ICONIC PHRASES AS LINGUAL AND CULTURAL MARKERS IN THE ENGLISH SCIENCE FICTION OF THE 21ST CENTURY

In this article, the authors attempt to perform an in-depth analysis of iconic phrases in science-fiction works on the basis of the literary discourse and modern cinema.It has been ascertained that the aforementioned syntactic structures have not become the object of close scrutiny of the linguists of the late 20 th -early 21 st centuries despite the popularity of science fiction.The semantic range and syntactic structure of these structures have to be clearly defined.There is also a need for ascertaining their origins according to their historical and cultural societal sources.The mechanism of coining these units in the science-fiction language matrix has been outlined using the continuous sampling method to locate a number of iconic phrases as a language material for the study.On the proper syntactic level, the located units have been classified into simple sentences, complex sentences (of various types), phrases, and complex syntactic units (hereinafter CSU) as a component of the work's "legend".The historical and cultural background of iconic phrases has been studied: the Bible, national mythologies, folklore, and philosophical works were the sources of these syntactic structures.The communicative and pragmatic potential of iconic phrases has been studied regarding their social and emotional references in the native Anglophone society with their subsequent, secondary semantisation in other languages.The study showed that as a result of their reappraisal, iconic phrases can change their pragmatic message and integrate in a certain language enriching the lexis of its speakers.The logical outcome of using iconic phrases in the English science fiction is their transformation into integral elements of the lingual culture, markers that help to trace the relation between the work and a specific language matrix.This study is an attempt to study the iconic phrases as lingual and cultural units in English science fiction.The influence of iconic phrases on other language matrices, their interrelations and mutual exchanges serve as the object for prospective in-depth studies.