Functionality and linguocreative potential of English neologisms (the study of words related to the sphere of non-political social relations)

Abstract

Aim. To describe functional characteristics of neologisms in the English language and model cognitive mechanisms of their use in speech and actual meaning perception.
Methodology. The paper presents the case study of lexical units related to the sphere of non-political social relations, defined by established lexicographic online resources as neologisms of the English language (48 units, referring to the period from January 2022 to July 2023). Morpheme-word-building, structural-semantic and contextual analyses were used as research methods. These methods were supplemented by the method of cognitive modeling, which allows establishing the direction of verbal-associative processing of the meanings of neologisms in the statement.
Results. The selected neologisms are described in terms of (1) their subject-thematic novelty; (2) systemic and empirical productivity, that is, the modes of word formation preferred by language users within the framework of the new-words formation possibilities provided by the English language system. The process of neologization is described as a form of linguo-creative thinking of language users, who rely on semantic flexibility, figurative adaptability and ability to transform the associative potential of conventional language units in the communicative situations which require exchange of new knowledge about the surrounding reality.
Research implications. The results of the study contribute to neology, expanding our understanding of the functional properties of neologisms in the English language. The study continues the anthropocentric direction in the analysis of neologisms, focusing on the description of the communicative and cognitive activity of Homo Loquens, who uses such units in speech.