Cover not available
Part of
Science Communication in Times of Crisis
Edited by Pascal Hohaus
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 96] 2022
► pp. 91–118

Chapter 5
COVID-19 neologisms between metaphor and culture

A multilingual corpus-based study

| University of Granada

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis, which affects all aspects of our lives: health, economy, education, politics, etc. Since the surge of this pandemic crisis, an explosion of new terms was perceived in all languages. The transfer of terms from specialised language into general language and vice versa commenced to occur more frequently and at a great velocity, generating metaphor based neologisms as well as cultural based neologisms. Both metaphor-based terms and culture-based terms were widely spread thanks to its great power as a didactic and cognitive tool as they facilitate the quick comprehension of complex terms.

Generally speaking, English, the lingua franca, is usually the promotor of transfer of terms amongst languages; however, during this pandemic, it is observed that not only English plays a pivotal role in the transfer of those terms between languages, but also, other languages and cultures.

In this case study, we analyse through multilingual corpus in English, Spanish and Arabic, the new terms which were inserted into those languages and their structural base. Our objective is to distinguish metaphor-based terms as well as cultural based terms which appear in the COVID-19 discourse in those languages and the adequacy of their structural formation.

We believe that the borrowing and calques were widely used to transfer terms between languages, which sometimes lead to misleading formations in some languages and cultures.

