DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES OF CYBERSECURITY TERMS IN THE SYSTEM OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article examines the morphological structure and derivational patterns of English cybersecurity terminology, focusing on the productivity and semantic functions of affixes. The research employs morphological, structural, and quantitative analysis to identify productive affixal models, as well as descriptive and componential methods to interpret the semantic and functional roles of affixes within cybersecurity terminology. Based on the analysis of 4,000 lexical units, the study identifies suffixation as the most productive method of term formation in the cybersecurity domain, accounting for almost half of all derivational processes. The most frequent suffixes — -ion, -ity, -er, -ment, -al, -ic, -ing, and -ed express processual, qualitative, and resultative meanings. Prefixation, while less frequent, demonstrates high semantic variability through the use of in-, re-, de-, pro-, and proto-, which indicate direction, repetition, or negation. Special attention is paid to affixoids such as cyber-, crypt-, anti-, and mal-, which have become terminological markers of the field, reflecting key conceptual oppositions like “protection vs. threat” and “security vs. risk.” The study concludes that the morphological system of English cybersecurity terminology is dynamic and capable of constant expansion through combinations of affixal and compounding models. The derivational mechanisms not only serve the purpose of linguistic nomination but also reflect cognitive and cultural conceptualization of digital security in modern English.