Telescopic neologisms of modern English: structure and semantics

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Telescopic neologisms of modern English: structure and semantics

Oksana Vorobiova

Anhelina Lazebnyk

Досліджено структурні та семантичні особливості неологізмів сучасної англійської мови, утворених за допомогою телескопії як особливого різновиду компресивного словотвору; виділено основні структурні типи, підтипи й структурні моделі телескопічних неологізмів; складено семант ичну класифікацію т елескопічних лексем, щорозглядают ься, з огляду на їхн ю частиномовну приналежність; проілюстровано зазначені структурні та семантичні типи, визначено їхню продуктивність; доведено наявність чіткоїкореляціїміж «гібридною» струк- турою та «гібридною» семантикою досліджуваних лексем. neologism english telescopic

Ключові слова: компресивний словотвір, телескопія, телескопізм, телескопічний неологізм, структурна/семантична «гібридність».

TELESCOPIC NEOLOGISMS OF MODERN ENGLISH: STRUCTURE AND SEMANTICS

Oksana Vorobiova

Germanic Philology and Translation Department, National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”, Poltava, Ukraine.

Anhelina Lazebnyk

Germanic Philology and Translation Department, National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”, Poltava, Ukraine.

Abstract

Background: The study of neologisms, among the ways of formation of which a special place is given to such a way of word formation, as telescopy (a kind of compressive word formation, which involves the combination of two or more truncated word bases) is engaged in a special section of lexicology - neology, the increased interest to which, especially recently, is due to the important role of neologisms as the so called “mirrors' of language development. The topicality of the study is accounted for by the need for further, more detailed description of word-forming and semantic peculiarities of modern English neologisms, formed through telescopy as a special kind of compressive word-formation (telescopic neologisms or telescopisms).

Purpose: The purpose of the research presupposes a comprehensive complex study of the telescopic neologisms in terms of their structural and semantic features.

Results: As a result of the research, structural types, subtypes and models of the studied telescopic neologisms are established, their productivity being identified - the most productive in quantitative terms appear to be the telescopisms, which are a combination of two truncated bases with the additional imposition of certain fragments at their junction (e. g.: acrobsession (acronym + obsession), slanguist (slang + linguist)).

The analysis of the part-of-speech reference of the units under consideration shows the predominance of telescopic nouns, which, in turn, once again confirms the common belief that the expansion of the vocabulary of the language is mainly due to the names of objects and phenomena (e. g.: Engnet (English + Internet)). However, the units in question are not limited exclusively to substantival telescopisms, and less productive in quantitative terms adjectival (e. g.: tradigital (traditional + digital)) and verbal (e. g.: to jalk (to jog + to walk)) telescopic units also function alongside them.

Discussion: Structural “hybridity” of English telescopic neologisms, is correlated with their semantic “hybridity”, which, in turn, is manifested through combining the meanings of their immediate constituents.

Keywords: compressive word formation, telescopy, telescopism, telescopic neologism, structural / semantic “hybridity”.

The most variable aspect of any language is its vocabulary, which has the ability to constantly expand due to the emergence of new words (neologisms).

The study of neologisms, among the ways of formation of which a special place is given to such a way of word formation, as telescopy (a kind of comp ressive word formation, which involves the combination of two or more truncated word bases) (Ostrovska 130, Cannon 725-726), is engaged in a special section of lexicology - neology, the increased interest to which, especially recently, is due to the impor tant role of neologisms as the so called “mirrors” of language development.

Neologisms, including those created by telescopy (also widely known as telescopic neologisms), e. g. Brexit, Engnet etc., have long attracted the attention of many linguists who have tried to comprehensively cover issues, related to the structure of these lexical units (Galyshyn, Yenikieieva, Korobova, Omelchenko, Tym o- shenko, Zatsnyi), their semantics (Ostrovska, Chernikova, Chumak, Cannon), functioning (Andrusiak, Antiufeeva, Shutova, Bryant, Lehrer, Warren and others).

As early as the middle of the twentieth century, most linguists did not recognize telescopy as a separate way of word formation, pointing to its borderline nature in relation to other ways of forming new lexical units (Korobova 102). It was believed that telescopy to a certain extent tended towards one of the traditionally existing ways of word formation, namely, compounding or shortening (Shutova 81).

The most characteristic structural feature ofthe telescopic word is that at least one of its components is represented not by a whole, but by a truncated base, its frag - ment. This is the main difference between telescoping and compounding (Ostrovska).

Referring telescopic words to abbreviations is also controversial, as most tele- scopisms, unlike abbreviations, have no equivalents among “free” phrases, and are formed as a result of establishing associative connections between two syntactically separated words (Kizil 148).

However, despite the existing studies, the above mentioned aspects of dealing with telescopic neologisms in the English language have not been fully dwelt on, including the lack of detailed description of the structural models of these units and their detailed semantic classification. Moreover, neologisms appear to be a lexical layer of any language which is constantly developing and extending and, therefore, needs a constant attention to.

