neologisms in mass media

8/10/2019 Neologisms in Mass Media

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Introduction

Inlinguistics, a neologism is a recently-coinedword, or the act of

inventing a word or phrase. Additionally it can imply the use of old

words in a new sense such as giving new meanings to existing words or

phrases. Neologisms are especially useful in identifying inventions, new

phenomena, or old ideas which have taken on a new cultural context.

The word "neologism" was coined around1800and was, at the time, a

neologism itself. A person who develops a neologism is sometimes

called a neologist; neology is the act of introducing a new word into a

language.

Changing culture

Neologisms tend to occur more often in cultures which are rapidly

changing, and also in situations where there is easy and fast propagation

of information. They are often created by combining existing words orby giving words new and uniquesuffixesorprefixes.Those which are

shortened. Neologisms can also be created through

abbreviationoracronym,by intentionallyrhymingwith existing words,

or simply through playing with sounds.

Neologisms often become popular by way ofmass media, theInternet,

orword of mouthespecially, many linguists suspect, by younger people.

Every word in a language was, at some time, a neologism, though mostof these ceased to be such through time and acceptance.
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Neologisms often become accepted parts of the language. Other times,

however, they disappear from common usage. Whether or not a

neologism continues as part of the language depends on many factors,

probably the most important of which is acceptance by the public.

Acceptance by linguistic experts and incorporation into dictionaries also

plays a part, as does whether the phenomenon described by a neologism

remains current, thus continuing to need a descriptor. It is unusual,

however, for a word to enter common use if it does not resemble another

word or words in an identifiable way. (In some cases however, strange

new words succeed because the idea behind them is especially

memorable or exciting). When a word or phrase is no longer "new," it is

no longer a neologism. Neologisms may take decades to become "old",

though. Opinions differ on exactly how old a word must be to no longer

be considered a neologism; cultural acceptance probably plays a moreimportant role than time in this regard.

Cultural acceptance

After being coined, neologisms invariably undergo scrutiny by the

public and bylinguiststo determine their suitability to the language.

Many are accepted very quickly; others attract opposition. Languageexperts sometimes object to a neologism on the grounds that a suitable

term for the thing described already exists in the language. Non-experts

who dislike the neologism sometimes also use this argument, deriding

the neologism as "abuse and ignorance of the language."

Some neologisms, especially those dealing with sensitive subjects, are

often objected to on the grounds that they obscure the issue being

discussed, and that such a word's novelty often leads a discussion awayfrom the root issue and onto a sidetrack about the meaning of the

neologism itself.
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Proponents of a neologism see it as being useful, and also helping the

language to grow and change; often they perceive these words as being a

fun and creative way to play with a language. Also, the semantic

precision of most neologisms, along with what is usually a

straightforward syntax, often makes them easier to grasp by people whoare not native speakers of the language.

The outcome of these debates, when they occur, has a great deal of

influence on whether a neologism eventually becomes an accepted part

of the language. Linguists may sometimes delay acceptance, for instance

by refusing to include the neologism in dictionaries; this can sometimes

cause a neologism to die out over time. Nevertheless if the public

continues to use the term, it always eventually sheds its status as a

neologism and enters the language even over the objections of languageexperts.

Versions of neologisms

Unstable- Extremely new, being proposed, or being used

only by a very small subculture.

Diffused- Having reached a significant audience, but not yet

having gained acceptance.

Stable- Having gained recognizable and probably lastingacceptance.

Types of neologisms


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Scientific- words or phrases created to describe new

scientific discoveries.Example:quark Technological- words or phrases created to describe

inventions.Example:laser

Political- words or phrases created to make some kind of

political or rhetorical point, sometimes perhaps with an eye

to theSapir-Whorf hypothesis.Example:pro-life

Pop-culture- words or phrases evolved from mass media

content or used to describe popular culture phenomena (these

may be considered a subsection ofslang).Example:carb

Imported- words or phrases originating in another language.

Typically they are used to express ideas that have no

equivalent term in the native language.

