Semiotics of “pandemic” discourse: “newspeak” of quarantine era

The article examines the specifics of semiosis, which results in signs for the nomination of new realities in the context of a coronavirus pandemic. The study shows that “Newspeak” of the quarantine era is formed during the work process of two main mechanisms: the extension of the already existing meanings of word signs in the language (war, front line, enemy, embrasure, paranoia, bacchanalia) and production of words according to standard derivational models, activating in the minds of native speakers in case of need (covidnyi, covidarii, dokarantinnyi, poslekarantinnyi, karantinit’). Using these mechanisms, native speakers act in accordance with the principle of language economy, relying on their existing knowledge and stereotypes of language production to learn new experiences. The third way for new words to appear is through borrowing, which takes a less significant place in creating “Newspeak” of the pandemic era (lockdown, sanitizer). The “pandemic” discourse is characterized by such connotative signifiers as negative evaluation and emotionality, globalization of perception, uncontrollability, and unpredictability. They determine a person's choice to connect language signs and new objects during semiosis.