The Language of Coronavirus: Contemporary Use in Economics, Politics, and Media

Abstract

Since the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has been accompanied by far-reaching social changes worldwide and has produced a vast number of new terms describing the situation. Not only universities but also national German language institutions have been analyzing sources from politics and media. Launched with the intention to communicate the government’s measures and to meet the population’s immediate need for information, online glossaries have proved to be a suitable tool for making the relevant vocabulary and its conceptual content and background available in a timely manner. Along with virologists and politicians, linguists are also studying the pandemic-related situation, thus reinforcing a multidisciplinary approach to the global challenge. Given all this, in order to harmonize the current vocabulary, the European Translation Service has drawn up a vocabulary survey for the member states of the European Union. The German language provides various linguistic tools to record coronavirus-related events adequately. The key objective of this paper is to map the process of adapting language to social processes on the basis of Internet research conducted in relevant institutions in Germany. As a result, it has become apparent that new word constructions, anglicisms, idioms, and professional terms are shaping the emerging vocabulary related to the global pandemic. Much of this is context-dependent and in need of explanation and adequate translations into other languages. Thematically organized dictionaries, glossaries, and podcasts as well as the immediate use of existing medical terms in everyday language enable a quick response to current developments in language. Despite the ongoing emergence of different focus areas in research, it is clear that the coronavirus crisis has forced the whole global population to deal with formerly unfamiliar situations, news, and regulations, and thus the most current monothematic vocabulary continues to prevail in communication. However it is yet too early to speak of a general expansion of language and phraseology.