The Influence of Anglicisms on Armenian Media Discourse
The Influence of Anglicisms on Armenian Media Discourse
Avetyan Lena
Summary
Key words: anglicism, media discourse, political discourse, youth language, euphemism, Armenianization, language economy․
The current state of the Armenian language is a matter of serious concern for many scholars, particularly with regard to the extensive use of borrowings from other languages despite the existence of Armenian equivalents. Throughout different periods of its history, Armenian has borrowed lexical items from languages such as Russian, Persian, and Turkish. At present, however, due to the dominance of English across virtually all spheres of modern life, English has become the principal source of lexical borrowing in Armenian. The widespread dissemination of anglicisms is primarily attributable to the rapid expansion of the Internet and various social media platforms. Anglicisms may be regarded both as a means of enriching the vocabulary and as a challenge to the recipient language. Although many languages, including Armenian, strive to create native equivalents for English borrowings, only a limited number of these alternatives gain widespread acceptance and become part of the active vocabulary. Anglicisms have become pervasive, extending to political and public discourse as well as economic life, while the most recent borrowings are predominantly associated with information technology and computer programming.
This article examines the anglicisms that have become widespread in Armenian media discourse, placing particular emphasis on the justified use of such borrowings. It argues that an anglicism should not be viewed merely as a lexical borrowing; it may also perform a stylistic function, at times serving as a euphemistic device.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58726/27382915-2026.1hs-8