The philologist explained the phenomenon of Russians copying phrases from short videos

Mass copying of popular phrases from short videos is a natural language process that is enhanced by the algorithms of social networks. Alyona Popova, a comparative philologist and public relations manager, told Izvestia about this on March 8.

"People have always imitated the speech of the authoritative majority, but before the phrase spread at the speed of hearing, and now at the speed of viewing," the expert noted.

According to the expert, algorithms create an environment in which a large number of users simultaneously encounter the same speech pattern and begin to reproduce it.

Such phrases can be considered as a new type of speech cliches, Popova said. Unlike classical cliches, they are not fixed in dictionaries, are rarely used in writing, and exist for a relatively short time — from several weeks to months. At the same time, such expressions already contain a ready-made intonation and emotional context, which simplifies their use.

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The expert explained that the viral spread of the phrase is usually associated with several factors. It should be quite unusual, but at the same time understandable, easy to reproduce due to the rhythm and intonation, as well as accurately reflect the condition familiar to a wide audience.

"Such patterns both impoverish the language and are part of its development. They impoverish individual speech because a person uses someone else's formula instead of looking for his own. But they develop the language as a system, because each such phrase is a language experiment. Some experiments die off, some gain a foothold and become neutral after a few years. This was the case with any colloquial formula of the past, which now seems natural," the specialist said.

According to Popova, a separate sociolect of short videos with their own lexical and intonational features is being formed in the digital environment. At the same time, there is a risk of reducing the expressiveness of speech, as users begin to reproduce ready-made phrases more often, rather than formulate thoughts on their own.

Popova said on April 1 that the use of the word "networking" in Russian depends on the context and scope of communication, and it is not always appropriate in official or wide public speech. According to her, the term is most often used in a professional environment where the English-speaking business culture is strong, in particular in IT, startups, corporate management and consulting. Its relevance is directly proportional to the saturation of the environment with Anglicisms.

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