Specificity of formation of phonological neologisms in the English language

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Donbas State Pedagogical University

Specificity of formation of phonological neologisms in the English language

Slabouz V.V. Candidate of Philological Sciences (PhD in Philology),

Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages

Sloviansk, Ukraine

Abstract

Replenishment of the vocabulary of both English and any other language is a continuous process. Language is the most complex social phenomenon, which is a tool of human communication. Since 2015, many new words have appeared in the English language, new meanings have been added to the vocabulary, and other words have fallen out of use. In fact, today the English language is experiencing a real explosion in neology.

The field of neology of the English language has been studied by many scholars, they have collected and systematized considerable factual material, but there are still many unexplored problems in its word-forming part, one of which is the peculiarities of the formation of phonological neologisms. The relevance of the topic is determined by the need to research this layer of vocabulary, as the number of new lexical items in this area increases annually and even more often.

This is explained by a number of reasons, among which is the growing popularity of social networks among different age categories of society and, as a result, the emergence of new concepts and realities that require language units for their nomination. Despite the significant interest of scientists, these lexical units have not been the subject of a comprehensive systematic linguistic analysis yet, therefore there is a need to create their comprehensive quantitative and qualitative characteristics. That is why the purpose of the article is to trace and analyze the classification of neologisms according to the method of creation; clarify the concepts of “neology” and “phonological neologism”; to reveal the productivity of the formation of new words according to the phonological method.

The article also specifies the stages of integration of new words; the place of phonological neologisms in the classification according to the method of creation is determined; subgroups of phonological neologisms are singled out; the productivity of the phonological way of forming new words is revealed; interesting examples of the use of phonological neologisms are presented. It is concluded that neologisms appear for practical reasons to denote new unfamiliar phenomena and are perceived as such until the speakers feel their novelty. Phonological neologisms are a separate group; they are formed by an original combination of separate sounds. The prospects for further research in this direction include the study of areas represented by neologisms; peculiarities of the use of neologisms by speakers of this or that age or social group, etc.

Keywords: neology, phonological neologisms, lexical unit, imitation of sounds, typological classification.

Анотація

Специфіка утворення фонологічних неологізмів в англійській мові

Слабоуз В.В. кандидат філологічних наук, доцент кафедри іноземних мов Донбаський державний педагогічний університет , Слов'янськ, Україна

Поповнення словникового складу як англійської, так і будь-якої іншої мови є безперервним процесом. Мова - це найскладніший суспільний феномен, який є інструментом людської комунікації. За час із 2015 року і донині в англійській мові утворилася маса нових слів, лексичний склад поповнився новими значеннями, а інші слова вийшли з уживання. Фактично, на сьогодні англійська мова переживає справжній вибух у неології.

Галузь неології англійської мови досліджувало багато вчених, вони зібрали й систематизували значний фактичний матеріал, однак у словотвірній її ділянці ще чимало невивчених проблем, одна з яких - особливості утворення фонологічних неологізмів.

Актуальність теми зумовлена необхідністю дослідження даного пласта лексики, оскільки кількість нових лексичних одиниць у цій сфері щорічно збільшується. Це пояснюється низкою причин, з-поміж яких зростання популярності соціальних мереж серед різних вікових категорій суспільства і, в результаті, поява нових понять та реалій, що потребують мовних одиниць для їх номінації. Попри значне зацікавлення з боку науковців, ці лексичні одиниці ще не були предметом всебічного системного лінгвістичного аналізу, тому є потреба у створенні їх всебічної кількісно-якісної характеристики. Мета статті - простежити та проаналізувати класифікації неологізмів за способом творення; уточнити поняття «неологія» і “фонологічний неологізм”; виявити продуктивність утворення нових слів згідно з фонологічним способом.

У статті також уточнено стадії інтеграції нових слів; визначено місце фонологічних неологізмів у класифікації за способом творення; виокремлено підгрупи фонологічних неологізмів; виявлено продуктивність фонологічного способу утворення нових слів; наведено цікаві приклади вживання фонологічних неологізмів. Зроблено висновок про те, що неологізми з'являються з практичних міркувань на позначення нових незнайомих явищ та як такі сприймаються доти, доки носії мови відчувають їх новизну. Фонологічні неологізми є окремою групою, вони утворюються оригінальним поєднанням окремих звуків. До перспектив дослідження в цьому напрямі належить вивчення сфер, представлених неологізмами; особливостей вживання неологізмів мовцями тієї чи тієї вікової або ж соціальної групи тощо.

