniem compositów zajmowali się językoznawcy różnych krajów i epok, od starożytnych gramatyków indyjskich po zachodnioeuropejskich i rosyjskich. 6. Łączenie słów stanowi olbrzymi potencjał rozwoju języka narodowego, daje możliwość tworzenia nowych wyrazów, jest środkiem kreacji artystycznej i literackiej, jak również przyczynia się do wzbogacania słownictwa terminologicznego. 7. Tematyka łączenia słów i powstawania compositów stanowi obecnie wieloaspektowy i wielopłaszczyznowy obiekt badań. Zainteresowanie nią wynika z dawności, żywotności oraz rozpowszechnienia tej metody słowotwórczej, a także z jej rosnącej aktywności.</p>
- Research Article
- 10.23951/1609-624x-2025-3-98-106
- May 29, 2025
- Tomsk state pedagogical university bulletin
Смещение ракурса современного образования с формирования общеучебных компетенций на развитие функциональной грамотности определяется одной из тенденций в образовательной среде. Представляется возможным рассмотреть феномен лингвокреативности как один из параметров функциональной грамотности, поскольку коммуникативный, деятельностный и мыслительный компоненты этого феномена соотносятся с общеучебной компетенцией, направленной на развитие коммуникативных навыков и предполагающей умение решать жизненные задачи в различных сферах деятельности на основе прикладных знаний. Цель статьи – определение лексических, словообразовательных и грамматических средств реализации лингвокреативности в устной и письменной речи студентов-филологов и описание параметров явления лингвокреативности в аспекте функциональной грамотности будущих учителей русского языка. Исследование контекстов, содержащих средства актуализации лингвистической креативности, включает использование структурно-семантического анализа, контент-анализа, метода эксперимента с применением разработанной Т.А. Гридиной технологией диагностики вербальной креативности. Материалом исследования являются составленные студентами историко-филологического факультета Томского государственного педагогического университета контексты, содержащие окказиональную лексику; материалы онлайн-анкетирования; извлеченные приемом сплошной выборки контексты с окказионализмами из НКРЯ, романа Д. Рубиной «Бабий ветер» и серии романов Дж. Роулинг о Гарри Поттере, стихотворений М. Львова, А. Вознесенского, Е. Евтушенко. При проведении лингвистического эксперимента установлено, что составленные студентами контексты в условиях конкретного задания отличает стандартизированный характер, обусловленный наличием внешнего локуса контроля, заданностью модели для словопроизводства и сознательного использования приема языковой игры; экспрессивность; использование различных (узуальных и неузуальных) способов словообразования, среди которых продуктивными являются контаминация, гендиадис, субституция, суффиксация, сложение; создание неожиданных комбинаций языковых средств; наличие разных видов окказиональной лексики. Результаты проведенной диагностики вербальной креативности свидетельствуют о сформированности у участников эксперимента умений продуцировать авторский окказионализм по модели прототипа с учетом контекстуальной заданности. Отмечается высокий процент совпадения восстанавливаемых лексем с авторскими наряду с продуцированием собственных окказионализмов (27 %). Способность носителя языка использовать языковые средства в процессе речепорождения и текстовой деятельности при словотворчестве, задействуя при этом неузуальные способы словопроизводства, реализуя ассоциативный и деривационный потенциал единиц языка, дополняя семантику лексем новыми оттенками значения, является одним из показателей сформированности функциональной грамотности этого носителя, что соотносится с базисными принципами лингвокреативности. Критериями, свидетельствующими о достаточном уровне сформированности функциональной грамотности у студентов-филологов, проявляющейся в способности к вербальной креативности, являются развитый самоконтроль речи; высокий уровень развития языковой рефлексии; готовность и потребность использовать возможности языка с целью снизить предсказуемость текста и обогатить его содержательно; тенденция к переносу умения проявлять лингвокреативность в свободную речевую деятельность. The shift in the focus of modern education from the formation of general educational competencies to the development of functional literacy is determined by one of the trends in the educational sphere. It seems possible to consider the phenomenon of linguocreativity as one of the parameters of functional literacy, since the communicative, activity and thinking components of this phenomenon are related to the general educational competence aimed at developing communicative skills and implying the ability to solve life problems in various fields of activity based on applied knowledge. The aim of the article is to define lexical, word-formation and grammatical means of implementing linguistic creativity in the oral and written speech of philology students and description of the parameters of the phenomenon of linguistic creativity in the aspect of functional literacy of future teachers of the Russian language. The study of contexts containing means of actualization of linguistic creativity includes the use of structural-semantic