Covid-19 pandēmijas leksika Latvijā un Lietuvā: kopīgais un atšķirīgais

ENRather than concentrating on lexical changes, the article focuses on the attitude of two related nations and languages (namely, Latvian and Lithuanian) towards the pandemic and its realities, aiming to determine how this attitude is expressed through language. First, the article gives a general overview of linguistic changes in both countries: slogans and the use of officialsí surnames in wordplay. After that, the focus shifts to universal concepts or universals that are considered to be common characteristics of the COVID-19 period both in Europe and the world in general: many foreign words (both new and previously known, albeit rarely used) and neologisms entered the Latvian and Lithuanian public vocabulary. Neologisms are both serious and light-hearted; therefore, it is highly unlikely that most of them will be part of future Latvian and Lithuanian. Finally, the article examines the use of military lexicon (inclu ding war and other metaphors) in the language of mass media, as this lexicon is subject to dif ferent opinions in modern society. Keywords: Covid-19, pandemic, linguistic creativity, universal concepts (universals), military lexicon, metaphors, war metaphors.