Linguistic and Stylistic Markers of Anxiety within Ukrainian-Language Google Search Queries

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive identification and typology of linguostylistic markers of anxiety within the Ukrainian-language segment of Google user queries. It establishes the patterns of destruction of the standard information query under the influence of extreme external factors – missile launches during air raid alerts in the Ukrainian space. The object of the study is the digital discourse of Ukrainian-language Google search engine users during the period of 2022–2026. The subject of the study encompasses the lexico-semantic, morpho-syntactic, and grapho-punctuation transformations of search units that explicate states of psychological tension and anxiety.

The research methodology relies on a synergy of content analysis of the Google Trends platform and data visualization in Datawrapper. Discourse analysis is used to interpret pragmatic intentions, while correlation analysis of time series is applied to compare reaction and stimulus. Psycholinguistic tools are employed to decode affective states through linguistic anomalies.

A typology of anxiety markers has been compiled, classified by linguistic levels. Within the pragmatic level, a shift in vector from informational to fatalistic and existential ("how to live on") is recorded. At the semantic level, catalyst words for threat zones ("missile," "impact") and units of the psychosomatic semantic field ("lump in the throat") are identified and described. In the study of the morpho-syntactic level, the deontic modality of predicates is highlighted, representing the realization of queries aimed at clarifying rules of behavior during states of anxiety. During the analysis of the grammatical level, the linguostylistic focus shifted toward ellipsis and the displacement of the predicate while maintaining vector directionality ("missiles where"), which explicates the strategy of linguistic economy of cognitive resources under adrenaline-induced stress. At the grapho-punctuation level, hyper-punctuation is outlined as a substitute for affective interjections during anxiety.

Analysis of Google Trends data for the 2024–2026 period demonstrated a clear correlation between external threats ("missiles where") and internal reflection ("when it’s scary"). The extremum of the acute anxiety phase (July 2025) reached results of 100 and 85 units, respectively. The period of late 2025 and early 2026 is characterized by the establishment of a chronic state of anxiety (70–75 units), indicating cognitive exhaustion and a transition to digital coping strategies. The fixation of "zero zones" on the graphs indicates a state of emotional numbness from anxiety, or digital paralysis.

It is proven that the state of anxiety determines the destruction of linguostylistic tools, transforming a dialogic information query into an affectively-marked construct of anxiety. The results of the study account for the emergence of a new digital coping strategy—the verbalization of fear through search engines in order to master emotions and search for new and effective survival resources.