Distinctive features of names of persons in the educational sphere of the Russian language (early 21st century)

The present article describes the semantic features of names of persons functioning in the modern Russian language. The materials of the study were obtained from the Russian National Corpus, Russian dictionaries, texts of research articles on pedagogical issues, the information lexicographic resource "New in Russian vocabulary. Dictionary materials", and others. Changes occurring in the modern educational sphere have an impact on the Russian language vocabulary since the emergence of new lexical units as well as the development of new meanings of lexemes already functioning in a particular thematic group becomes necessary to denote new phenomena in the modern educational process. It is relevant to study words that have become current in modern Russian written and spoken language but are not included in lexicographical sources. Such research using continuous sampling of factual material, descriptive and statistical methods, analysis and synthesis, componential analysis as well as analysis of the socio-cultural context enables one to determine the meanings of new naming units, describe the specific features of their combinability, and identify their syntagmatic potential. As a result of the conducted research, we identified 213 names of persons, i. e., naming units for educators, students, and heads of educational institutions engaged in the educational process at different levels of education. Next, we analysed semantic changes of the vocabulary in the educational activity sphere, identified new lexical units and described their meanings. Additionally, lexical units in groups of synonyms were analysed. The obtained results of the study enable us to identify dynamic lexical semantic processes, the development of syntagmatic and paradigmatic properties of lexical units naming persons in the educational sphere. The conclusion emphasises the importance of derivational word formation in the neologisation of the modern Russian language as well as the outlook for studying new word families evolving in the language.