SOCIAL FEMININE NOUNS IN DAILY NEWSPAPERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA

This paper analyzes the frequency and competition between social feminine and (generic) social masculine nouns in a sample of daily newspapers in the Republic of Srpska, focusing on fluctuations in their usage. The study also examines the recorded forms from a neological perspective by checking their presence in Serbian dictionaries. The findings provide a snapshot of the current linguistic situation, showing that social feminine nouns are widely used in print media and can be regarded as the dominant lexical choice for denoting women’s professions and social roles. The most frequent and stable forms appear in the sports lexicon, but numerous examples are also found in references to occupations, functions, and roles in other areas of social life. While most of these feminine forms belong to standardized lexis, the use of unregistered forms is not uncommon, indicating a dynamic process in which social changes are closely mirrored in language. These results highlight the importance of continued, longitudinal research on the spread and acceptance of social feminine nouns, as well as the active role of language-planning institutions in evaluating individual solutions.