Five Factors of Neologisms
Report 1
Author: Timothy
White
Co-Authors: Matthew Kudo,
Chae Hyang
Lim
PSY 409a, Fall 2008, Generation 28
Dr. Leon James,
Instructor,
What is a Neo?
“The word “neo” is
short for “neologism.” This is defined as a new word, expression, or brief
sentence, which a person makes up. It’s possible that other people have also
made up the same expression or sentence, but it is not listed in Google or
Yahoo (Dr. Leon James). Not a lot of
thought goes into the meaning of the formation and nature of a Neologism. This
is a short research study on 24 subjects on a set of 28 Neologisms. Survey data
was taken and analyzed to find that people tend to base their assumptions of
Neologisms on 5 basic factors: experience; opinion; clarity; and, neo within a
neo.
Research
The term "neologism" was coined
in 1803. A neologism is derived from the Greek neo which means "new"
and logos which means "word”. A neologism is a word that was devised
recently during a specific time period. A neologism hasn’t been accepted into
any mainstream language. Neologisms are
"new", and are often related to a specific individual, publication,
period, or event.
In the field of psychiatry,
the term, neologism, is used to describe the use of words that only have
meaning to the person who uses them.
They are independent of their common meaning and are considered normal
to children. The use of these can be
attributed to a symptom of thought
disorder (such as schizophrenia) in adults. Sometimes people with autism also may
create neologisms of free will. The use
of neologisms may also be related to aphasia. Aphasia is acquired after brain
damage resulting from a stroke or head injury.
A neologism in theology is a
relatively new idea. An example given
was the word rationalism. It is
considered that a neologist innovates in the area of a doctrine. It is also believed they are innovators in
the belief system, and are often considered to be bad by the mainstream clergy
or religious institutions.
Often in cultures that change rapidly you
are able to find Neologisms. They are
also often in situations where there is easy and fast propagation of
information that is presented. The new
terms that are created are often created by combining existing words or by
giving words new and unique suffixes or prefixes to them.
Neologisms often become popular through memetics. Memetics are when mass media,
the Internet, and word of mouth spread information or in this case
neos. Every word in every language was a
neologism at one time. Only as time
passes the ceasing to be a neo is such do to the fact of the passing of time
and eventually the acceptance.
Neologisms often become accepted in parts
of language and in other cases they disappear from normal common use just as
fast as they appear. Even if a neologism continues as part of the language
everything depends on many factors to its existence staying firm. Some are acceptance by the public, acceptance
by linguistic experts,
and incorporation into dictionaries.
All of the before mentioned items play a
part, as do whether neologism remains current, thus continuing to need a
descriptor. It is unusual for a word to enter common use if it does not resemble
another word or words in an identifiable way.
When a word or phrase is no longer
"new", it is no longer a neologism. Neologisms may take decades to
become "old", however. Opinions differ on exactly how old a word must
be, to cease being considered a neologism; cultural acceptance probably plays a
more important role than time in this regard.
“Newly-created
words entering a language tend to pass through stages that may be described as:
○Unstable - extremely new, being proposed, or being used only by a
small subculture (also known as protologisms)
○Diffused - having reached a significant frequency of use, but not
yet having gained widespread acceptance
○Stable - having gained recognizable, being en vogue, and perhaps,
gaining lasting acceptance
○Dated - the point where the word has ceased being novel, entered
formal linguistic acceptance and, even may have passed into becoming a cliché
○Passé
- when a neologism becomes so culturally dated that the use of it is avoided
because its use is seen as a stigma, a sign of being out of step
with the norms of a changed cultural tradition, perhaps, with the neologism
dropping from the lexicon altogether
○Many neologisms have come from popular literature and tend to
appear in different forms. Most commonly, they are simply taken from a word
used in the narrative of a book; a few representative examples are: "grok" (to achieve
complete intuitive understanding), from Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein; "McJob", from Generation X: Tales for
an Accelerated Culture by Douglas
Coupland; "cyberspace", from Neuromancer
by William
Gibson.
