LINGUISTIC TRANSFORMATIONS OF ENGLISH IN THE ERA OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATION

Abstract The rapid expansion of digital communication has significantly influenced the development of modern English. Social media platforms, instant messaging applications, online forums, blogs, and digital communities have created new communicative environments in which language is constantly adapted to speed, informality, and multimodality. This article examines the major linguistic changes associated with internet communication, focusing on vocabulary, spelling, abbreviation, semantic innovation, code-switching, and pragmatic strategies. The study adopts a descriptive and discourse-analytical approach and draws on established research in sociolinguistics, digital discourse, and English lexicology. The findings suggest that online communication does not simply reduce linguistic standards; rather, it creates new registers with specific conventions and communicative functions. Digital English is characterized by lexical creativity, compression, hybrid forms, multimodal meaning, and rapid diffusion of innovations. The article concludes that internet-mediated communication should be viewed as an important area of contemporary language development and as a legitimate object of linguistic research. Keywords: digital communication, English language, internet discourse, neologism, abbreviation, sociolinguistics, language change.