Semantic Features of Neologisms in Contemporary English: Word Formation, Meaning Change, and Digital Communication
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69760/gsrh.0260304020Keywords:
neologisms, English lexicon, word formation, semantic change, digital communication, lexical innovationAbstract
Neologisms provide evidence of the ways in which language responds to technological innovation, social change, and emerging communicative needs. This article examines selected examples of contemporary English neologisms, focusing on their word-formation patterns, semantic development, and contextual functions in digital communication. Drawing on a qualitative descriptive approach, it considers compounds and blends, affixation, conversion, abbreviations, and semantic innovation. Examples such as doomscrolling, ghosting, brunch, cloud, viral, and unfriend illustrate the relationship between linguistic form, newly emerging concepts, and context-dependent meaning. The analysis distinguishes newly created forms from established words that have acquired new meanings, and it emphasizes that a word's status as a neologism cannot be established solely from its current popularity or technological association. The article proposes a contextual analytical sequence that considers (1) the form and formation process of a lexical item, (2) its semantic contribution, and (3) the communicative context in which it is used. The discussion highlights the role of digital platforms in circulating lexical innovations while acknowledging that wider claims about frequency, permanence, or social acceptance require corpus-based and diachronic evidence. The study contributes a practical framework for examining English neologisms in lexical-semantic research and language education.
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