How new words are created in modern English
In the second half of the twentieth century, world languages began to be actively replenished with new words. Thanks to the active development of technology and globalization, a large number of new adaptations, concepts, professions have appeared.
Linguists claim that the English dictionary is updated annually by 15-20 thousand lexical items. In 1987, the Penguin Random House publishing house conducted a large-scale study of English vocabulary. Researchers found that in 20 years more than 50,000 absolutely new lexical units had appeared, and the value of 210,000 words should be revised or supplemented.
Today, the process of changing and completing the vocabulary of the English language is even faster. Thanks to the Internet, any successful neologisms instantly enter the lexicon of hundreds of thousands of people.
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We will examine the basic principles of how neologisms are created in English.
English is considered one of the most actively changing among European languages. That is why he often acts as a donor for a vocabulary of other languages. Neologisms quite rooted in Spanish, French and even Russian.
The most actively developing speech styles are:
The requirements for new lexemes are completely understandable. They should be brief in the transfer of information, capacious in meaning, conveniently pronounced and flexible enough to fully participate in speech.
These requirements for creating new words are best met by two lexical tools: word-merge and abbreviation. Consider each of them separately.
Many lexemes, formed with the help of word mergers, have entered our lives quite tightly. For example, such words as “transistor”, “motel”, “modem” - all these words were created from several lexemes collected in one word.
In scientific fields, neologisms are created in such a way that both lexemes that make up a new word are understood without problems. For example, cyborg, bionics, astrionics.
In journalism and advertising, the semantics of words may not be obvious, and it will be difficult or even impossible to understand the meaning on your own. For example, galumph. This is the result of the fusion of the words "gallop" and "triumph", but for many it may be incomprehensible.
There are several types of creation of neologisms in the case of words:
The main value of word fusion is that neologisms retain the original morphemes, and using them you can determine the meaning of the new word with a fairly high probability.
Many linguists point out that abbreviation is the most artificial way to create new words in a language. Indeed, in essence, an absolutely new lexeme is created, the meaning of which has nothing to do with any other existing word.
When creating abbreviations also used the norms of phonetic consonance.
There are 2 ways to create abbreviations:
Initial — to create the first letters of words. In turn, there are two separate types of initial abbreviations:
Combined - in it the initial abbreviation is combined with a truncated word or a few truncated words. The principal difference from word formation is that lexemes are shortened so much that it is almost impossible to understand the interpretation of the abbreviation. For example: Tacan (Tactical Air Navigation), Univac (Universal automatic computer).
The most successful of them acquire the meaning of full-fledged lexemes and are used on the same level with them. Let's look at some of the most famous examples.
As for the new unique words created with the help of abbreviations, the military sphere is unexpectedly in the lead. Often, the furious official names of equipment, teams, and actions are replaced by shorter equivalents. Moreover, abbreviations are often supplemented, changing their meaning. For example: RAF (Royal air force) - Rafer (officer of the Royal Air Force), STOL (short take-off and landing) - stolport (airport or a separate landing strip for aircraft with short take-off and landing), MATS (Military air transport service ) - matsman (employee of the military aviation transport service).
Abbreviations often replace even whole phrases, especially in online communication. But only a few of them go into real life: for example, lol (laughing out loud), imho (in my humble opinion), irl (in real life), omg (Oh, my god).
However, most abbreviations cannot be transferred from online to real life. All because many of them are created using homophonic links. For example, “IMYY4U” stands for “I am too wise for you” and because of homophony, it can only be used in text form.
English is quite flexible in terms of the formation of new words, so the full dictionary of the English language is growing extremely rapidly. The full version has more than a million words True, about 75% of neologisms are forgotten after 2-5 years, so learning everything is completely optional.
Learn better English complex. And neologisms should be studied only when they are needed - it will be much more effective.
Only for Habr's readers - the first lesson with a teacher on Skype for free ! When purchasing from 10 classes, specify the newwords_skype promo code and get another 2 lessons as a gift. The bonus is valid until 05/31/19.
Get 2 months of premium subscriptions for all EnglishDom courses as a gift .
Take them right now on the link
Our products:
Learn English words in the ED Words mobile app
Learn English from A to Z in the ED Courses mobile app
Install the Google Chrome extension, translate English words on the Internet and add them to the study in the Ed Words application
Learn English in the form of an online simulator
Consolidate conversational skills and find friends in conversational clubs.
Watch the video lifehacks about English on the YouTube-channel EnglishDom
Linguists claim that the English dictionary is updated annually by 15-20 thousand lexical items. In 1987, the Penguin Random House publishing house conducted a large-scale study of English vocabulary. Researchers found that in 20 years more than 50,000 absolutely new lexical units had appeared, and the value of 210,000 words should be revised or supplemented.
Today, the process of changing and completing the vocabulary of the English language is even faster. Thanks to the Internet, any successful neologisms instantly enter the lexicon of hundreds of thousands of people.
')
We will examine the basic principles of how neologisms are created in English.
English is considered one of the most actively changing among European languages. That is why he often acts as a donor for a vocabulary of other languages. Neologisms quite rooted in Spanish, French and even Russian.
The most actively developing speech styles are:
- scientific style - especially in the field of scientific and technological progress, military and medical technologies;
- advertising style - designed for marketing promotion and brand building;
- publicistic style - for a more accurate and interesting description in the media.
The requirements for new lexemes are completely understandable. They should be brief in the transfer of information, capacious in meaning, conveniently pronounced and flexible enough to fully participate in speech.
