The Use of Feminatives in Official and Business Communication in Modern Ukrainian

Abstract

Introduction: The presented scholarly study undertakes a comprehensive multidisciplinary analysis of the phenomenon of feminatives within the framework of the stylistic and functional idiomaticity of the official-business style of modern Ukrainian literary language.

Objectives: The study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the structural-semantic features and functional-pragmatic characteristics of the use of feminitives within the official and semi-official discourse of Ukrainian business communication, taking into account their communicative, sociocultural, and stylistic parameters.

Methods: The research is based on a synthesis of analytical hermeneutics, structural-functional content analysis, sociolinguistic micro-approach, and diachronic stratification of linguistic transformations.

Results: Aspects of the morphological-syntactic dynamics of feminatives are examined through the prism of axiological and epistemic foundations that shape the current vectors of language policy in the sphere of regulated discourse. It has been observed that the formalized communicative environment of the administrative and bureaucratic segment of linguistic practice predominantly employs masculinitives as the nominative referents for professional and positional titles, aligning with the prevailing paradigm of normative linguistic and stylistic conservatism. Within the discursive domain of semi-official texts, particularly in digital environments, an increased resonant response to sociocultural demands for gender symmetry in linguistic forms has been identified. This phenomenon is acquiring the character of linguistic adaptability, expressed through the gradual accumulation of feminatives as a dynamic component of the lexical and grammatical inventory.

Conclusions: It has been proven that the process of standardizing feminatives within the official-business style remains at the stage of partial codification, accompanied by competition between descriptive and prescriptive approaches to word-formation regulation. It is highlighted that the lexical-semantic codification of female professional titles occurs in the context of linguistic institutionalization and sociolinguistic reflection, reflecting transformative processes within the public discourse.