A neologism
Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance".html" ;"title="Ancient_Greek.html" ;"title=" from
Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"">Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_common_use,_but_that_has_not_been_fully_accepted_into_mainstream_language._Neologisms_are_often_driven_by_changes_in_culture_and_technology._In_the_process_of_origin_of_language.html" ;"title="Ancient Greek">Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"">Ancient_Greek.html" ;"title=" from Ancient Greek">Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted into mainstream language. Neologisms are often driven by changes in culture and technology. In the process of origin of language">language formation, neologisms are more mature than ''protologisms''. A word whose development stage is between that of the protologism (freshly coined) and neologism (new word) is a ''prelogism''.
Popular examples of neologisms can be found in science, fiction (notably
science fiction), films and television, branding, literature,
jargon,
cant,
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...
, the visual arts, and popular culture.
Former examples include ''
laser'' (1960) from Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation; ''
robot'' (1941) from
Czech writer
Karel Čapek's play ''
R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)'';
and ''
agitprop
Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', " propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...
'' (1930) (a
portmanteau of "agitation" and "propaganda").
Background
Neologisms are often formed by combining existing words (see
compound noun and adjective
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or sign) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. Compounding occurs when ...
) or by giving words new and unique
suffixes or
prefixes. Neologisms can also be formed by
blending words, for example, "brunch" is a blend of the words "breakfast" and "lunch", or through
abbreviation or
acronym, by intentionally
rhyming with existing words or simply through playing with sounds. A relatively rare form of neologism is when proper names are used as words (e.g., boycott, from
Charles Boycott),
guy,
Dick
Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to:
Media
* ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia
* Dicks (band), a musical group
* ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film
* "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat
Names ...
, and
Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic la ...
.
Neologisms can become popular through
memetics, through
mass media, the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
, and
word of mouth, including academic discourse in many fields renowned for their use of distinctive
jargon, and often become accepted parts of the language. Other times, they disappear from common use just as readily as they appeared. Whether a neologism continues as part of the language depends on many factors, probably the most important of which is acceptance by the public. It is unusual for a word to gain popularity if it does not clearly resemble other words.
History and meaning
The term ''neologism'' is first attested in English in 1772, borrowed from French ''néologisme'' (1734). In an academic sense, there is no professional Neologist, because the study of such things (cultural or ethnic vernacular, for example) is
interdisciplinary. Anyone such as a
lexicographer or an
etymologist might study neologisms, how their uses span the scope of human expression, and how, due to science and technology, they spread more rapidly than ever before in the present times.
The term ''neologism'' has a broader meaning which also includes "a word which has gained a new meaning".
Sometimes, the latter process is called ''semantic shifting'',
or ''semantic extension''. Neologisms are distinct from a person's ''
idiolect
Idiolect is an individual's unique use of language, including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. This differs from a dialect, a common set of linguistic characteristics shared among a group of people ...
'', one's unique patterns of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
Neologisms are usually introduced when it is found that a specific notion is lacking a term, or when the existing vocabulary lacks detail, or when a speaker is unaware of the existing vocabulary. The law, governmental bodies, and technology have a relatively high frequency of acquiring neologisms. Another trigger that motivates the coining of a neologism is to disambiguate a term which may be unclear due to having many meanings.
Literature
Neologisms may come from a word used in the narrative of fiction such as novels and short stories. Examples include "
grok" (to intuitively understand) from the science fiction novel about a Martian entitled ''
Stranger in a Strange Land'' by
Robert A. Heinlein; "
McJob
"McJob" is a slang term for a low-paying, low-prestige dead-end job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of advancement. The term "McJob" comes from the name of the fast-food restaurant McDonald's, but is used to describe any l ...
" (precarious, poorly-paid employment) from ''
Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'' by
Douglas Coupland; "
cyberspace" (widespread, interconnected digital technology) from ''
Neuromancer'' by
William Gibson and "
quark" (Slavic slang for "rubbish"; German for a type of
dairy product) from
James Joyce's ''
Finnegans Wake''.
The title of a book may become a neologism, for instance, ''
Catch-22
''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non- ...
'' (from the title of
Joseph Heller's novel). Alternatively, the author's name may give rise to the neologism, although the term is sometimes based on only one work of that author. This includes such words as "
Orwellian" (from
George Orwell, referring to his dystopian novel ''
Nineteen Eighty-Four'') and "Kafkaesque" (from
Franz Kafka).
Names of famous characters are another source of literary neologisms (e.g., ''
quixotic'', referring to the romantic and misguided
title character in ''
Don Quixote'' by
Miguel de Cervantes), ''
scrooge'' (from the avaricious main character in
Charles Dickens' ''
A Christmas Carol'') and ''
pollyanna'' (from the unfailingly optimistic character in
Eleanor H. Porter
Eleanor Emily Hodgman Porter (December 19, 1868 – May 21, 1920) was an American novelist, most known for ''Pollyanna'' (1913) and '' Just David'' (1916).
Biography
Eleanor Emily Hodgman was born in Littleton, New Hampshire, on December 19, ...
's book of the same name).
Cant
Polari is a cant used by some actors, circus performers, and the
gay subculture to communicate without outsiders understanding. Some Polari terms have crossed over into mainstream slang, in part through their usage in pop song lyrics and other works. Example include: ''acdc'', ''barney'', ''blag'', ''
butch'', ''
camp
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
'', ''khazi'', ''cottaging'', ''hoofer'', ''mince'', ''ogle'', ''scarper'', ''slap'', ''strides'', ''tod'', ''
ough
Ough may refer to:
* Ough (orthography), a letter sequence in English orthography
* Ough (surname) Ough is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bruce R. Ough (born 1951), Bishop of the United Methodist Church
* Onyinye Ough, Nig ...
trade'' (
rough trade
Rough Trade may refer to:
* Rough Trade Records, a record label
*Rough Trade (shops)
Rough Trade is a group of independent record shops in the United Kingdom and the United States with headquarters in London.