Ключові слова: неологія, фонологічні неологізми, лексична одиниця, імітація звуків, типологічна класифікація.

Introduction

The problem setting. The development of a language is largely determined by the development of its word-forming system - the formation of new word-forming models of words, modification of existing ones, increase or decrease of their productivity, etc., since “word-forming models ... serve as a convenient scheme for marking the material shell of new structural types of knowledge” [1, p. 17]. The flow of new words and the need to describe them have led to the creation of a special branch of lexicology - neology, the task of which is not only to register linguistic phenomena but also to explain why they are implemented in this way and not in another way.

Today, the English language, like any other, is experiencing the so-called “neological boom” caused by reasons of an extralinguistic and linguistic nature. The process of enriching the language at the expense of previously unknown units occurs constantly. neologism lexical vocabulary language

This has the effect of updating the language in accordance with human needs and changes occurring in the world because the language depends on the environment in which it lives, as well as on its internal mechanism and structure. Society is changing socially and technologically very quickly, so it is extremely important for members of the language community to create new categories to denote new realities in order to successfully realize themselves in it. Systematization of productive methods of formation of new vocabulary units, detection of the highest activity of their corresponding types, observation of trends of loss of productivity - all these processes belong to the group of linguistic ones [2, p. 291]. For the most part, they are interrelated, since it is not always possible to explain the changes occurring in the language by any one of them.

The field of neology of the English language has been studied by many scientists, they have collected and systematized considerable factual material, but there are still many unexplored problems in its wordforming part, one of which is the peculiarities of the formation of phonological neologisms.

Analysis of recent studies and publications. Analysis of recent studies and publications shows that the problem of neologisms is a subject of constant interest on the part of researchers of English philology - Hladka V. A., Zatsnyi Yu. A., Yemchura N. R., Klymenko O. L., Koloiz Zh. V., Kotielova N. Z., Markitantov Yu. O., Rebrii A. V., Selivanova O. O., Algeo J., Baayen R., Cannon G., Cohen М., Cutler C., Darmsteter A., Deroy L., Gardin B., Gilbert P., Gilbert L., Lee W., Simpson J., etc. In their investigations, they analyze the reasons for the appearance of new vocabulary items, describe the ways of their emergence, and offer their classification schemes of neologisms - words or compounds used in a language in a certain period to denote a new or already existing concept or acquisition of new meanings by language units, which are perceived as such native speakers [7, p. 43], distinguishing, among other things, their phonological variety. One of the most interesting in this regard is the work by N. N. Koroliova [6]. In it, the researcher concludes that the replenishment of the vocabulary of modern English is due to quantitative and qualitative changes caused by various processes: word formation, phraseologisation, dynamics of the semantic structure of the word, borrowings, new trends in grammar and phonetics, and singles out four types of neologisms, including phonological ones (0.8% of all new words) [4, p. 4]. Emphasizing their small number compared to other types of neologisms, the author nevertheless notes that their appearance and functioning in the English language is a multifaceted phenomenon that requires a deep and comprehensive study.

The purpose of the article. The purpose of the article is to investigate the peculiarities of the formation of phonological neologisms in the English language, to identify the place of these units in the classification scheme of the lexicon according to the method of creation, to determine the productivity of the phonological method of formation of new words.

Presentation of the main material of the research

The English language is constantly changing. Its most mobile stratum, sensitively responding to all changes in social, cultural, economic, medical, and other spheres of life of human society, is vocabulary. The emergence of new lexical units is a complex, multifaceted process that testifies to the dynamism of the language. This process is also called the change of lexical paradigms, which, according to the linguistic didactic context, involves consideration of the functioning of modern language tools in different registers of speech communication.

A new lexical unit goes through several stages of socialization, i.e. acceptance in society, and lexicalization - consolidation in the language. After appearing, neologisms are spread, as a rule, by mass media workers, lecturers, and teachers. Then they are fixed in print.

