THEMES OF AUTHOR’S NEOLOGISMS IN HARRY POTTER SERIES BY J. K. ROWLING

Abstract

One of the current issues in modern linguistics is the study of authorial neologisms, because language is considered to be a living dynamic system that is constantly evolving, changing, and the language of fiction is a rich source that serves as a basis for studying these changes. Our work is based on the definition proposed by O. O. Selivanova, according to which a neologism is a word or compound used by language in a certain period to denote a new or existing concept or in a new meaning and are perceived as such by native speakers. Neologisms belong to the passive vocabulary of the language, but over time they are assimilated by it and move to common vocabulary, losing their status as neologisms. Thus, the series of novels about Harry Potter is characterized by J. K. Rowling’s terminology, which is innovative and unique, which is a feature of the author's idiosyncrasy. The aim of the article is to reveal the thematic features of the use of author’s neologisms in J. K. Rowling’s novels about Harry Potter. Research methods are: theoretical general scientific methods (generalization, induction and deduction); empirical-theoretical methods (analysis, synthesis, modeling, system method and classification method); method of linguistic observation and description. The analysis showed that the most productive way to create authorial neologisms in J. K. Rowling’s novels about Harry Potter is word formation, because word formation is based on the principle of language economy. The themes of authorial neologisms in J. K. Rowling’s novels about Harry Potter are broad, as they are used to denote everyday realities: magical objects, food and drink, currency, the names of academic disciplines at Hogwarts, holidays and games, and more. Author’s neologisms are also words that denote ethnographic and mythological realities: ethnic and social communities and their representatives; deities, fairy-tale creatures. The author’s neologisms in J. K. Rowling’s novels about Harry Potter also include vocabulary that calls the realities of the world and nature: animals and plants, onomastic realities are anthroponyms: students, teachers, and toponyms: spells. Spells can be divided into two groups: spells in which Latin words are used; spells that use the magician's native language. Prospects for further research can be traced in the lexical-semantic and stylistic analysis of occasionalisms of the writer's works, both in individual works and in the implementation of a comprehensive analysis of the author's neologisms.