Idioms’ adaptation in new language, cultural and social conditions

The article discusses the specifics of adaptation of phraseological units to the conditions of multilingualism and multiculturalism. The scientific problem is determined by the need to study the features of language adaptation in the context of globalisation and nativisation in order to derive new features of the phraseological fund of English language variants in the world community. The purpose of the article is to determine the degree of adaptation of phraseological units of such a variant of the English language as Nigerian one, which functions in the English-language Nigerian media space. The study is based on the application of general scientific and specific linguistic methods. Based on the reception of a continuous sample in written texts and video materials of the English-language Nigerian online newspaper “Punch” for 2024-2025, which form the media space of media discourse, phraseological units of British, American and Nigerian English were identified. The method of comparative analysis was used to establish the degree of nativisation of phraseological units in the English-language Nigerian media discourse. It is proven that what is most productive for the English-language Nigerian media discourse, are phraseological units that do not fully comply with the norm in form and content. This type of deviation is manifested in the form of a change in the position of prepositions in phraseological units and a change in the meaning of lexical units, dictated by the influence of local languages. What is less productive in the English-language Nigerian media discourse, are phraseological units that correspond to the phraseological funds of British and American English, dictated by globalisation. What is least productive for the English-language Nigerian media discourse, are phraseological units that absolutely do not comply with the norm and are associated with the need for Nigerians to follow the realities of their native languages and cultures.