Specifics of the interpretation of structural-semantic features of gamer jargon units by its speakers: an experimental study

The research aims to comprehensively characterize the specifics of the interpretation of structural-semantic features of gamer jargon units by its speakers, based on the results of an independently conducted survey. The researchers determine the level of informants’ (representatives of the video game community) command of the semantics of gamer slang; establish the degree of stability and prevalence of these units in the vocabulary of the surveyed gamers, as well as the respondents’ recognition of individual words, depending on their structural-semantic specificity; identify the features of the graphic rendering of gamer jargon units by its speakers; and determine the linguistic preferences of players using pairs of synonyms that represent native lexemes / well-assimilated borrowings and occasional neo-Anglicisms. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that it comprehensively describes the features of the interpretation of structural-semantic features of gamer jargon units by its speakers – representatives of the video game community – based on the results of an experimental study, revealing the place of these slang terms in the respondents’ vocabulary and the degree of command of these units. As a result of the research, it was established that gamer jargon units in the respondents’ vocabulary are characterized by great variability in the forms of graphic expression. In addition, not all the studied units are equally familiar to all the surveyed representatives of the video game community. It has been revealed that, despite the large number of borrowings, there are synonymous pairs in the informants’ vocabulary in which one of the elements is a Russian word or, at least, a borrowing that has long entered the language. The problem of choice between native units / well-assimilated borrowings, on the one hand, and occasional neo-Anglicisms, on the other, does not have a clear solution for players, despite the widespread use of vocabulary of foreign origin in gamer jargon.