Abstract
At the present stage, youth online communication has become a space for active linguistic experimentation, resulting in the emergence of lexical innovations that represent reality in distinctive ways. The article is devoted to the study of occasional derivation processes that give rise to specific speech innovations.The aim of this study is to describe the structural characteristics and morphological features of neonominations functioning in the speech of participants of student thematic communities on the social network “ВКонтакте”, as well as to identify the factors contributing to the activation of word-formation processes.The main research method is descriptive, based on direct observation of speech data. To collect the research data, the method of complete sampling of comments on a social network was applied. By means of word-formation analysis the derivational models of neologisms created and disseminated in the speech of representatives of the younger generation are identified. The conducted research demonstrates that the intensification of occasional word-formation reflects a tendency toward increased expressiveness in speech. Among the productive derivational strategies are suffixation, compounding, truncation, contamination, and abbreviation.Occasional derivation based on borrowings from the English language serves as a reflection of contemporary word-formation processes. The article examines the features of russification in the graphic and phonetic form, as well as the grammatical and semantic characteristics of anglicisms. It identifies derivational chains and word-formation families that indicate the firm integration of English lexical units into Russian-language discourse.The primary reason for the emergence of speech innovations is identified as the need of social media users for new lexical units that correspond to specific communicative situations and facilitate the realization of speakers’ linguistic creativity. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamics of contemporary language change and advances the investigation of mechanisms of linguistic creativity and their impact on the development of modern Russian. The findings may be applied in teaching the course “Word-formation Studies”.