The topicality ofthis study, hence, is due to the need for further more detailed description of the word-forming and semantic p eculiarities of such productive lexical units, as telescopic neologisms of modern English are.

The purpose of the work, which presupposes a comprehensive study of the n eo- logisms under consideration (telescopic neologisms) in terms ofword formation and semantics, involves carrying out the following tasks: 1) to determine the theoretical basis for the study of lexical units under analysis; 2) to single out and illustrate the basic structural types of the telescopic lexemes studied; 3) to compile a semantic classification of the telescopic units, taking into account their part-of-speech reference;

4) to establish a correlation between structural and semantic types of these units.

The object of the study is telescopic neologisms of modern English, the subject being structural and semantic features of neologisms suggested.

The empirical material of the research consists of305 telescopic neologisms, selected by the method of continuous sampling from such lexicographic sources as the English-Ukrainian dictionary of neologisms “Innovations in the vocabulary of the English language at the beginning of the XXI century: English-Ukrainian dictionary ” as well as definition dictionary of the English-language neologisms (Oxford Essential Dictionary ofNew Words).

The research methods are predetermined by the purpose and the tasks of the p aper and are as follows: the method of analyzing dictionary definitions, the method of paraphrasing, the method of word-building analysis, the descriptive method and the method of quantitative calculations.

The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that it dwells on further study of such an actively developing layer of vocabulary as neologisms. For the first time an attempt is made to comprehensively analyze the structural and semantic features of telescopic neologisms of modern English.

The theoretical and practical significance of the research is accounted for by the development ofprinciples and criteria for a complex analysis of the semantics and word-forming potential of the telescopic units under study, which arouse a permanent scientific interest, representing a constantly developing and extending lexical layer of any natural language.

Neologisms of modern English, which are an integral part of its dynamically developing lexical system, can be formed by means of compressive word formation, pre - supposing the reduction of one or two or more source bases. Compressive word formation, in turn, can be manifested through such a word-building method as telescopy.

The versatility and terminological novelty of this linguistic phenomenon p red e- termine the existence of the whole range of terminological synonyms to define the language units formed by it, including, among others, “telescopic words /names” (Omelchenko), “ingot words”, “hybrid words” (Antiufeeva), “blends” (Cannon), which, in turn, indicates the relevance of studying telescopy, which is also known as contamination in modern linguistics.

It should be noted that the research works, which have already been p erformed on the material of telescopic lexemes of English and other languages, were related exclusively to the structure of the units under consideration. The study suggested is an attempt to perform a comprehensive structural and semantic analysis, which involves singling out structural types ofthe these language units, describing and illust - rating specific structural models, determining their productivity; the semantics of telescopic neologisms is studied in the direction of compiling the semantic classification of these lexical units, taking into account their part-of-speech reference. Particular attention in the current research is paid to the establishment of correlations between structural and semantic aspects of the analysis, as well as to the confirmation of the “hybrid” nature of these words, both at the structural and semantic levels.

In this paper, on the material of305 telescopic neologisms, selected by continuous sampling from definition and translation lexicographic sources, the basic among which being the English-Ukrainian dictionary of neologisms “Innovations in the English-language vocabulary at the beginning of the 21st century ” and Oxford Essential Dictionary of New Words, an attempt was made to comprehensively study the stru c- ture and semantics ofmodern English telescopic neologisms.

As a result of the study of word-forming peculiarities of the neologisms under analysis, 4 main structural types of them have been identified, namely:

1) telescopic neologisms formed by imposing fragments at the junction of two or more truncated word bases (131 units, 43 %), e. g.: acrobsession `excessive use of acronyms' (fromacronym `a word made up from the first letters ofthe names of smth., usually pronounced as a single word' + obsession `a fixed and often unreasonable idea with which the mind is continually concerned '; mutual component is -o-); jargonaut `a person who uses jargon excessively ' ^ jargon + Argonaut (mutual element is -argon-); deskfast `breakfast eaten while working at the computer ' ^ desk + breakfast (mutual component is -k-); netizen `a person who spends a lot of time in the Internet' ^Internet + citizen (mutual element is -t-);

2) telescopic neologisms consisting oftwo or more truncated components without imposition of the fragments (74 units, 24 %), e. g.: rumint `intelligence data, obtained from unreliable sources ' ^ rumour `gossip ' + intelligence; bleen `of blue and green colour (about water colour)' (blue + green ');

3) telescopic neologisms consisting of a full (complete) first and a truncated second components without imposition of the fragments (62 units, 20 %), e. g.: awful- some `combining terrible with divine' (awful + awesome);

4) telescopic neologisms consisting of a truncated first and a full (complete) second components without imposition of the fragments (3 8 units, 13 %), e. g.: Engn et `English sector on the Internet' ^ English + net `network', langsign `a word, which substitutes for or defines an object or a notion' ^ language + sign.

