Article published in:
The Evolution of Englishes: The Dynamic Model and beyond
Edited by Sarah Buschfeld, Thomas Hoffmann, Magnus Huber and Alexander Kautzsch
[Varieties of English Around the World G49] 2014
► pp. 448–469

Lexical creativity reconsidered

GUI, cyborg, cred, pay-per-view, techno and cyber-

The present study complements and modifies Fischer (1998), who analyzed creative neologisms in the British newspaper The Guardian 1991–1996 and established a general model of lexical institutionalization. First, we will present and discuss relevant research in cognitive linguistics. Secondly, we will consider various corpus-based studies about neologisms published from the 1990s onwards, particularly about meaning cues and the life-cycle of neologisms. In an empirical part, we will then investigate novel coinages and constituents in the London Guardian from the 1980s until 2012, including the combining forms techno- and cyber-, whose productivity will be measured and compared as well. The findings allow a re-evaluation of the factors involved in the institutionalization process.
Keywords: corpus linguistics, institutionalization, lexical change, neologism, productivity, word-formation
Published online: 12 September 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g49.26fis
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