Keywords: COVID-19 discourse, metaphor-based terms, culture-based terms – corpus analysis, translation studies, English, Spanish, Arabic
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Coining neologisms in times of COVID-19
  • Corpora
    • English corpus
    • Spanish corpus
    • Arabic corpus
  • Method
    • Step 1: Identification of metaphor and cultural based neologisms
    • Step 2: Analysis of the morphological and etymological origin of the neologism
  • Results and analysis
    • English terms
    • Analysis of English terms
    • Spanish terms
    • Analysis of Spanish terms
    • Arabic terms
    • Analysis of Arabic terms
      • حظر الجمعة [ḥaẓr aljum‘ah]
      • ساعة رفع الحظر [sā‘at raf‘ alḥaẓr]
      • مناعة القطيع [manā‘at alqaṭy‘]
      • المريض صفر [almaryḍ ṣifr]
      • الفيروس التاجي المستجد [alvāyrus attājyī almustajid]
  • Conclusions
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 10 August 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.96.05had
References
Abaza, Rabab
2020 “هل يمكن أن تصاب بكورونا مرتين؟ المناعة ضد كوفيد-19 [Is it Possible to Get Infected with Corona Twice? Immunity Against Covid-19]”. Helloha, April 7 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Abdul Mannan, Baig
2021 “Chronic COVID Syndrome: Need for an Appropriate Medical Terminology for Long-COVID and COVID Long-haulers.” Journal of Medical Virology 93: 2555–2556. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Akut, Katherine B.
2020 “Morphological Analysis of the Neologisms during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” International Journal of English Language Studies 2 (3): 1–7. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alghad
Available from: [URL]
Al-Salman, Saleh, and Ahmad S. Haider
2021 “COVID-19 Trending Neologisms and Word Formation Processes in English.” Russian Journal of Linguistics 25 (1): 24–42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alshebir, Aseel
2021 “الحكومة تحدد ساعة رفع الحظر الشامل يوم الجمعة [The Government Specifies the Hour of Lifting the Total Lockdown in Fridays].” Jordan Records, April 22 2021 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Ammon
2021 “محافظة: حظر الجمعة لم يقدم أي نتيجة واضحة على الوضع الوبائي في الأردن [Muhafatha: the Friday lockdown did not provide any clear result on the pandemic situation in Jordan].” Ammon News, April 10 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Areq
2020 “جائحة فيروس كورونا 2019–20 [The Pandemic of Corona Virus 2019–20].” Areq. Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet, and Anat Yarden
2005 “Text Genre as a Factor in the Formation of Scientific Literacy”. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 42 (4): 403–428. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
BBC in Arabic
Available from: [URL]
Benadon Oks, Rodrigo
2020 “El Efecto Injustificado del Coronabitcoin Durante el Coronapocalipsis [The Unjustified Effect of Coronabitcoin During the Coronapcalyspis0].” BAE Negocios, March 19 2020 Available from: [URL] (07/03/2022)
Berbēs
2020 “La Pandemia, de la «A» a la «Z» [The Pandemic, from the «A» to the «Z»].” Available from: [URL] (24/7/2021).
Bezos, Javier
2020 “El Oteador de Palabras: «Balconazi», «Vacunología», «Coronadamas» [The Scout of Words: «Balconazi», «Vacunología», «Coronadamas»].” El blog de la Fundéu RAE, Apri1 8th 2020 Available from: [URL] (25/06/2021).
Bordet, Geneviève
2016 “Counteracting Domain Loss and Epistemicide in Specialized Discourse: A Case Study on the Translation of Anglophone Metaphors to French.” Publications 4 (2): 18: 1–12. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bowker, Lynne
2020 “French-language COVID-19 Terminology: International or localized?” The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 7 (2): 1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Peter J.
2009 Science for All: The Popularization of Science in Early Twentieth-Century Britain. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bozděchová, Ivana
2015 “Word-formation and Technical Languages.” In Word-Formation, ed. by Peter O. Müller, Ingeborg Ohnheiser, Susan Olsen, and Franz Rainer, 2251–2266. Berlin/München/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton,. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bratkovich, Meghan Odsliv
2018 “Shining Light on Language for, in, and as Science Content.” Science & Education 27: 769–782. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bucchi, Massimiano, and Brian Trench
(eds) 2021 Routledge Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cabré Castellvi, María Teresa
1993 La Terminología: Teoría, Metodología, Aplicaciones [Terminology: Theory, methods and applications]. Barcelona: Empurues.Google Scholar
1999 Terminology: Theory, Methods and Applications. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cambridge Online Dictionary
URL: [URL]
Cancelas-Ouviña, Lucía-Pilar
2021 “Humor in Times of COVID-19 in Spain: Viewing Coronavirus through Memes Disseminated via WhatsApp.” Frontiers in Psychology 12: 1–12. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Candel-Mora, Miguel Ángel
2017 “Criteria for the Integration of Term Banks in the Professional Translation Environment.” Sendebar 28: 243–260.Google Scholar
Cave, Emma
2020 “COVID-19 Super-spreaders: Definitional Quandaries and Implications.” Asian Bioethics Review 12: 235–242. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Collins Online Dictionary
URL: [URL]
Cram, Peter; Anderson, Mel L. and Shaughnessy, Erin E.
2020 “All Hands on Deck: Learning to “Un-specialize” in the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Hospital Medicine 15 (5): 314–315. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cuadrado-Esclapez, Georgina; Argüelles Álvarez, Irina; Duran Escribano, Maria Pilar; Gomez Ortiz, Maria José; Molina Plaza, Silvia; Pierce McMahon, Joana; Robisco-Martín, Maria-Mar; Roldán-Riejos, Ana; y Úbeda-Mansilla, Paloma
