Abstract
The article is devoted to investigation of functional status and structural characteristics of lexical innovations in socio-political discourse of the French language. The research material constitutes explanatory dictionaries of French such as Le Petit Larousse, Le Petit Robert and online versions of periodicals (daily newspapers Le Monde, Le Figaro, weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur). Urgency of the research calls forth necessity of accurate definition of the notion “neologism” and as a consequence theoretical grounds of mechanisms of vocabulary neologization on the basis of picked out criteria for its description. The aim of the research is study of mechanisms of activization and functioning of neologisms in socio-political discourse of the French language. It is shown in the article that in spite of active dynamics of vocabulary of modern politics lexicographical fixation of neologisms is distinguished by sufficient caution by virtue of objective reasons. Particular attention is given to analysis of content plane of lexical units taken from explanatory dictionaries of French. The most productive ways of formation of lexical neologisms in socio-political sphere of French is reviewed. The novelty of the study is in the involvement of media texts analysis data to discover the main vectors of the modern French language vocabulary development.