Neologisms in the media coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war in the context of information warfare

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive account of English words and phrases that gained media prominence during the first 10 months of the Russia-Ukraine war. Three categories of lexical units were identified: lexical neologisms (new coinages), such as sanctionista, war fatigue, Zelensky-washing, etc.; semantic neologisms – words and phrases that had existed prior to the war, but acquired new meanings due to it – such as deputinization, Russian exodus, etc.; units that had been used occasionally and inconsistently up to 2022, but gained new relevance in light of the war – such as ruscism, stalinization, digital iron curtain, etc. Some of the units under study were first coined in the Ukrainian or Russian languages and subsequently spread to other languages (missile terrorism, ruscism), while others are limited to English only and have no equivalents in either Ukrainian or Russian (sanctionista, archivocide). Focusing on news media and social media discourse on the Russia-Ukraine war, we trace the etymology of these words and phrases, their recurrence and context of use, as well as the pragmatic value they have in shaping public stance on the war in the West. We also take into consideration humorous occasionalisms, memes and monikers that trended on social media during this period of the war, providing a way of tension release while also contributing to Ukrainian information warfare and fundraising purposes. The study is instrumental in driving our understanding of the mechanisms of media framing of emotionally loaded and potentially dividing political issues.