Lexical innovation: cromulently embiggening a language
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.2014.27.06Keywords:
Lexical innovation, Neologisms, Morphological productivity, Lexical creativity, Lexical diffusionAbstract
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.Downloads
Statistics
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
License
Copyright (c) 2014 Ian MacKenzie
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.