2016 Diccionario Bilingüe de Metáforas y Metonimias Científico-Técnicas. Ingeniería, Arquitectura y Ciencias de la Actividad Física [Bilingual Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Metaphors and Metonymy. Engineering, Architecture and Science of Physical Activity]. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cusano, Diego
[@DiegoCusano_] 2020 Le Pozioni del Coronasutra #Coronavirus [Tweet]. (March 5 2020) Twitter. [URL]
De Quiroga, Cris
2020 “El Covid Da un Vuelco al Mapa de la Prostitución en Madrid [The Covid Reverses the Map of Prostitution in Madrid].” ABC, September 16 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Diccionario Histórico de la Lengua Española
URL: [URL]
Dictionary of Real Academia Española
URL: [URL]
Dictionary.com
URL: [URL]
Faber, Pamela and Montero-Martínez, Silvia
2019 “Terminology.” The Routledge Handbook of Spanish Translation Studies, ed. by Roberto Valdeón, and África Vidal, 247–266. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fløttum, Kjersti
2017 The Role of Language in the Climate Change Debate. New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gajanan, Mahita
2020 “What Does ’Shelter in Place’ Mean? Here’s What Life Is Like Under the Mandate.” Time, March 19 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Ghaboun, Hadeel
2020 “الأردن يرفع حظر الجمعة الشامل ويبقي على الجزئي خشية الموجة الثالثة [Jordan Lifts the Total Friday Lockdown and Remains in the Partial one Fearing from the Third Wave].” CCN in Arabic, April 28 2021 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Gjerstad, Øyvind, and Kjersti Fløttum
2021 “Climate Change Lifestyle Narratives Among Norwegian Citizens: A Linguistic Analysis of Survey Discourse.” European Policy Analysis 00: 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Glamour
2020 “Cómo Tener Sexo con Cubrebocas sin Arruinar el Momento [How to Have Sex with a Mask Without Ruining the Moment].” Glamour, December 7 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Hacken, Pius ten, and Renáta Panocová
2013 “The Use of Corpora in Word Formation Research”, Corela 13: 1–10. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haddad Haddad, Amal, and Silvia Montero-Martínez
2020 “COVID-19: A Metaphor-Based Neologism and its Translation into Arabic”. Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) 19 (5): 1–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Herfurth, Haley
2020 “What Exactly Does it Mean to ‘Flatten the Curve’? UAB Expert Defines Coronavirus Terminology for Everyday Life”. UAB NEWS, April 28 2020 Available from: [URL] (05/03/2022).
Hernández, Humberto
2020a “Coronavirus, el Pretexto [Coronavirus, the Pretext].” El Día, April 7 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
2020b “Las Palabras en la Desescalada [The Word in the De-escalation.” La Provincia, May 25 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Huang, Li-Feng, Xe Liu, and Vincent Ng
2015 “Associating Sentimental Orientation of Chinese Neologism in Social Media Data.” In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE 19th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design, 240–246. CSCWD. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ihlen, Øyvind
2020 “Science Communication, Strategic Communication and rhetoric: The Case of Health Authorities, Vaccine Hesitancy, Trust and Credibility.” Journal of Communication Management 24 (3): 163–167. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Justicia Antònia
2021 “Del Coronaskam al Zoompleaños: el Diccionario de la Pandemia. [From Coronaskam to Zoompleaños; the Dictionary of the Pandemic].” La Vanguardia, January 30 2021 Available from: [URL] (25/06/2021).
Katella, Kathy
2020 “Our New COVID-19 Vocabulary – What Does It All Mean?”. Yale Medicine, April 7 2020 Available from: [URL] (05/03/2022).
Khalfan, Maryah, Batool Huma, and Wasima Shehzad
2020 “Covid-19 Neologisms and their Social Use: An Analysis from the Perspective of Linguistic Relativism.” Linguistics and Literature Review 6(2): 117–129. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klyoum
2021 “وزير الأوقاف يعلن ساعة رفع الحظر لأداء صلاة الجمعة [Endowment Announced the Hour of lifting the Lockdown to Practice “the Friday Prayer”].” KlYoum, March 4 2021 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Larson, Brendon
2011 Metaphors for Environmental Sustainability: Redefining Our Relationship with Nature. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Lei, Siyu, Ruiying Yanga, and Chu-Ren Huang
2021 “Emergent Neologism: A Study of an Emerging Meaning With Competing Forms Based on the First Six Months of COVID-19.” Lingua 258: 1–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
León Araúz, Pilar
2009 Representación Multidimensional de Conocimiento Especializado: El Uso de Marcos Desde la Macroestructura hasta la Microestructura [Multidimensional Representation of Specialised Knowledge: The Use of Frames from the Macrostructure to the Microstructure]. PhD Thesis. University of Granada.
Linder, Daniel, and Goedele De Sterck
2016 “Non-native Scientists, Research Dissemination and English Neologisms: What Happens in the Early Stages of Reception and Re-production?” Ibérica 32: 35–58.Google Scholar
Lyu, Wei, and George L. Wehby
2020 “Shelter-In-Place Orders Reduced COVID-19 Mortality and Reduced The Rate of Growth In Hospitalizations.” Health Affairs 39 (9): 1615–1623. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Márquez Linares, Carlos
2002 “Polisemia, Vaguedad Referencial y Terminología. [Polysemy, Referential Vagueness and Terminology]”. In Investigar en Terminología [Investigating in Terminology], ed. by Pamela Faber Benítez, and Catalina Jiménez Hurtado, 215–226. Granada: Comares.Google Scholar
Mattiello, Elisa
2019 “A Corpus-based Analysis of New English blends.” Lexis 14: 1–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maxouris, Christina and Yan, Holly
2020 “ ‘Hunker down’: The Fall Covid-19 Surge is Here.” CNN, October 14 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
May Pura, Cielo, Thomas Biermeier, and Leah Gustilo
