Phonetic and graphic adaptation of latest English borrowings in Ukrainian-language business discourse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17721/um/56(2026).143-169Keywords:
Ukrainian language, borrowing, phonetic adaptation, graphic adaptation, business discourse, English borrowingsAbstract
Background. The language of business, which serves the field of economic relations, is characterized by high dynamics of development and the constant renewal of its lexical composition due to the emergence of numerous words denoting new realities, concepts, and processes. In recent decades, the English language has had a significant impact on various spheres of social life, particularly on the business environment. Studying the specifics of how English borrowings function in economic texts and how they are adapted at different levels of the language system enables a deeper understanding of the processes of assimilating foreign elements into the Ukrainian language. It also helps optimize the borrowing process and minimize the potential negative consequences of the excessive use of foreign lexemes.
Methods. The study examines 400 English borrowings used in business texts of the Ukrainian socio-political magazine New Voice from 2018 to 2025. It employs general scientific and specifically linguistic methods, including total sampling, comparison, structural and distributional analyses, systematization, as well as descriptive, statistical, and quantitative methods.
Results. The adaptation of business-related English borrowings at the graphic and phonetic levels of the language system is described. It has been established that at the graphic level, the majority of English borrowings – 312 units (78 %) – are fully adapted to Ukrainian orthography (нейромаркетинг), while only 51 (12.8 %) retain their original spelling (digital-only), and 37 English borrowings (9.3 %) are hybrid forms (retail-мережі), a significant portion of which contain non-adapted abbreviations (UX-аналітика).
The phonetic analysis of 177 fully borrowed English borrowings revealed the dominance of transcriptions – 89 units (50.3 %), which fully reproduce the pronunciation of the original words (кешбек – cashback), nearly a quarter of transliterations – 43 items (24.3 %), which attempt to preserve the original spelling on a letter-by-letter basis (девелопер < developer), and an equal number of semi-transcriptions and semi-transliterations – 45 items (25.4 %) with mixed transcoding (хедж-фонд – hedge fund).
Most graphically adapted English borrowings correspond to the spelling of the Ukrainian language: (холдинг, хайринг), however, some demonstrate orthographic instability (фандрейзинг – фандрайзинговий) or spelling errors (оффер).
Conclusions. A comprehensive study of the functioning of English borrowings in economic texts contributes to the understanding of how globalization processes influence the language structure of business communication. The findings can be used to develop guidelines for the rational use of English borrowings in the economic sphere; to optimize the adaptation of English borrowings in Ukrainian business terminology; and in lexicographic practice for compiling dictionaries of recent English borrowings and updating existing ones.
About the authors:
Liudmyla Kravchenko – PhD in Philology, Associate Professor in the Department of Ukrainian Language and Applied Linguistics at the Educational and Research Institute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9043-566X
e-mail: l.kravchenko@knu.ua
Stefaniia Syniuhina – Master’s student at the Educational and Research Institute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
ORCID ID: 0009-0000-9652-5212
e-mail: stefaa.syn@gmail.com
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