(Seeloanword.)Example:tycoon Trademarksare often neologisms to ensure they are

distinguished from other brands. If legal trademark protection

is lost, the neologism may enter the language as agenericized

trademark.Example:Kodak Nonce words- words coined and used only for a particular

occasion, usually for a special literary effect. Psychological- nonsensical words spontaneously invented

byschizophrenics.

Neologisms in literature

Many neologisms have come from popular literature, and tend to appear

in different forms. Most commonly, they are simply taken from a word

used in the narrative of a book; for instance,McJobfromDouglas

Coupland'sGeneration X: Tales for an Accelerated

CultureandcyberspacefromWilliam Gibson'sNeuromancer.

Sometimes the title of the book will become the neologism. For

instance,Catch-22(from the title ofJoseph Heller's novel)

andGeneration X(from the title of Coupland's novel) have become part
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of the vocabulary of many English-speakers. Also worthy of note is the

case in which the author's name becomes the neologism, although the

term is sometimes based on only one work of that author. This includes

such words asOrwellian(fromGeorge Orwell, referring to his

novelNineteen Eighty-Four) andBallardesque(fromJ.G. Ballard,author ofCrash).

Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" has been called "the king of

neologistic poems" as it incorporated some dozens of invented words.

The early modern English prose writings of SirThomas Browne1605-1682are the source of many neologisms as recorded by theOED.

Inpsychology,a neologismis a word invented by a person suffering

from psychotic disorders;psychiatristssometimes use these neologisms,

which often have meaning only to the subject, as clues to determine the

nature of the subject's disorder.

Intheology,a neologismis a relatively new doctrine (for

example,rationalism). In this sense, a neologist is an innovator in thearea of a doctrine or belief system, and is often considered heretical orsubversive by the mainstream church.

The Washington Post Neologism

Competition

1. Coffee(n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted(adj.), appalled over how much weight you

have gained.

3. Abdicate(v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flatstomach.
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4. Esplanade(v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly(adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent(adj.), describes a condition in which you

absentmindedly

answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph(v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle(n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulance(n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you

are run over

by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash(n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle(n.), a humorous question on an exam.12. Rectitude(n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by

proctologists.

13. Pokemon(n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster(n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with

Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism(n.), The belief that when you die, your

Soul flies uponto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent(n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts

worn by Jewish men.

Examples of Popular Culture Neologisms

Tebowing: description of a prayerful victory stance derived from NFL

quarterback Tim Tebow.

Brangelina: used to refer to supercouple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Metrosexual: A man who dedicates a great deal of time and money to

his appearance.

Muffintop: This refers to the (often unsightly) roll of fat that appearson top of trousers that feature a low waist.


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Stitch'n'bitch: A gathering of individuals who chat or gossip while

knitting or crocheting.

BFF: Stands for best friends forever. Used to state how close you are to

another individual.

Vagjayjay: Slang term for the vagina that was believed to have been

coined by Oprah.

Chilax: To calm down or relax, it is a slang term used when someone is

starting to get uptight about something that is happening.

Racne: Acne located on a womans chest.

Staycation: A vacation at home or in the immediate local area.

Conclusion

Neologisms stand for innovation in every language. New words are

created every day and their number in English is growing fast. Thus it is

important to analyze the reasons for appearance of neologisms in alanguage. Newspapers are one of the media which has a significant role

in creating and spreading neologisms by using these new words in their

articles. It is significant to learn how these words are created, because

neologisms undergo certain linguistic processes, the so-called word

formation processes, and to try to find out to what structural-semantic

types neologisms belong and in which sphere of life they are used more

frequently. The theoretical findings of the research allow putting forththe following hypothesis: mass media is one of the main discourses in

the framework of which neologisms are created, and the most

frequently used structural-semantic types of neologisms to be

encountered in the newspaper language are the neologisms with new

form and already existing meaning.

Sources:


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http://dks.thing.net/Neologism.html

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tates/translation-of-neologisms

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212652.html

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blog/great-examples-of-neologisms/
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