This article is devoted to a systematic analysis of compound word formation in Silver Age poetry based on literary texts by representatives of Symbolism (Z N. Gippius, D.S. Merezhkovskiy) and Acmeism (A.A.  Akhmatova, N.S. Gumilyov). The study aims to identify the structural-semantic and functional-stylistic features of complex words as a significant means of poetic expression in this period. The focus is on substantive, adjectival and adverbial compounds, considered in terms of their capacity for semantic compression, expressive richness and modelling of individual authorial style. Analysis of the factual material allows us to establish that Silver Age poetry is dominated by complex adjectives, formed mainly on the basis of subordinate relationships between components and realising a complex suffixal method of word formation. A comparative analysis of the poetic texts of the Symbolists and Acmeists reveals differences in the functional load of compounds. In Symbolist poetry, complex words serve as a means of mystical and philosophical synthesis of the spiritual and material principles, contributing to the creation of multi-layered, metaphysically charged images. In acmeist poetics, on the contrary, composites are oriented towards conveying sensory accuracy, concrete specificity, and the visual and tactile certainty of the artistic world, which corresponds to the aesthetic programme of this movement.

Compound formation, acmeism, Silver age

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