Sacralization of the linguistic unit idol illustrated by media texts

One of the topical issues of modern linguistics is the study of the axiological and functional aspects of Russian linguistic units used in in media texts as modern linguocultural units with sacred semantics and with an increased index of stylistic expression. The object of the research is the linguistic unit idol, while the subject is the process of its linguistic sacralization. The article presents a spectrum of sacred meanings of the empirical material with the word idol in media texts. The word idol is investigated in its synchronous and diachronous aspects: from the interpretation of its meaning in the Old Testament texts with desacred semantics to the active use of the transformed linguistic unit with sacred meaning by the authors of media texts. The aim of the article is to study the process of sacralization of the lexeme idol from the name for a pagan artifact to the name for objects idealized by modern young people. The linguistic life of the Soviet society largely determined the semantics of the studied unit (idol), its role in speech and in the value state of the literary language of the modern logosphere through popularization of the images of outstanding and unique personalities. Thus, fixation of dictionary definitions in lexicographic sources showed that secularized literature and later the media space deliberately determined the vector for the formation of quasi-cultural values - modern idols focusing on egocentric needs. The research material observantly illustrates the active processes of language development and the formation of the language taste of the epoch.