Diminutive Functioning in Modern Russian Speech

The article discusses the features of diminutives in modern Russian speech. The focus is on the use of expressive diminutives, mainly nouns. The main areas of the use of derivatives with suffixes of subjective assessment in Russian speech at the turn of the 21th century are distinguished: unceremonious treatment, communication with children, the gastronomic sphere and consumer service situations. The evaluative ambivalence of expressive diminutives and an increase in the number of contexts involving these derivative words to express irony are stated. A number of trends in the use of expressive diminutives in modern Russian speech are revealed: the use of derivative words, in which the affix semantics contradict the meaning of the stem, and the distribution of status category words and adverbs with diminutive suffixes. The role of diminutives in the Russian language picture of the world and its dynamics associated with changes in the nature of the use of the derivatives in question are emphasized.