An Appreciation of Aelian de Silva's Contribution as a Neologist

2016

Lexical borrowing is a commonplace word-formation process in many a languages of the contemporary world. Phono-Semantic Matching (henceforth PSM) is an important but hitherto neglected process of camouflaged lexical borrowing. This process employs preexistent Target Language (henceforth TL) forms to coin new words (henceforth neologisms) that phonetically and semantically resemble the original Source Language (henceforth SL) words. Thus, it is clear that PSM is something more than mere lexical borrowing. This paper presents the findings of a research conducted to explore PSMs in the Sinhalese language. The research was executed in three steps. The first was the collection of PSMs. During the library research a considerable number of PSMs were found among neologisms coined by Cumaratunga Munidasa. Most of them appeared in his journal 'Subasa' published from 10 th July 1939 to 16 th February 1942. Thus, it was made the key sample of data for the research. The second step was the analytic classification of PSMs. Documentation of the findings became the third step. This paper presents a general introduction to the concept of PSM in section 2, along with a classification of PSMs in the Sinhalese language in section 3 below. 2. Neologisation & Phono-semantic Matching (PSM) A neologism is a new word introduced into a language. P. H. Matthews (1997:261) defines it as a new word which has entered language by whatever process, and has gained some currency in its speech community. The act of forming neologisms in a language is traditionally referred to as 'Word-formation'. Here, the term 'Neologisation' is preferred over the traditional term 'Word-formation'. Thus, all possible ways and processes of forming neologisms are known as neologisation processes. Before examining the features of PSM as a neologisation process, it is proper to present a taxonomy of the sources of neologisation that will help in positioning PSM in the system. Yair Sapir (2003:61-62) observes four sources of neologisms as follows: a. Zero Source (ex nihilio) Neologisms from this source are not based on any pre-existent lexical material. Some brand names like Google, Yahoo are form this source.

Abstracts: Undergraduate Research Conference on Linguistics, 2016

Journal of Greek Linguistics, 2011

The dictionary is based on: Hadumod Bussmann Lexikon der Sprachwissenschaft 2nd, completely revised edition in co-operation with and with contributions by colleagues Kröner All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

2011

This article aims to propose the technique of the Specialized Neologism Glossary (GNE - Glossario Neologico Especializado) as a resource for neoverB :040793:KM in conscientiological subdisciplines. The proposal arose from the context of aid to this author’s research on ?393:K140=140-07./3-+>18K0<0-07M+ and, particularly, in the exercise of personal skills in neoverponography. The technique of GNE consists in the creation of a structured neological entry section based on neological analysis variables about the proposed new words and highlighted in the work in question. The work method was composed by the description of the concepts guiding the development of GNE, through neoverponographic methodology, herein proposed, and the guidelines of the International Council of Neologistics (ICNEO) to submit proposals for neologisms. This research is aimed at providing terminological contribution to conscientiological subdisciplines and the development of neothosenity, verponological tho...

International Handbook of Modern Lexis and Lexicography , 2022

This chapter begins with an introduction to Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan and South Asian language spoken by the Sinhalesethe largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka. The historical overview of ancient Sinhala lexicography provides a summary of oldest Sinhala lexicons (nighaṇṭu), and the impact of Pali and Sanskrit lexicographical compilations on Sinhala. The sixteenth century saw the initial impact of European colonial power on Sri Lanka, and the subsequent periods witnessed the compilation of dictionaries in the European tradition in Sri Lanka. The linguistic endeavors of Dutch and British missionaries led to a variety of lexicographical works in Sinhala. The year 1927 marked the beginning of a governmentsponsored Sinhala dictionary project, which aimed to compile an etymological dictionary of Sinhala under the direction of the German Indologist, Professor Wilhelm Geiger. With the expansion of linguistic activity in Sinhala, and the demand for Sinhala as an official language in the country, there was a need for practical dictionaries in the 1940s to 1960s. During this period, several attempts were made to produce Sinhala-Sinhala and English-Sinhala dictionaries for use in schools and government departments. The government Sinhala dictionary project dragged on for 65 years and was finally completed in 1992. The present

International Journal of Language, Literacy and Translation

This study investigated the neologism manifestations in the communication style of Adamu, also known as Baba-inane, using semantic analysis method. As an individual with speech impairment, Adamu (Baba-inane) does not speak his indigenous language fluently similar to other individuals in his locality. As such he innovated simple and peculiar way of expressing meanings to events and identities, at his capability. The term "neologism" used in the study refers to the creation of new words. The main focus of this study is the phenomena of neologism, which explores how a dialect in the person of Adamu "Baba-ina-ne" comes up with new terms. The three elements of neologism-word generation, borrowing, and coining-form the basis of this paper's theoretical framework. The use of neologism as a research tool is the foundation of this work. Participant observation, interviews, and the ethnography method were used to gather the data. The research showed that one person could have a significant impact on the development of new terms, which are then adopted by the local population and used in daily speech. Undoubtedly, neologisms offer vivid depictions of a variety of social and cultural acts in the separate societies, and the motivation behind them all is the same: to increase the language's vocabulary.

2024

The present work offers insights into lexical aspects of this emerging variety to systematically look into neologisms in Kuwaiti English (KE) using corpus linguistics methods and techniques. Such research results in a deeper understanding of lexical development, productivity, and creativity in the variety under scrutiny, as well as how reciprocal lexical influences develop within a variety (Anesa 3). The study focuses on a written corpus of 337,102 words to see whether or not written English-language texts in Kuwait can provide sufficient data worthy of further exploration. The current project in broad strokes focuses on (i) local neologisms and (ii) L2 neologisms. To flesh out the latter, namely suffixation, compounding, and borrowing, a predetermined list, wildcards, and corpus query language (CQL) were used. For the former, keyness analysis was used, and it was found that this technique provided more insight into indigenous words than suffixation, compounding, predetermined lists, wildcards, and CQL, all of which did not reveal sufficient evidence of neologisms in KE. Overall, keyness analysis was the most successful method in uncovering neologisms in the corpus. As the data indicate, the most productive features of KE seem to be those that are related to culture or religion. It could identify words that were not detected by the other methods. Moreover, more research should be done on more types of neologisms, such as blends, in order to obtain a better understanding of the use of English in Kuwait. According to the study, neologisms are used because they are practical, culturally influenced, and socially acceptable. Additionally, KE neologisms are mainly the result of semantic change, such as semantic restriction. Research on neologisms, especially geared towards understanding cultural or religious concepts incorporated within a variety, seems to be best examined using keyness analysis as it highlights such terms and concepts effectively.