○Sometimes the title of a book will become the neologism, for
instance, Catch-22
(from the title of Joseph Heller's novel). Also worthy of note is the
case in which the author's name becomes the neologism, although the term is
sometimes based on only one work of that author. This includes such words as
"Orwellian"
(from George
Orwell, referring to his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four) and
"Ballardesque" or "Ballardian" (from J.G.
Ballard, author of Crash). Kurt
Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle was the container of the Bokononism
family of nonce words.
○Another category is words derived from famous characters in
literature, such as "quixotic" (referring to the titular
character in Don Quixote de la Mancha by Cervantes), a
"scrooge"
(from the main character in Dickens's A
Christmas Carol), or a "pollyanna"
(from Eleanor H. Porter's book of the same name). James Joyce's
Finnegans
Wake, composed in a uniquely complex linguistic style, coined the words monomyth and quark.
○Lewis Carroll has been called "the king of
neologistic poems" because of his poem, "Jabberwocky",
which incorporated dozens of invented words. The early modern English prose
writings of Sir Thomas Browne are the source of many neologisms
as recorded by the OED.”
The problems
with neologisms are the risks of losing comprehension. However it should be equally clear that
neologism cannot be the same as using old established words to describe new
things. Some examples are "suicide
bomber", "global warming" and "commuter flight.” Lastly any writing on a recent subject will
be effectively disallowed.
Discussion
After reading the master
neo chart and talking to people about it, I came to the conclusion that
neologisms do play a crucial part in communication. Our awareness of neologisms
adds on to topics to talk about, as well as increasing our vocabulary. However,
because the influence of both neologisms and their origins within our lives is
subtle at best, if only because of how frequently and effortlessly we as
individuals and as society form them. Effectively classifying words and phrases
as neologisms seems to become a moot point, to the point where the entire
concept of a neologism seems only necessary in the eyes of a psycholinguist.
Despite
this, I feel that the circumstances are different when it comes to its role in
society. Scientists all around are coining new phrases and terms that
eventually reach out to the public enough that the neo is used in everyday
conversation. It demonstrates how the creation of a single phrase will help
people describe objects or their ideas and that will ultimately allow them to
create new neologisms for future use.
We constantly see the
media create its own neo which encourages the public to use the neo and turn it
into a common phrase. For example, “wardrobe malfunction” was coined and
popularized around 2004, when Justin Timberlake accidentally ripped off a part
of Janet Jackson’s clothing which led to her exposing her breasts. Despite the
fact that the terms have been around only for a couple years, there are
currently over 800,000 hits on Google for this term. The sites that show up do
not all refer to that particular incident, but to other accidental exposures as
well.
After
having multiple discussions with different people, I feel that regardless of
how often they use neologisms, its existence is up in the air. Even after
multiple explanations most did not understand what a neo is.
However, I was able to get
a few people to have a conversation with me on neologisms. First of all, the
fact that anyone can be a neologist intrigued a friend. He stated “I liked the
fact that, at least insofar as what [the Introduction] is telling us, there’s a
clear way to differentiate between neologisms and ritualizing formulaic
expressions. This helps clarify what exactly is a neo and what isn’t.”
Also, another person
stated that the fact that everyone can become a neologist is amazing. Due to
the nature of language, the sentences we construct are unique, regardless, many
people are not aware that they are neologists every time they come up with a
phrase expressing their original idea.
The
subtlety of neo creation and expansion is a phenomenon overlooked by most people.
Linguists seem to be more able to discern the origins of neologisms, if only
through pre-acquired knowledge and considerable practice. What makes neologisms
interesting, then, is that the same particular neo can potentially be created
by multiple people, furthering the community-based development of neologisms.