2022 “How the Pandemic Fuels Linguistic Change: Lexical Innovations in L1 and L2 English Varieties”. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies 22 (1): 80–109. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McKay, Richard
2020 “Patient Zero: Why it’s Such a Toxic Term.” The Conversation, April 1 2020 Available from: [URL] (25/06/2021).
Meshram, Manisha S., and Ramila Bisht
2020 “The Coronapocalypse and Sanitation Workers in India.” The Wire, May 22 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Mestre, Guillermo
2021 “La Ya No Tan Nueva Normalidad: Así ha Cambiado la Covid-19 Nuestra Vida Cotidiana [The Already not Too New Normality: This is How the Covid-19 Changed Our Daily Life]”. Heraldo, March 8 2021 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Morón, Marián, and Elisa Calvo
2018 “Introducing Transcreation Skills in Translator Training Contexts: A Situated Project-based Approach.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 29: 126–148. Available from: [URL] (23/07/2021)
Nazi, Gamal
2020 “بسبب كوفيد-19.. 2020 عام استثنائي للعلوم [Because of Covid-19… 2020 an Exceptional Year in Science].” Alarabiya, December 22 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/’7/2021).
Nwogu, Kevin N.
1991 “Structure of Science Popularizations: A Genre-analysis Approach to the Schema of Popularized Medical Texts”, English for Specific Purposes 10: 111–123. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Oxford English and Spanish Dictionary, Synonyms, and Spanish to English Translator
URL: [URL]
Oxford Learner’s Dictionary
URL: [URL]
Palou, Pedro Ángel
2020 “El Amor en los Tiempos del Coronapocalipsis [Love in Times of Coronapocalypsis].” Diario Contra Réplica, March 23 2020 Available from: [URL] (08/07/2022).
Paredes García, Florentino, and Pedro Sánchez-Prieto Borja
2021 “Lengua y Discurso en Torno a la COVID-19. [Language and Discourse Related to the COVID-19].” RIECS 6 (1): 91–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Paul, Kari
2020 “Zoom Releases Security Updates in Response to ‘Zoom-bombings’”. The Guardian, April 23 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Ramadani, Nabeelah
2020 ““العربي الجديد” يلتقي “المريض صفر” بفيروس كورونا أوروبياً… القصة من بدايتها [“Al-Arabi Aljadeed” Meets the European “Patient Zero” with Coronavirus. The story from the Beginning]”. Alaraby, May 23 2020 Available from: [URL] (21/07/2021)
Rodríguez Abella, Rosa María
2021 Palabras Para una Pandemia. Algunas Notas sobre las Creaciones Neológicas Utilizadas para Comunicar la Enfermedad por Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Tributo a Vitelio Ruiz Hernández [Words for a Pandemic. Some Notes Concerning the Creation of Neologisms Used to Communicate the Disease Caused by Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. A Tribute to Vitelio Ruiz Hernández]. Ediciones Centro de Lingüística Aplicada, 78–82.Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Ponga, Rafael
2020 “El Nacimiento de un Nuevo Vocabulario: Consecuencias Lingüísticas de la Pandemia. [The Birth of New Vocabulary: Linguistic Consequences of the Pandemic].” In Pandemia y Resiliencia: Aportaciones Académicas en Tiempos de Crisis, ed. by Marcin Kazmierczak, María Teresa Signes, and Carreira Zafra, Cintia, 197–249. Pamplona: EUNSA.Google Scholar
Roudometof, Victor
2020 “It’s (Not) the End of the World as We Know It and I (Don’t) Feel Fine”: Through the Looking Glass Mirror of the Coronapocalypse”. Pandemic (Im)Possibilities 45 (1). Available from: [URL]
Saladrigas, Verónica María; Munoa, Laura; Navarro, Fernando A. and Paz Gómez Polledo
2020 “Glosario de Covid-19 (En-Es) Abreviado. [Glossary of Covid-19 (En-Es) Abbreviated].” Panacea XXI (51): 110–172. Available from: [URL] (22/06/2021).
Sampedro, Javier
2020 “Coronacionalismo [Coronationalisim].” El País, March 26 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/20201).
Santos, Sergio, Matteo Chiesa, and Maritsa Kissamitaki
2020 “Is the Global Response to Covid-19 Justified?” Philpapers: 1–23. Available from: [URL] (20/06/2020).
Sawt Beirut International
2021 “ماذا لو لم نصل أبداً إلى مناعة القطيع؟ [What if we have never reached the herd immunity]”. Sawt Beirut International, February 10 2021 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Scarpa, Federica
2020 Research and Professional Practice in Specialised Translation. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schäler, Reinhard
2010 “Localization and Translation”. In Handbook of Translation Studies, ed. by Yves Gambier, and Luc van ‎Doorslaer, 209–214. Amesterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schmid, Hans-Jörg
2008 “New Words in the Mind: Concept-Formation and Entrenchment of Neologisms.” Anglia 126 (1): 1–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Semana
2021 “Colombia Has Already Vaccinated Against the Coronavirus Almost 14% of the Population Necessary to Achieve Herd Immunity]” Semana, June 22 2021 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Setera, Kristen
2020 “FBI Warns of Teleconferencing and Online Classroom Hijacking During COVID-19 Pandemic.” FBI, March 30 2020 Available from: [URL] (24/07/2021).
Shaw, Chris, and Brigitte Nerlich
2015 “Metaphor as a Mechanism of Global Climate Change Governance: A Study of International Policies, 1992–2012.” Ecological Economics 109: 34–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Steurs, Frieda and Kockaert, Hendrik J.
2014 “Language planning and domain dynamics: challenges in term creation.” Dragoman 2 (2): 1–14.Google Scholar
Temmerman, Rita
2018 “European Union Multilingual Primary Term Creation and the Impact of its Neologisms on National Adaptations”. Parallèles 30 (1): 8–20. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO)
2020 Dictionary of COVID-19 Terms. Rabat: Bureau de Coordination d’Arabisation.Google Scholar
World Health Organization
2019 “Pneumonia of Unknown Cause Reported to WHO China Office” 31 December 2019 URL: [URL] (11/06/2020).
2020 “Novel Coronavirus Disease Named COVID-19” 11 February 2020 [URL] (11/06/2020).