analysis, content analysis, the experimental method using the technology of diagnostics of verbal creativity developed by T.A. Gridina. The material of the study is contexts containing occasional vocabulary compiled by students of the Faculty of History and Philology of TSPU; materials of an online questionnaire; contexts with occasionalisms extracted by the method of continuous sampling from the NKRYA, the novel by D. Rubina «Babiy Veter» and the series of novels by J. Rowling about Harry Potter, poems by M. Lvov, A. Voznesensky, E. Yevtushenko. During the linguistic experiment it was established that the contexts created by the students in the conditions of a specific task are distinguished by a standardized nature, due to the presence of an external locus of control, a given model for word production and the conscious use of the technique of language play; expressiveness; the use of various (usual and nonusual) methods of word formation, among which the productive ones are contamination, hendiadys, substitution, suffixation, addition; the creation of unexpected combinations of linguistic means; the presence of different types of occasional vocabulary. The results of the conducted diagnostics of verbal creativity indicate that the participants of the experiment have developed the ability to produce the author’s occasionalism according to the prototype model, taking into account the contextual predeterminedness. A high percentage of coincidence of the reconstructed lexemes with the author’s is noted along with the production of their own occasionalisms (27 %). The ability of a native speaker to use linguistic means in the process of speech production and textual activity in word creation, while using non-usual methods of word production, realizing the associative and derivational potential of language units, supplementing the semantics of lexemes with new shades of meaning, is one of the indicators of the formation of the functional literacy of this speaker, which is related to the basic principles of linguocreativity. The criteria indicating a sufficient level of development of functional literacy in philology students, manifested in the ability for verbal creativity, are developed self-control of speech; a high level of development of linguistic reflection; readiness and need to use the capabilities of language in order to reduce the predictability of the text and enrich it with content; a tendency to transfer the ability to demonstrate linguistic creativity to free speech activity.
- Research Article
1
- 10.25136/2409-8698.2024.12.72478
- Dec 1, 2024
- Litera
This article is devoted to the analysis of the ways of word formation of the cinematic vocabulary of the modern German language. The relevance of the research is determined by several factors: firstly, cinema is one of the most influential art forms in the modern world, occupying an important place in culture, forming national and global cultural norms, which leads to constant updating of the language, including the creation of new words and terms reflecting processes, phenomena and technologies related to Secondly, the German language, like other languages of the world, actively borrows lexical units from other languages and creates new words, adapting them to grammatical and phonetic norms. The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of the ways of word formation in the cinematic terminological system of the German language. To achieve the set research goal, a number of key tasks were identified and successfully completed: 1) the main ways of word formation of specialized vocabulary used in the field of cinema are analyzed; 2) general patterns of word formation of cinematic vocabulary are revealed; 3) the data obtained are systematized and the main trends and productive ways of word formation in the cinematic terminological system of the German language are determined. In this study, attention is paid to the classification of word formation methods proposed by S. V. Grinev-Grinevich. The researcher identifies four main ways of word formation: semantic, morphological, syntactic and morphological-syntactic, which have a significant impact on the formation of terms in various fields, including in cinema. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the analysis not only reveals the specificity and productivity of the corresponding methods of word formation, but also traces the dynamics of the development of film vocabulary in the German language. This is important for understanding how languages adapt to new realities and how terminology develops. The study revealed that in the process of word formation of the cinematic terminological system of the German language, preference is given to the semantic, morphological, morphological and syntactic method. They effectively contribute to the formation of a terminosphere that accurately reflects the evolutionary processes in the film industry. At the same time, the syntactic method, despite its more limited use, plays a key role in creating extensive structural expressions and specialized vocabulary, which provides film professionals with accurate tools to describe their technical and creative processes.
