Coining: Coined - Definition

COINING
Coined - Definition
In linguistics, a neologism is a recently coined word, 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 around 1800 and 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.
The rarest source of new word is coining, entirely orginal creation, utilizing neither word from
another language nor morphemes and word salready in use in English. Coinages or root creations are
pure creations of writers, investors, scientists and others who are in need of a term to express a given
meaning or to name item or product.
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 (see compound noun and adjective) or by giving words new and unique suffixes or
prefixes. Those which are portmanteaus 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) — especially, many linguists suspect, by younger people. 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 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 more important role than time in this regard.
Cultural acceptance
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
always eventually sheds its status as a neologism and enters the language even over the objections of
language experts.
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 lasting acceptance.
Types of neologism
 Scientific - words or phrases created to describe new scientific discoveries. Example: prion
 Political - words or phrases created to make some kind of political or rhetorical point, sometimes
perhaps with an eye to the Sapir-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 of slang). 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. (See loanword.) Example: tycoon
 Trademarks are often neologisms to ensure they are distinguished from other brands. If legal
trademark protection is lost, the neologism may enter the language as a genericized 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 by schizophrenics.
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, 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.
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.
Word coinage - Definition

Words and phrases are often created, or "coined," by combining existing words, or by giving words
new and unique suffixes and/or prefixes. For example, the word "video" had been used to describe
any visual image on a television screen, and "tape" to describe a thin strip; the word "videotape" was
invented in 1953 as a combination of these two, named by combining the words for two of its key
features. Further, the words "video" and "audio" themselves were not borrowed from Latin until the
twentieth century, when new technology required words to define the two concepts. Words which
are combined are often shortened or lengthened, such as "smoke" and "fog" becoming smog (1905).
Words coined in such a way are called portmanteaus.
Words can also be created through abbreviation, acronym (such as laser), by intentionally rhyming
with existing words, or simply through playing with sounds.
Another illustration of coinage is seen in the word dot-com (1994), denoting a company that relies
on the Internet for most or all of its business, which arose due to the frequency of businesses
including ".com" in their company name. As the Internet became a major market force, it required
the creation of an easy term to describe these businesses. This is an easily pinpointed example of
how a new idea can quickly become a new word, or neologism, usually based on a void in the then-
current language or a need to expedite the expression of an idea which is gaining popularity. New
words often enter the language through mass media, the Internet, or through word of mouth—
especially, many linguists suspect, by younger people.
Words and phrases can also be created as an attempt to frame a political issue, in order to cause the
listener of the word or phrase to interpret the issue as coiner intends. A contemporary example
where two phrases have been coined to frame the same issue in opposite ways are "pro-life" and
"pro-choice".
Examples of word coinage

 Words created to describe scientific discoveries:
o black hole (1968)
o quark (1964)
 Words created to describe inventions:
o radar (1941)
o laser (1960)
 Words created to make some kind of political or rhetorical point, perhaps with an eye to the Sapir-
Whorf hypothesis:
o meritocracy (1958)
o political correctness (1990)
o sie and hir (neologisms)
o homophobia (1969)
 Slang terms which evolve from mass media content or are used to describe popular culture
phenomena:
o jumping the shark
o Chuck Cunningham syndrome
o Baldwin (a good-looking man, such as one of the Baldwin family of actors)
o Scooby Gang (a group which humorously resembles the teens on the cartoon Scooby-Doo)
 Words are often imported from another language. Typically they are used to express ideas that have
no equivalent term in the native language (see loanword):
o potato (1565)
o zen (1727)
o ao dai (1960s)
o Vietcong (1960s)
o Tet (1968)
o anime (1988)

Coining: Coined - Definition

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COINING

Word coinage - Definition

Examples of word coinage

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