Name it till you mean it: Intersections between formal and semantic neological procedures in naming emerging pandemic objects in Spanish
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between formal and semantic neological procedures in the coinage of COVID-19-related emerging realities. Our study is based on a survey conducted to elicit the spontaneous creation of neologisms in Spanish related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were asked to name a set of pandemic-related objects presented to them in a set of pictures. Naming strategies resulted mostly from the intersection of metonyms with compounding and metaphors with syntagmation. Participants preferred metonymy-based strategies to name objects they have fewer clues to identify. On the other hand, objects resulting from the adaptation of pre-existing items were mostly named using metaphors. • Speakers tend to use existing words to name non-totally new objects, and new words for new objects. • There are significant correlations between compounding and metonymy and between syntagmation and metaphors. • Age cannot be established as a source of variation in the coinage of new words. • Metonyms are used to close wider cognitive gaps, whereas metaphors are preferred to frame familiar concepts.
Source: Language & Communication
Institutions: Universidad de Valladolid, Universidad de La Rioja
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,200
OpenAlex ID: W4404332424