- Research Article
- 10.22363/2313-2299-2025-16-2-556-565
- Sep 25, 2025
- RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics
A discussion is focused on the relationship between language and culture as a prerequisite for the emergence of the term “logoepisteme”, and it is also proposed to consider the reasons for the steady increase in the number of logoepistems in use in Russian and Arabic newspapers, which reflects the tendency to use such techniques as а parody, a language game, etc., which led to the “carnivalization” of language. The study is devoted to the problem of analysis and explication of the specifics of the use of logoepistems in the headlines of modern Russian and Arabic press in a comparative aspect. At the same time, the analysis of those functions that are designed to implement logoepistems in the discourses of newspapers is proposed. A special place in the article is devoted to the consideration of the process of transformation of logoepistems, identification of similarities and differences in the use of the studied units in the Russian and Arabic press. The study also discusses different sources of logoepistems, which provides important information about the dominant values and the most urgent issues of the Russian and Arabic national-linguocultural communities and gives the key to understanding their way of thinking. A study of the use of logoepistemes in headlines in the Russian and Arab press shows that both Russian and Arabic journalists resort to the same techniques. They especially use them in the process of the so-called “language game” and with the aim of causing the effect of “misguided expectations” in order to attract the reader’s attention and encourage him to familiarize himself with the text. The use of logoepistemes is associated with the search for the most adequate expressive means of expression and with the tendency to mix newspaper, journalistic and conversational styles, which, according to press experts, can provide the most adequate effect on today’s readership.
- Research Article
1
- 10.17516/2311-3499-055
- Jun 1, 2019
- Èkologiâ âzyka i kommunikativnaâ praktika
The article is dedicated to holophrastic neologisms i.e. blended words constructed on the basis of word combinations. The author focuses on emotiveness of holophrastic structures in political texts represented in the Internet. A dynamic contradiction between the violation of a norm, taking place in new words formation (those new words are considered as occasionalisms of holophrastic type) and new ways of emotiveness representation has been studied from the viewpoint of language ecology. In course of research, more than 100 texts and microtexts were analyzed; at the same time, the ironic potential, language games and the possibility of self-expression of the subject turned out to be characteristic of political texts. As the main research technique, we used continuous sample of holophrastic set expressions; in addition, in order to obtain objective data, such services as Yandex and Google have been used. Holophrastic set expressions have been treated as a result of word formation and representation of such linguistic personality as native speaker of Russian.
- Research Article
1
- 10.1177/13621688231176331
- Jun 14, 2023
- Language Teaching Research
The current study investigated the interaction between task-induced involvement load and the languages used in vocabulary glosses on incidental second language (L2) word learning in low proficiency learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Using computer-based tasks, the study also probed whether a task with a higher level of involvement load promoted a greater learner engagement with unfamiliar words, as measured by their hypertext gloss lookup frequencies. A total of 160 Thai EFL learners were equally divided into five task conditions based on the relative level of involvement load (low, high) and type of target word gloss (no glosses, L1 glosses, L2 glosses). The findings suggest that a task with a higher level of involvement load and first language (L1) glosses is most conducive to L2 word learning and that gloss language can mediate the effect of involvement load. Moreover, a task with a higher level of involvement load prompted learners to be more engaged with unfamiliar L2 words, irrespective of gloss language. The study provides partial support for the Involvement Load Hypothesis and reveals the differential effects of L1 and L2 glosses on L2 learning, which were not taken into account in the hypothesis. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.
