Abstract
In order to describe changes in the lexical system, M. Dokulil used the metaphor of a deep body of water. While down in the deep, nothing is happening, on the surface the water never stops to move, flow, circulate. In Dokulil’s metaphor, the surface layer symbolises those lexical items closely related to social changes: new words and old words whose meaning has changed, or old words that have become elements of new words. The analysis of neologisms occurring during relevant social changes provides a valuable insight into the users’ attitudes towards contemporary events. This paper deals with neologisms and neosemanticism concerning the migration processes that have taken place in Europe from 2011 to 2018. The neologisms are extracted from Neomat, the database for Czech neologisms. An analysis based on word formation and semantics, supported by papers in Neologizmy v dnesni cestině, is followed by an analysis from a sociolinguistic perspective, relying on the work of V. Dvořackova, E. Mleziva and the theoretical frame given in the monography of V. Muhvic-Dimanovski. The focus of this article will be on those words which denote concepts related to the great migrations of our time. The productive formation by employing prefixes meaning pro or contra indicates a social urge to express polar attitudes on the subject. Due to the relevance of migration processes in a global context, lexical and semantical borrowing constitute the most frequent word formation types. The meaning of some stable lexical items has changed due to an increased frequency of use and this is carried out in two opposite ways: by blurring lines between closely related items and by filling empty spaces in order to gain higher levels of precision
Highlights
In her work, Lišková (2018) takes into account papers concerning neologisms and establishes seven criteria of definition: the existential criterion, the criterion of time, the lexicographic criterion, the psychological criterion, the structural criterion, the criterion of variety and the criterion of stability or instability (Lišková 2018, 48)
For the purpose of our paper, we use the definition formulated by Muhvić-Dimanovski (2005), stating that neologisms are new elements of the lexical system which rise in a language to fulfil three aims: to name new things and phenomena, to express new affective, stylistic, or pragmatic nuances of already stable lexical items, and to reflect specific political circumstances (Muhvić-Dimanovski 2005, 4)
We aim to discover the ways in which social facts on the subject of migration are being reflected in the language and in which way the structure of new words can provide information on the speakers’ attitudes towards the topic
Summary
Lišková (2018) takes into account papers concerning neologisms and establishes seven criteria of definition: the existential criterion, the criterion of time, the lexicographic criterion, the psychological criterion, the structural criterion, the criterion of variety and the criterion of stability or instability (Lišková 2018, 48). The criterion of time is the most prominent and present in all works dealing with the subject of neologisms and, because of that, the definition of new words is primarily based on it. The deep connection between neologisms and society is visible on different levels of language structure: morphological, syntactical, semantical, and pragmatic. By virtue of this connection, neologisms display a great expressive power in their structure, revealing important information about the spirit of contemporary times. We aim to discover the ways in which social facts on the subject of migration are being reflected in the language and in which way the structure of new words can provide information on the speakers’ attitudes towards the topic. Special attention is devoted to pragmatic features, to the speaker’s attitude towards the subject of migration
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