Neologism
A
neologism is a
word,
term, or
phrase which has been recently created ("coined") — often to apply to new concepts, or to reshape older terms in newer language form. Neologisms are especially useful in identifying
inventions, new
phenomena, or old
ideas which have taken on a new cultural context. The term
e-mail, as used today, would be an example of a neologism.
Neologisms are by definition "new", and as such are often directly attributable to a specific individual, publication, period or event. The term "neologism" was itself coined around
1800; so for some time in the early 19th Century, the word "neologism" was itself a neologism.
Neologisms can also refer to an existing word or phrase which has been assigned a new meaning.
In
psychiatry, the term is used to describe the creation of words which only have meaning to the person who uses them. It is considered normal in children, but a symptom of
thought disorder indicative of a
psychotic mental illness such as
schizophrenia in adults. Usage of neologisms may also be related to
aphasia acquired after
brain damage resulting from, say, a
stroke or
head injury.
In
theology, a neologism is a relatively new doctrine (for example,
rationalism). In this sense, a neologist is an innovator in the area of a doctrine or belief system, and is often considered heretical or subversive by the mainstream clergy or religious institution(s).
Neologisms tend to occur more often in cultures which are rapidly changing like South Africa, and also in situations where there is easy and fast propagation of information. They are often created by combining existing words (see
compound noun and adjective) or by giving words new and unique
suffixes or
prefixes. Those which are
portmanteaux are shortened. Neologisms can also be created through
abbreviation or
acronym, by intentionally
rhyming with existing words, or simply through playing with sounds.
Neologisms often become popular by way of
mass media, the
Internet, or
word of mouth (see also
Wiktionary's
Neologisms:unstable or
Protologism pages for a wiki venue of popularizing newly coined words). Every word in a language was, at some time, a neologism, though most of these ceased to be such through time and acceptance.
Neologisms often become accepted parts of the language. Other times, however, they disappear from common usage. Whether 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 more important role than time in this regard.
After being coined, neologisms invariably undergo scrutiny by the public and by
linguists to determine their suitability to the language. Many are accepted very quickly; others attract opposition. Language experts 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 away from the root issue and onto a sidetrack about the meaning of the neologism itself.
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 who are 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 eventually sheds its status as a neologism and enters the language even over the objections of language experts.
* Unstable - Extremely new, being proposed, or being used only by a very small subculture (also known as
protologism).
* Diffused - Having reached a significant audience, but not yet having gained widespread acceptance.
* Stable - Having gained recognizable and probably lasting acceptance.
* Science — words or phrases created to describe new scientific discoveries or inventions.
Examples: **
beetle bank (early 1990s)
**
black hole (1968)
**
laser (1960)
**
meme (1976)
**
prion**
quark (1964)
**
radar (1941)
*
Science fiction — concepts created to describe new, futuristic ideas.
Examples:**
ansible (1969)
**
Dyson Sphere (circa 1960)
**
hyperspace (1934)
**
lightsaber (1977)
**
Metaverse (1992)
**
replicant (1982)
**
Ringworld (1971)
**
robotics (1941)
* Politics — words or phrases created to make some kind of political or rhetorical point, sometimes perhaps with an eye to the
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
Examples:**
Chindia (2004)
**
Corporatocracy**
dog-whistle politics (1990)
**
genocide (1943)
**
heterosexism**
homophobia (1969)
**
Islamophobia (1991)
**
meritocracy (1958)
**
political correctness (1970)
**
pro-choice
**pro-life**
Republicrat (1985)
**
sie and hir (
pronouns)
**
soccer moms (1992)
**War on Terror (2001)*
Some political neologisms, however, are intended to convey a negative point of view. Example: brutalitarian* Pop-culture — words or phrases evolved from mass media content or used to describe popular culture phenomena (these may be considered a variety of
slang as well as neologisms).
Examples:**
badonkadonk **
blog**
gay**
jumping the shark**suisare
**
posterized**
prequel**Baldwin (a good-looking man, such as one of the Baldwin family of actors)
*
From "d'oh" to "cromulent" - many neologisms from The Simpsons are now in common use.* Commerce & advertising —
genericised trademarks.
Examples:**
aspirin**
crock pot**
laundromat**
linoleum*
etc.* Linguistics; words or phrases created to describe new language constructs.
Examples:**
Apronym (2003)
**
Backronym (1983)
**
Protologism (2005)
**
Retronym (popularized in 1980)
**
snowclone (2004)
* Other — misc. sources.
Examples:**"
nonce words" — words coined and used only for a particular occasion, usually for a special literary effect.
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; a few representative examples are
Grok, a verb formally meaning "to achieve complete
intuitive understanding", that was coined by
science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his
novel Stranger in a Strange Land;
McJob from
Douglas Coupland's
Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture and
cyberspace from
William Gibson's
Neuromancer. Sometimes the title of the book will become the neologism. For instance,
Catch-22 (from the title of
Joseph Heller's novel) and
Generation X (from the title of Coupland's novel) have become part 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 as
Orwellian (from
George Orwell, referring to his novel
Nineteen Eighty-Four) and Ballardesque (from
J.G. Ballard, author of
Crash).
Kurt Vonnegut's
Cat's Cradle was the container of the
Bokononism family of Nonce words. Another potential category would be words derived from famous characters in literature, such as
Quixotic referring to
Don Quixote (from
Don Quixote de la Mancha by
Cervantes), a
Scrooge (from
Dickens'
A Christmas Carol), or a
Pollyanna (from
Eleanor H. Porter's book of the same name).
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 Sir
Thomas Browne 1605-
1682 are the source of many neologisms as recorded by the
OED.
: "Yesterday's neologisms, like yesterday's
jargon, are often today's essential vocabulary."
: – Academic Instincts, 2001
[1]English
* Fowler, H.W., "The King's English,"
Chapter I. Vocabulary,
Neologism, 2nd ed. 1908.
Information
* Root knowledge :
The need for neologisms* Neologism
History & Evaluation* International Dictionary of Literary Terms :
Neologisms* The Urban Dictionary : http://urbandictionary.com
Wiktionary
*
Wiktionary: Neologisms*
Wiktionary: Neologisms unstable*
Wiktionary: Neologisms diffused*
Wiktionary: Neologisms stableIndices
*
The Internalational Dictionary of Neologisms*
Neologisms in Journalistic Text*
Lexicon of Neologism *
Internet Neologisms*
Neologisms in the Dictionaries of All-Consonant and All-Vowel Words*
wordspy.com*
Wordmint Blog*
Neologisms A-Z*
unwords.com*
Collected by Rice Universtiy linguistics class, 2003*
It Figures-Figures of Speech