- Research Article
- 10.37708/ezs.swu.bg.v20i1.3
- Feb 10, 2022
- Ezikov Svyat (Orbis Linguarum)
The article attempts to provide an answer to the questions concerning the aspects of internationalization of the Polish lexical stock, in the 21th century. In the first part, the author presents a list of new loanwords, for example, pendrive, followers, vlog, burger, webinarium, ciabatta, tacos. The new words are mostly borrowed from the English language. In the second part of the article, the author presents neologisms formation which perform various function (for example expressive, nominative). In this section the productivity of foreign prefixes and ranks with the formation of borrowed morphemes are discussed, too. The main objective of the paper is to show how old loanwords (for example alkoholik, parking, skleroza, automat, akwarium) have an impact on the creation of hybrids. The author describes word-formation like motylarium, żółwiarium, pająkarium, reklamoza, szyldoza, grantoza, serialoholik, fejsoholik, kawomat, ciastkomat, parawaning, grobing and she points to the patterns by which new units were created. Other authors perceive these phenomena as inextricably bound with the tendency to internationalization and with the processes of “linguistic globalization”. The main thesis of the article is that borrowed suffixes have different functions, the most important of which are creativity and language game, evaluation, especially negative one. The analysed phenomena prove that there is no clear border between creation of words and their borrowing, between the nominative function and the language game.
- Research Article
- 10.46609/ijsser.2023.v08i05.021
- Jan 1, 2023
- International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research
Network parlance refers to the language that first became popular on the Internet and has a certain deviation from the conventional language. Under the birth of the network environment, today’s network parlance has developed into a new dialect. The characteristics of the network information age determine that the network parlance is not only very active in life but also can reflect social and cultural phenomena to a certain extent. From the perspective of sociolinguistics, this paper studies its origin and analyzes its characteristics from the perspective of word formation. The results show that the most frequently used word formation methods are functional shift and burrowing. From the perspective of the use trend in the past five years, the formation of network terms also shows the characteristics of diversification. Specifically, the frequency of using coinage and clipping is increased. This study holds that the word-formation of network parlance reflects the characteristics of the contemporary new language formation. That is, from the beginning of 2017, the expansion of the meaning of existing words and the absorption of other cultures gradually changed into the creation of new words and the use of short words simplified by existing words.
- Research Article
- 10.24919/2522-4565.2022.50.24
- Jan 1, 2022
- Проблеми гуманітарних наук. Серія Філологія
The article deals with the peculiarities of the language game, as one of the main elements of suggestive influence during the communicative interaction between the doctor and the patient, and also considers the metaphor as one of the varieties of the language game. A person has always had the ability and inclination to give playful form to all aspects of his life. The game is a necessary way of social life, something that supports the ideal, which in turn determines the spiritual culture of the era. From the spontaneous quality, the rhythm of life, the game becomes for certain strata of society, and in some periods for society as a whole, a dramatic fabric for the realization of some higher social plot, moral and social idea, therefore it became an integral part of medical communication. A language game is a multifaceted phenomenon that has at the same time a stylistic, psycholinguistic, pragmatic and aesthetic nature. The multifacetedness of this phenomenon makes it difficult to define a consistent and comprehensive language game, not all aspects of which are sufficiently well studied. Language play brings aesthetic pleasure and satisfies psycho-emotional needs. By playing with the form of speech, the speaker enhances its expressiveness or creates a comic effect, contributes to the creation of new words, thereby enriching the language. The introduction of the language game into the medical discourse indicates its significant pragmatic significance opportunities Providing information using a language game contributes to optimization information impact on the one who receives it. In the hierarchy of functions of the language game in the debatable space of medical communication, the main role belongs to the function of suggestive influence, to which the aesthetic function is subordinate, and as a derivative of these functions, which includes the evaluative nature of information and the stylistic manner of its presentation, the worldview function arises. The work analyzes the peculiarities of such a type of speech game as a metaphor, which harmonizes communication, establishes communicative coordination, contributes to the discharge of negative emotional energy caused by the presence of symptoms of diseases, and also proves that metaphor as a type of speech game improves the speech interaction “doctor-patient” and increases the suggestive effect.
