Semantic changes in person-denoting nouns within denotative and ideographic groups of words in the field of medicine

Semantic word production is one of the main ways of coining new words in the Russian language. Using the data from Russian dictionaries compiled at different times, this article explores the semantic potential of the denotative category of nouns that refer to specific aspects in the field of medicine. The results obtained suggest that person-denoting nouns can integrate into multiple derivational models simultaneously, thus demonstrating that any language is a structured system in which all components are interconnected and influence each other. Several productive derivational semantic models for creating new meanings of contemporary Russian words are identified. These models are based on various semantic processes, such as modification of existing meanings and metaphorical and metonymic transfer, with metaphorical reinterpretation emerging as the most productive mechanism of semantic derivation within the studied group of words.