These requirements for creating new words are best met by two lexical tools: word-merge and abbreviation. Consider each of them separately.
Colloquially - the best supplier of neologisms
Many lexemes, formed with the help of word mergers, have entered our lives quite tightly. For example, such words as “transistor”, “motel”, “modem” - all these words were created from several lexemes collected in one word.
Transistor = transfer + resistorHere are some more common neologisms created by merging:
Motel = motor + hotel
Modem = modulator + demodulator
Narcoma = narcotic + comaIt is noteworthy that most often the words are connected not by a formal method, but by a phonetic consonance.
pulsar = pulse + quasar
quasar = quasi + stellar
bionics = biology + electronics
medicare = medical + care
brunch = breakfast + lunch
glasphalt = glass + asphalt
smog = smoke + fog
cyborg = cybernetic + organism
In scientific fields, neologisms are created in such a way that both lexemes that make up a new word are understood without problems. For example, cyborg, bionics, astrionics.
In journalism and advertising, the semantics of words may not be obvious, and it will be difficult or even impossible to understand the meaning on your own. For example, galumph. This is the result of the fusion of the words "gallop" and "triumph", but for many it may be incomprehensible.
There are several types of creation of neologisms in the case of words:
- Combining grammatical foundations. Possibly truncated and abbreviated. In essence, the roots of two words are taken and combined with the help of euphony rules in one word. This type includes: cyborg, medicare.
- Combining the beginning of one word and the end of another. This type includes: brunch, Oxbridge, galumph.
- Combining the full basis of one word with the abbreviated basis of another. For example: workaholic, narcoma.
- Combining two complete grammatical foundations with phonetic overlay. For example, glasphalt and slanguage.
The main value of word fusion is that neologisms retain the original morphemes, and using them you can determine the meaning of the new word with a fairly high probability.
Abbreviations - difficult, but interesting
Many linguists point out that abbreviation is the most artificial way to create new words in a language. Indeed, in essence, an absolutely new lexeme is created, the meaning of which has nothing to do with any other existing word.
When creating abbreviations also used the norms of phonetic consonance.
There are 2 ways to create abbreviations:
Initial — to create the first letters of words. In turn, there are two separate types of initial abbreviations:
- Letter abbreviations: they are pronounced in letters - as in the alphabet. For example, the BBC (BBC), CNN (C-en-en)
- Sound: read as full words - NATO, UFO.
Combined - in it the initial abbreviation is combined with a truncated word or a few truncated words. The principal difference from word formation is that lexemes are shortened so much that it is almost impossible to understand the interpretation of the abbreviation. For example: Tacan (Tactical Air Navigation), Univac (Universal automatic computer).
The most successful of them acquire the meaning of full-fledged lexemes and are used on the same level with them. Let's look at some of the most famous examples.
- Laser . This word is firmly included in the lexicon of scientists and science fiction writers. But in essence, this is a sound abbreviation that can be decoded: "Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation."
- Teflon . The name of the remarkable non-stick coating that is applied to the pans is the abbreviation of its chemical formula “Tetrafluoroethylene”.
- Seal is a branch of troops, which in Russian began to be called "sea lions", an abbreviation of "Sea, air, land". And the fact that it coincided in a really existing word, which, moreover, fits in its meaning, is good luck, which fixed the word in the lexicon.
- Jeep - the name of the car came from the abbreviation of the phrase “General purpose vehicle”, which in fact was cut to two GP sounds, and for convenience we selected the corresponding letter equivalent.
As for the new unique words created with the help of abbreviations, the military sphere is unexpectedly in the lead. Often, the furious official names of equipment, teams, and actions are replaced by shorter equivalents. Moreover, abbreviations are often supplemented, changing their meaning. For example: RAF (Royal air force) - Rafer (officer of the Royal Air Force), STOL (short take-off and landing) - stolport (airport or a separate landing strip for aircraft with short take-off and landing), MATS (Military air transport service ) - matsman (employee of the military aviation transport service).
Abbreviations often replace even whole phrases, especially in online communication. But only a few of them go into real life: for example, lol (laughing out loud), imho (in my humble opinion), irl (in real life), omg (Oh, my god).
However, most abbreviations cannot be transferred from online to real life. All because many of them are created using homophonic links. For example, “IMYY4U” stands for “I am too wise for you” and because of homophony, it can only be used in text form.
English is quite flexible in terms of the formation of new words, so the full dictionary of the English language is growing extremely rapidly. The full version has more than a million words True, about 75% of neologisms are forgotten after 2-5 years, so learning everything is completely optional.
Learn better English complex. And neologisms should be studied only when they are needed - it will be much more effective.
EnglishDom.com is an online school that inspires learning English through innovation and human concern.
Only for Habr's readers - the first lesson with a teacher on Skype for free ! When purchasing from 10 classes, specify the newwords_skype promo code and get another 2 lessons as a gift. The bonus is valid until 05/31/19.
Get 2 months of premium subscriptions for all EnglishDom courses as a gift .
Take them right now on the link
Our products:
Learn English words in the ED Words mobile app
Learn English from A to Z in the ED Courses mobile app
Install the Google Chrome extension, translate English words on the Internet and add them to the study in the Ed Words application
Learn English in the form of an online simulator
Consolidate conversational skills and find friends in conversational clubs.
Watch the video lifehacks about English on the YouTube-channel EnglishDom
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/447458/
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