- Research Article
1
- 10.15688/jvolsu2.2022.1.2
- Mar 1, 2022
- Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Serija 2. Jazykoznanije
The article focuses on current word-formation processes in the Russian language and the role of adverbs and state-of-being words involved. The Runet forum discourse presents a favourable medium for such processes. The author analyzes new derivatives in the above-mentioned parts of speech found in different Internet thematic forums and present the structural and semantic characteristics of such units with some elements of pragmatic and stylistic analysis. The ways of word-formation revealed in the available sample are considered successively. The most productive word-formation models, derivative stems, affixes, related stylistic devices, etc., are pointed out. It was found out that the most productive way is suffixation, while pure combination, fusion and the prefix-suffixal mode also display noticeable productivity. The status of the suffix -en'ko is discussed. It demonstrates a particular activity within the sample as it is involved in the realization of several word-formation methods at once. We note the frequent use in derivational processes of the stems and affixes evaluating the size (there are both diminutives and magnifying ones), as well as the abundance of various anomalies associated with the creation of new words: alternate steps; oxymoronic, pleonastic, stylistically contrasting combination of derivational units in the derivative word; abnormal graphical/orphographic representation of new derivatives, etc.
- Research Article
- 10.37708/bf.swu.v33i1.15
- Jan 10, 2024
- Balkanistic Forum
The aim of the article is to explore to what extent and in what ways the competition at word-formation level is related to the differentiation of the individual communication spheres and/or their unification. To this end, selected types of variant pairs (lines) of new Bulgarian and Czech verbs are analysed and examination of the communication specifics of the texts in which they occur and are used is performed. In other words, the focal point is the creation and use of new words and expressions as a factor causing tension not only between parallel functioning linguistic means (already existing or currently emerging in the language), but also within texts typical for a certain sphere of communication. As source of linguistic material are used written units of communi-cation (i.e. texts functioning in a particular communication situation) published on the Internet. A conclusion is drawn that relations of competition between word-formation methods, processes and means characteristic of communication situations and texts of a given sphere of communication (in the presence of favourable condi-tions) can penetrate other spheres of communication for which they are – quite on the contrary – new and uncharacteristic. The word-formation competition in the field of new Bulgarian and new Czech verbal lexicon is stipulated however by the typological features of each individual language system.
- Research Article
1
- 10.32603/2412-8562-2022-8-6-142-156
- Dec 19, 2022
- Discourse
Introduction. The article is devoted to the role of the language game in the communication strategies used by German politicians within the framework of the “political Ash Wednesday” (on the example of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, 2018, 2019 and 2020). The purpose of the study was to determine the communicative strategies for which the CSU politicians use the language game in their speeches on the “political Ash Wednesday”. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that this genre of German political discourse has practically not been studied either from the point of view of political science or from the point of view of political linguistics, despite the fact that it has an already established tradition. The relevance of the work is due to the need to close this gap in the study of political discourse in Germany and at least partially describe this genre.Methodology and sources. To study the phenomenon of language play, a field method was used, in which the authors of the article analyzed the political situation in Germany in 20172019, and also described communicative strategies and tactics. By the method of continuous sampling from the texts of the speeches of the leaders of the CS (M. Zeider, M. Blume, A. Scheer, M. Weber), cases of language play were selected, classified by language levels and analyzed in context.Results and discussion. It was found that the language game serves to implement various communicative strategies: discrediting and self-praise strategies, manipulative and formation of an emotional mood strategies, self-defense and agitation strategies. Since on the “Political Ash Wednesday” the main speakers’ intentions are to preserve the image of their party and disrupt the image of competing parties, in the politicians’ speeches the language game was most often used as part of the discrediting strategy (ridiculing opponents, made them look bad) and self-praise (emphasizing the positive qualities members of the same party or the successes achieved by the CSU).Conclusion. The use of language games during performances allows operators to influence the mass addressee by creating the necessary emotional background. The techniques of the language game determine the implementation of communicative strategies and tactics aimed at maintaining one's own image and diminishing the influence of opponents. An important factor for understanding the techniques of the language game is knowledge of the cultural background and the realities of the country.