The next stage of socialization is the adoption of a new lexical unit by the broad masses of native speakers. Next, the process of lexicalization begins: acquiring the skills to use neologisms in society and identifying conditions and contraindications for their use in various contexts. As a result, a lexical unit of a certain structural variety appears, which is included in various dictionaries of neologisms [1, p. 12].

The number of lexical neologisms cannot be counted, because neologisms are created not in the language as a system, but in the process of implementing this system. A sign of the entry of new words into the language system should be considered their “recurrence”, that is the ability to be reproduced outside the original context, to participate in semantic and word-forming processes. Therefore, changes in human activity experience cause the appearance of new and expansion of old fragments of the world picture, which, accordingly, require fixation in the language map of the world. The picture of the world is changing, and new sectors are emerging: cosmonautics, computer technology, genetic engineering, drug addiction, new types of food, and new types of protest.

Traditional sectors are expanding: diseases, medicines, and diagnostics. And this means that new words will continue to appear in the language, which will eventually be accepted in society. It takes a lot of time for new words to become established in the language, and their use is clear to everyone. Not long ago, such expressions as “inflection with an electronic virus”, “a woopy receiving a golden goodbye” were incomprehensible phrases, but now speakers have no difficulty interpreting their meaning.

Selivanova O. O. in the terminological encyclopedia “Contemporary Linguistics” provides a fairly complete and voluminous definition of neologism, “A neologism is a word or compound used in a language in a certain period to denote a new or already existing concept in a new meaning and is understood by native speakers” [7, p. 43].

Based on the above, it is considered expedient to note the following main properties of neologisms as units of the lexical system of the language. These are new words that are fixed in the language and created by the act of nomination, and also for denoting newly known concepts.

This includes words that are completely new in form and meaning as the results of the emergence of new root elements or the results of borrowings. They can also be words created from existing components, or words that have developed new meanings [5, p. 124].

To specify the concept of “neologism”, linguists use such parameters as the location in time, location in space, novelty, language awareness, communicative limitation, and nominative aspect. Neologisms are usually formed from elements already present in the language system. Such a creation is always a product of someone's creativity, ingenuity, or imitation. Productivity is one of the main characteristics of various language units.

Productivity acquires great importance due to the characteristics of the word-formation model - the main mechanism in the creation of new words. It should be noted that in the theory of word formation, “productivity” has a synonymous term - “word formation activity”, which is interpreted as the ability of this or that element to form new words. So, a model, a word-forming affix, and a creative base can be active in the formation of new words and, on the contrary, passive, that is, with their help, a small number of words are formed or not formed at all.

There are a lot of different classifications of neologisms. One of the most famous is the classification by the French linguist Louis Guilbert, where neologisms are divided, according to the means of creation, into the following groups:

1) phonological neologisms;

2) neologisms- borrowing;

3) semantic;

4) syntactic, formed by a combination of signs present in the language [8; 9].

Therefore, phonological neologisms are defined as units formed from separate sounds by means of their peculiar configuration [4, p. 14]. These combinations of sounds are quite often combined with morphemes of Greek or Latin origin.

There are many such words among the terms used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences. For example, monochromatic, polychromatic, polystyrol, etc. They were called phonological or “artificial” formations.

Quite often, the mentioned words are mistakenly considered to be the result of stem composition. It should be remembered that the stem composition is based on the composition of two or more stems with possible further changes of the newly formed composite. The main productive models are N+N=N; A+N= N, for example, sea + man = seaman; straw + berry = strawberry; high +way = highway.

The following subtypes of phonological neologisms are distinguished: 1) words formed from exclamations; 2) slangisms; 3) sound imitation. It should be analyzed each of them. The modern English language continues to be replenished with new words, a certain number of which are phonological neologisms formed from exclamations.

For example, zizz (British slang) means “a short sound (imitating the sound a person makes in sleep)”; sis-bombah (American slang) means “spectacle kinds of sports, especially football (the syllables are often used by schoolchildren to cheer on the players)”; the word to zap is “to shoot, hit in the teeth (literally and figuratively)”, it is used in comics as an exclamation to convey in graphic form the sound of space weapons; the word qwerty is the unofficial name of a typewriter keyboard, formed from the first letters of the top line of a standard typewriter Q, W, E, R, T, Y; to whee (to excite) is from the exclamation whee, which conveys positive emotions, delight in something and is widely used in the informal register of speech communication.