As a result of the semantic classification of the units under consideration, taking account their part-of-speech reference, the following typical meanings of them have been singled out:

1) for substantival telescopic neologisms:

a) names of phenomena and concepts (in various spheres of human activity), e. g. femachism `persuasion that women achieve more success than men ', menoporsche 'fear and anxiety some middle-aged men can have with regard to younger girls '; glo- bish `a kind of special English, spoken by non-native speakers', envirocrime `human activities, which are extremely dangerous for the environment ';

b) living beings (humans and animals), e. g.: blandlubber `the one fond of bland, unsavory food (without spices)';yakow `a hybrid of yak and cow';

c) objects and substances, e. g.: spork` plastic spoon with blunt teeth on the hand which can also be used as a fork '; glasphalt `substance for covering roads (glass + asphalt)';

d) places, e. g.: boatel`a hotel for boaters on a river bank', megaversity `a large university with thousands of students enrolled ';

e) states, e. g.: diabesity `physical state of a person, who suffers from diabetes and has excessive weight', ringxiety `confusion that a group of people feel when a mobile telephone rings ';

2) for adjectival telescopic neologisms:

a) characteristics ofpeople (by social status, psychological and emotional characteristics), e. g.: divorserated `the one divorced or living separately from the family', annoynymous `an anonymous person who constantly annoys with numerous, usu. fussy actions';

b) characteristics of substances (by external features), e. g.: bleen `of blue and green colour ';

c) characteristics of concepts and phenomena, e. g.: interamous `known through the Internet ', tradigital `created by combining traditional and modern technology ';

3) for verbal telescopic neologisms:

a) movement in space, e. g.: to jalk `to exercise, combining jogging with walking';

b) physical impact, e. g.: to smothercate `to smother, to suffocate';

c) mental perception, e. g.: to memberlect `to recollect smb. / smth.';

d) interpersonal communication, e. g.: to politickle `to be engaged in political discussions, displaying a good sense of humor '.

Semantic heterogeneity of telescop ic neologisms of the English language, which is a consequence of their structural heterogeneity, is expressed in the presence in the system ofthese units ofthe so-called “hybrid” names, combining in their semantics different spheres of human activity, e. g.:

1) educational and scientific-technical spheres, e. g.: webucation `virtual education, online education';

2) social and physiological spheres, e. g.: globesity `worldwide obesity epidemic';

3) aesthetic (art) and scientific-technical spheres, e. g.: weblication `literary work online';

4) social and political spheres, e. g.: popaganda `exploitation ofpop music, pop literature, p op art to promote certain p olitical ideas ';

5) economic and scientific-technical / cultural / environmental spheres, e. g.: in - fonomics `information technology related economy ', culturnomics `the economy dependent on the characteristics of a particular country's culture (history, mentality, r e- ligion, and politics)'; ecolonomics `a lifestyle related to vital activities that do not interfere with the conservation of the environment '.

The present study enables to draw the following conclusions and generalizations, to put forward some research prospects.

As a result of studying the word-forming peculiarities oftelescopic neologisms of modern English, 4 main structural types of them have been singled out, namely: 1) telescopic neologisms formed by imposing fragments at the junction of two or more truncated word bases; 2) telescopic neologisms consisting oftwo or more truncated comp onents without imp osition of the fragments; 3) telescop ic neologisms consisting of a full (complete) first and a truncated second components without imp osition of the fragments; 4) telescopic neologisms consisting of a truncated first and a full (complete) second components without imposition of the fragments. It was found out that the most productive in quantitative terms are the telescopisms, which appear to be a combination of two original truncated bases with the additional imposition of certain fragments at their junction.

The analysis ofthe part-of-speech reference of the studied units shows the predominance of telescopic nouns, which, in turn, once again confirms the common b e- lief that the expansion ofthe vocabulary ofthe language is mainly due to the names of objects and phenomena. However, the units in question are not limited exclusively to substantival telescopisms, and less productive in quantitative terms adjectival an d verbal telescopic units also function alongside them.

As a result of the semantic classification of telescopic nouns, 5 lexical-semantic group s have been identified, which include the names of phenomena and concepts (in various spheres of human activity), living beings (humans and animals), objects, places, states. Semantic classification of adjectival telescopisms involves their division into units that characterize a person on certain grounds (social status, p sy chological and emotional characteristics), substances (on the basis of their external features), as well as concepts and phenomena (belonging to some particular fields of human activity).

Semantic heterogeneity is also inherent in a small number of verbal telescopisms, which imply in the verbal taxonomy ofmodern English movement in space, physical imp act, mental p erception and interpersonal communication.

Semantic heterogeneity of telescop ic neologisms of the English language, which is a consequence of their structural heterogeneity, is expressed in the presence within the system of these units of the so-called “hybrid” names that combine in their semantics the meanings of their immediate constituents.

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