Abstract
The article describes different types of derivatives with the prefix mega- in the English language in terms of word-formation meanings. The study of the component of ancient Greek origin functioning in a synchronic and diachronic perspective made it possible to establish the reasons and describe the mechanisms of its further derivational transformations in English language. In the receiving language, the adjective έ undergoes cross-level conversion and is used as a prefix element in various derivatives. The quantitative semantics that is genetically inherent in the component is implemented as a part of terminological units in which the prefix acts as a term element. In other types of discourse, the quantitative identification function is combined with the function of evaluation. In derivatives related to popular science or commercial discourse, the prefix mega- serves to distinguish an object from a number of similar ones and marks it as an exceptional phenomenon. The method of profiling used in the analysis made it possible to describe the internal mechanism of word-formation meanings of derivatives with the prefix mega-. Contextual analysis and survey of informants (native English speakers) allowed for differentiation between the meaning of mega- and super- prefixes used in the evaluation function. It has been found that in English derivatives, the prefix mega- marks the highest degree of the quality and is attached to the bases, which referents could be evaluated in the terms of quantitative characteristics. The addition of the prefix super- is not related to parametric characteristics in the meaning of the root morpheme, which determines its assessment by native speakers as a marker of a lower degree of evaluated quality.
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