Lexical interactions in the sociolect of the drifting subculture

The article deals with the sociolect of the drifting subculture and its lexical features. Like any other, this sociolect not only generates unique lexical units to describe the realities of life of those belonging to the subculture but also contains numerous borrowings of lexemes and lexical constructions from other systems and subsystems of language, such as literary language, substandard language, related terminological and jargon systems. The author analyzed vocabulary collected with the use of the continuous sampling method when viewing numerous videos on the subject of drift. The analysis has shown that the sociolect contains borrowings from literary language, general jargon, sports jargon, motorsport jargon, jargon of car mechanics and substandard language. The presence of a large number of lexemes and lexical structures borrowed from the above-mentioned terminological and jargon systems is due to the mixed composition of carriers of the drifting sociolect. It includes not only pilots, judges and fans but also mechanics, commentators, track staff, as well as street racers. All the above experts and amateurs largely use motorsport, engineering, technical and special sports terms and jargon describing the realities of the subculture under study. As part of the sociolect, borrowings from Japanese and English languages have been found, which is due to the fact that the subculture originated in Japan and then developed in the west. The study has also identified an extensive onomastic system of the sociolect. This system includes both individual and group onyms. The relevance of this article is due to the lack of research on the sociolect and vocabulary of the drifting subculture despite the fact that the subculture itself is becoming increasingly popular.