Sound imitation (or onomatopoeia) is also one of the ways of forming phonological neologisms. With the help of sounds, and imitations of real phenomena, the sounds observed in the environment are reproduced. Analysis of modern English speech shows that neologisms of this type actively enrich the vocabulary of speakers.

For example: rah-rah (a short skirt worn by girls during parades) conveys the rustle of skirts during dances; to buzz (to phone) means the imitation of the sound of a telephone buzzer; to pop (to flap, to clap) is the imitation of the sound of uncorking a bottle; itty bitty (small) means the imitation of the sounds of a baby; boozy (drunk) is the imitation of sounds uttered by a drunk person.

Slangisms are considered separate types of phonological neologisms. Slang is known to arise in various closed social or age groups; it is mainly formed by the emotionally colored vocabulary of a low (familiar) sound [5, p. 79]. These are words-exclamations, with the help of which feelings are conveyed, and speech acquires an expressive color: yuk!, wow! (delight, surprise); ouch! (crying from mild pain); whoops!, sqeebs!, erf! (confusion); bonk!, chyaa!, eesh!, flip mode!, oh my goshness!, shnikies! (different types of surprise); bet! shoots for real!, ah...yeah! (consent); yeh!, yuck! (disgust); dig that!, cool!, damn right! (approval); boo! (disapproval); badand! (mistrust); squish!, woochow! (emotion); woopty-woo! (happiness); yo! (ways to attract attention); phew! (relief). This includes a certain group of words that are used to denote concepts related to illegal activities and prohibited substances in society.

For example, words such as bo, bo-bo, boom, hooch, sezz, sess, yeh (synonyms of the Ukrainian concept of marijuana) have relatively recently begun to be used in the English language and are phonological neologisms formed from the sounds that a person makes while under the influence of drugs. This group includes such units as B, boo-yah, E, G, La-la, Meow-meow, yayo (used in relation to the concept of “drug”); Boo- boo, buga-boo, deep doo-doo, doozy (the imitations of fighting sounds) are also considered phonological formations of certain social groups.

Analyzing the examples, it can be seen that the vocabulary is replenished with phonological neologisms that are actively included in everyday use and are actively used by speakers.

Such neologisms are stable and have the highest level of novelty connotation; they can be classified as “strong neologisms”, i.e., those distinguished by a phonetic distribution that is not characteristic of the English language, as well as by an atypical morphological structure [3, p. 264].

Linguists explain the high level of novelty by the unusualness and freshness of their external, i.e. material, plan. It is useful to consider several examples of phonological neologisms that have recently appeared in spoken English, and analyze the methods of their formation: e. g. He is the king of bling-bling (Electronic Gaming Monthly October Issue). Bling-bling is a phonological neologism for shiny, mostly metal objects and jewelry. Formed from the sounds that metal jewelry makes when worn.

If these lectures have given you any ah-ahs, give yourself a point (Susan Lieberman). Ah-ah is an interesting example, understood as a sudden understanding of something, usually after receiving new information and knowledge.

Don't forget to put on your tick-tock. Tick-tock is a watch/clock. The word is formed from the sounds of the clock mechanism.

In the Knighthood of Buh, “the members were all buh” (University of Texas website). Buh means very fun, cool, and special, formed from the sound that occurs when punching oneself in the chest.

Therefore, the language system is open to the creation of such units, because the information revolution leads to the emergence of new technologies, increases the level of professional, technical, and general cultural awareness of native speakers, stimulates the growth of the role of mass media (press, television, Internet) in modern communication, and in people - the need to name certain phenomena in short and understandable words. Analyzing new words formed by the phonological method, it can be concluded that the most active among them are units formed by imitating and sound imitating.

The conclusions and prospects for further research

Therefore, it can be concluded that neologisms appear for practical reasons to denote new, unfamiliar phenomena and are perceived as such until speakers feel their novelty. Phonological neologisms are a separate group; they are formed by an original combination of separate sounds. Among them, it is advisable to distinguish units that a) are based on sound imitation and onomatopoeia; b) appeared to designate concepts related to illegal activities and prohibited substances in society (slangisms); c) exclamations that give an expressive color to the statement and are used to directly convey feelings.

Prospects for further research in this direction include the study of areas represented by neologisms; peculiarities of the use of neologisms by speakers of this or that age or social group, etc.

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