COMPARATIVE CONTRAST OF FORMS, FUNCTIONS AND ROLES OF FEMININE NOUNS IN THE UKRAINIAN, GERMAN AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES

Abstract

The article considers feminine nouns as a phenomenon that is specific in modern linguistics. The study topicality is explained by the special place of language in formation of national identity, especially in a crisis period, when the state defends its independence. On the other hand, the study relevance is based on values of a democratic society, where gender equality is a priority, which is fixed in language as a means of social thinking and functioning. Authors’ conduct of the study is appropriate, since the topic of gender equality and the masculinity-feminity balance arouses a deep interest among linguists in Scopus publications for the period 2020–2025. It is noteworthy that scientists are interested in gender issues in aspects of national identity both within a language group and neighboring ones. High popularity of feminine nouns in the European space and strengthening of the Ukrainian national identity during the socio-political turbulence (war) determine the authors’ choice of thematic direction of the research. The study object is feminine nouns in the Ukrainian, German and English languages from a linguistic and sociocultural point of view. The study subject is peculiarities of formation, functioning and use of feminine nouns in these languages, their role in reflecting social processes and forming the language norm. The research is implemented via the comparative method for typological analysis of feminine nouns from the Slavic-Germanic perspective with determination of their forms, functions and influence on the linguistic identity formation. Within the study, it was established that the main means of transmitting gender features can be purely lexical resources (English) or morphological and grammatical ones (Ukrainian and German). In the first case, the pattern is due to absence of the grammatical category of gender and tendency to inclusive neutralization, when equality of rights and freedoms is conveyed through lexically neutral words. In the second case, presence of gender led to emergence of morphological elements (suffixes). Their gender functionality is variable. In the German culture the suffix -in- has firmly established itself as a designation of the female gender. In the Ukrainian language, feminine suffixes are a relatively young phenomenon, which causes a contradictory attitude to processes of gender word formation. The research results can be a basis for conducting new studies in intralingual and interlingual aspects.