On the Problem of the Functioning of the Phrase “Terrorist Activity” in Media Texts

Abstract

The article is concerned with the study of the problem of meaning in journalistic texts in the situation of the origination and functioning of the phrase “terrorist activity”. Based on research in the field of terminology, semantics and lexicology, the author implements a detailed lexico-semantic, word-formation and stylistic analysis of this phrase, then considers it with specific examples from media texts and supplements the study with the data from the survey on the perception and understanding of phrase in the mass audience. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that the formation of the phrase “terrorist activity” and its functioning in media texts occurs spontaneously and leads to erosion of the clarity and unambiguity of meaning. Analyzing relevant examples, the author shows that the frequency of use of this phrase in journalistic texts covering the hot events of socio-political life contributes to the fact that it acquires the character of a set phrase, but the semantic nuances leave room for misunderstanding, which complicates conducting linguistic examination of such texts . The author emphasizes that in this way the media have a significant impact on modern terminological processes, form a group of pseudo-terms that do not answer the main features of the term as a lexical unit of language, but claim a terminological role in the journalistic text.