Lexical innovation: cromulently embiggening a language

Authors

  • Ian MacKenzie

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.2014.27.06

Keywords:

Lexical innovation, Neologisms, Morphological productivity, Lexical creativity, Lexical diffusion

Abstract

In this article I look at the main ways of making new English words, and at the different types of neologisms this produces; consider various categories of people who coin them, including famous authors and television scriptwriters as well as anonymous nonnative speakers of English as a lingua franca, and highlight the similarities and differences in the ways they tend to coin words; consider to what extent the formation of new words by way of established processes or rules or schemas should be thought of as morphological productivity rather than individual creativity; and finally look at the processes by which neologisms can, potentially, be diffused.

Statistics

Statistics RUA

Published

15-11-2014

How to Cite

MacKenzie, Ian. 2014. “Lexical Innovation: Cromulently Embiggening a Language”. Alicante Journal of English Studies / Revista Alicantina De Estudios Ingleses, no. 27 (November):91-105. https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.2014.27.06.

Issue

Section

Articles