Linguistics: Neologisms and Word Formation

Neologisms

• Neologism is the creation of a new word or expression
• William Hoover invented the vacuum cleaner
• We now use "to hoover" as a verb

Etymology

• Etymology is the study of word origins and history
• Demos (Greek) means people
• Cratos (Greek) means power
• Democracy means the power of the people

Borrowing

• Calque is literal translation from one language to another
• "Boyfriend" was borrowed.into Japanese as "male friend", and into Chinese as "male friend" or "an pengyou"

Compounding

• Joining two words to create a new compound word
• Example: bookcase, good-looking, low-paid, fast-food

Blending

• Combining parts of two words to create a new one
• Example: Brunch (breakfast + lunch)

Clipping

• Shortening a longer word
• Example: farsimile (fax), advertisement (ad), gasoline (gas), fanatic(fan)

Hypocorisms

• Shortening a word and adding a suffix like -y or -ie
• Example: movie (moving pictures), telly (television)

Backformation

• Forming a new word by removing a supposed affix
• Example: donate (donation), emote (emotion)

Conversion

• Changing a word's function from noun to verb (or vice versa) without changing it.
• Example: a buttered toast (using "bottle" as a verb)

Explore the fascinating world of linguistics with this quiz on neologisms and various word formation processes. From etymology to borrowing, compound words to blending, test your knowledge on how new words are created and adapted in languages. Perfect for language enthusiasts looking to expand their vocabulary skills!