The first Rough Trade shop was o ...
).
Verlan
() is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words. The wor ...
(), (''verlan'' is the reverse of the expression "l'envers") is a type of
argot in the
French language, featuring inversion of
syllables in a word, and is common in
slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words.
Some ''verlan'' words, such as ''meuf'' ("femme", which means "woman" roughly backwards), have become so commonplace that they have been included in the ''
Petit Larousse
''Le Petit Larousse Illustré'', commonly known simply as ''Le Petit Larousse'' (), is a French-language encyclopedic dictionary published by Éditions Larousse. It first appeared in 1905 and was edited by Claude Augé, following Augé's '' Dictio ...
''. Like any slang, the purpose of ''verlan'' is to create a somewhat secret language that only its speakers can understand. Words becoming mainstream is counterproductive. As a result, such newly common words are re-verlanised: reversed a second time. The common ''meuf'' became ''feumeu''.
Popular culture
Neologism development may be spurred, or at least spread, by popular culture. Examples of pop-culture neologisms include the American
Alt-right (2010s), the Canadian
portmanteau "
Snowmageddon
Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, and Snowzilla are portmanteaus of the word "snow" with "Armageddon", "Apocalypse", and "Godzilla" respectively. Snowmageddon and Snowpocalypse were used in the popular press in Canada during January 2009, and was also ...
" (2009), the Russian
parody "
Monstration" (ca. 2004),
Santorum (c. 2003).
Neologisms spread mainly through their exposure in
mass media. The
genericizing of
brand names, such as "coke" for
Coca-Cola, "kleenex" for
Kleenex facial tissue, and "xerox" for
Xerox photocopying, all spread through their popular use being enhanced by mass media.
However, in some limited cases, words break out of their original communities and spread through
social media. "
DoggoLingo
DoggoLingo is an Internet language that is created from word conversion, meme lexicon, and onomatopoeia. Emerging in the 2010s, DoggoLingo is implied to be a dog's own idiom, and is presented as what humans have long believed goes on in the c ...
", a term still below the threshold of a neologism according to
Merriam-Webster,
is an example of the latter which has specifically spread primarily through
Facebook group and
Twitter account use.
[Boddy, Jessica (April 23, 2017)]
"Dogs Are Doggos: An Internet Language Built Around Love For The Puppers"
''National Public Radio''. The suspected origin of this way of referring to dogs stems from a Facebook group founded in 2008 and gaining popularity in 2014 in Australia. In Australian English it is common to use
diminutives, often ending in –o, which could be where doggo-lingo was first used.
The term has grown so that Merriam-Webster has acknowledged its use but notes the term needs to be found in published, edited work for a longer period of time before it can be deemed a new word, making it the perfect example of a neologism.
Translations
Because neologisms originate in one language, translations between languages can be difficult.
In the scientific community, where English is the predominant language for published research and studies, like-sounding translations (referred to as 'naturalization') are sometimes used.
Alternatively, the English word is used along with a brief explanation of meaning.
The four translation methods are emphasized in order to translate neologisms:
transliteration,
transcription, the use of analogues,
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
or loan translation.
When translating from English to other languages, the naturalization method is most often used. The most common way that professional translators translate neologisms is through the
Think aloud protocol (TAP), wherein translators find the most appropriate and natural sounding word through speech. As such, translators can use potential translations in sentences and test them with different structures and syntax. Correct translations from
English for specific purposes
English for specific purposes (ESP) is a subset of English as a second or foreign language. It usually refers to teaching the English language to university students or people already in employment, with reference to the particular vocabulary an ...
into other languages is crucial in various industries and legal systems.
Inaccurate translations can lead to 'translation asymmetry' or misunderstandings and miscommunication.
Many technical glossaries of English translations exist to combat this issue in the medical, judicial, and technological fields.
Other uses
In
psychiatry and
neuroscience, the term ''neologism'' is used to describe words that have meaning only to the person who uses them, independent of their common meaning. This can be seen in
schizophrenia, where a person may replace a word with a nonsensical one of their own invention (e.g., "I got so angry I picked up a dish and threw it at the geshinker"). The use of neologisms may also be due to
aphasia acquired after
brain damage resulting from a
stroke or
head injury.
[B Butterworth, ''Hesitation and the production of verbal paraphasias and neologisms in jargon aphasia''. Brain Lang, 1979 ]
See also
*
Aureation
*
Backslang
*
Blend word
*
Language planning
In sociolinguistics, language planning (also known as language engineering) is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure or acquisition of languages or language varieties within a speech community.Kaplan B., Robert, and Richa ...
*
Nonce word
*
Mondegreen
*
Morphology (linguistics)
*
Phono-semantic matching
*
Portmanteau
*
Protologism
*
Retronym
*
Sniglet
*
Syllabic abbreviations
*
Word formation
References
External links
Neologisms in Journalistic TextInterpretation of the Formation of Internet Neologisms*
ttps://books.google.com/books?id=3x-umCIwEYQC Algeo, John. ''Fifty Years among the New Words: A Dictionary of Neologisms, 1941–1991''WordspyRice University Neologisms DatabaseNeologisms from the Internet – with Esther Dyson, Jimmy Wales and more...
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Lexicology
Terminology