New Characteristics of Current Neology: Social Background

Abstract

Neology remains a topical issue of current linguistics. Though there are numerous studies devoted to this field, one may find neither a generally accepted definition of “neologisms” (also “new words”, etc.), nor a commonly recognized terminology (or classification). Moreover, nowadays we may face new phenomena which are probably subjects of neology, but which are often too peculiar and thus cannot be called pure “neologisms” in accordance with the criteria given for the definition of “neologisms” (“new words”, etc.). Some of these phenomena are of multimodal character, since natural language is combined with codes of different systems. Therefore, they are not purely linguistic objects. Internet memes, being a type of precedent phenomena, may be considered an example of such objects. Another feature of current neology is the presence of words with “blurred” meaning, as well as those of numerous diminutives. The authors believe that these characteristic features may have certain social background. Thus, formation of new units could be investigated within the context of sociobiology. There may be a few key factors, such as increasing aggression, social infantilism, clip thinking, a new stage of human civilization, and a new type of cultural transmission.