International Journal of Philology

The paper deals with the notion of telescopes, typical for modern linguistics. The significance of this research is that telescoping is becoming one of the most productive ways of dynamic and active word formation; it reflects the changes taking place in modern linguoculture. The analysis of theoretical works enabled to define the concept of key terms. Structural features of telescoping units are analyzed. It is found out that the most productive formation group is haplologs, which have a common element at the junction of components. The study also determined the orthographic and morphological features in forming telescope units. Particular attention is drawn to the semantic relationship between components of telescoping words and overall semantics of the innovation. In semantics aspect, the study revealed the prevalence of telescoping units, components of which specify and expand the meaning of each other. The semantic features of telescopes also make them unique linguistic units, since they can be used equally effectively both for creating terms and for creating stylistically marked units. The analysis has shown that telescopic units are used in different spheres of modern life. The results indicate that telescopes have become most widespread in the following areas: recreation and leisure, Internet and mobile communications, health and mental condition, family and gender. Modern telescopes tend to briefly, accurately and expressively reflect the changes taking place in society. They are characterized by their distinctive features, both structural and semantic, which are related to both linguistic and extralinguistic factors. A word composed by means of telescoping combines several meanings leading to the linguistic economy

neologisms; telescoping units; haplologs; semantics; structural features