Data
Rating Scale:
1=the likelihood
that this is a neo is 80 % or higher (looks like a neo)
2=the likelihood
that this is a neo is around 50 % (hard to tell if it is a neo or not)
3=the likelihood
that this is a neo is less than 30% (doesn’t look like a neo)
Neo Prediction and
Average Chart
|
Neologism |
Predicted Rating |
Average Rating |
|
|
|
|
|
"Strap
on your emotional restraint" |
1 |
2.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Shift into
the right gear of mind” |
1 |
1.9 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Apply
behavior for direction” |
1 |
2.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Drive
emotionally safe” |
1 |
2.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Turn the
emotional driving key” |
1 |
1.6 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Affective
driving skills” |
3 |
2.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Aggressive
driving turns on road rage” |
3 |
1.9 |
|
|
|
|
|
“You can’t
change until you want to” |
3 |
2.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Personality
undergoes a rapid transformation |
3 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Age of Rage” |
3 |
1.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
“What makes a
vehicle a killing machine is not the person, but the emotions within the
person" |
3 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Honking
ultimately has no positive effect on a driver.” |
3 |
2.14 |
|
|
|
|
|
“The most
dangerous driver is the one that doesn’t go with the flow.” |
3 |
2.57 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Driving
isn’t a competition, it’s merely a method.” |
2 |
1.86 |
|
|
|
|
|
“We call it a
traffic wave.” |
1 |
1.29 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Automobiles
are powerful and obedient.” |
1 |
1.29 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Congestion
is often not caused by the road but by the way drivers are
driving.” |
3 |
2.43 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Many people
are driving around in a constant seething rage.” |
2 |
2.43 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Congestion
makes you feel frustrated and panicky.” |
3 |
2.43 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Driving is a
scream; holler, yell and occasionally a middle finger.” |
1 |
1.57 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Drinking
plus driving is the perfect equation for a car accident.” |
1 |
1.86 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Dangerous
driving begins with the car and ends in death.” |
1 |
1.86 |
|
|
|
|
|
“You should
never have a rubber neck while looking at an accident
because you never know you could cause an accident on your own.” |
1 |
1.57 |
|
|
|
|
|
“If you brake
do we not stop and if we stop do we not create a traffic wave?” |
1 |
1.85 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Automobiles
are powerful and obedient” |
3 |
2.14 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Congestion
is often not caused by the road but by the way drivers are driving” |
3 |
1.57 |
|
|
|
|
|
“We inherit
aggressive and dangerous driving patterns as children.” |
3 |
1.71 |
|
|
|
|
|
“Congestion
makes you feel frustrated and panicky” |
3 |
1.57 |
|
|
|
|
|
“We call it a
traffic wave.” |
3 |
1.85 |
Data
Analysis
24 participants filled out surveys for the
following set of neologisms. Each participant was told what a neo was, and was
then asked to read the definition, rate each item as directed, and give an
explanation as to their ratings. However, most participants still did not seem
aware of what I was looking for insofar as the rating explanations went.
“What makes a vehicle a killing machine is
not the person, but the emotions within a person.” For this neo, I predicted a
three (30% chance of being a neo) since there are many slogans that are similar
to this. The main message of these slogans is generally that that the object
itself is not dangerous, therefore it is up to the person to handle the object
carefully with responsibility. The average answer was surprisingly a two (50%
chance). While one participant agreed with me that this neo is similar to many
other slogans (“guns don’t kill people, etc.”), others didn’t seem to notice
this connection. Another participant stated “I have never heard a person and
his emotions identified separately,” hinting that perhaps this separation of
the self and their emotion is a new expression.
“Honking ultimately has no positive effect
on a driver.” My prediction for this neo was a three. I wasn’t sure if people
ever heard of something like this. The average was a 2.14, which means that
people had a hard time figuring out if this was a neo or not. The reasons
between participants were contradicting (“too scientific sounding” versus
“sounds like something from a report or study”). One participant stated “I only
hear horns sometimes,” and this may imply that the less a certain condition
occurs, the more likely the expression using that condition is a neo.
“The most dangerous driver is the one that
doesn’t go with the flow.” I thought this neo is would get a three rating since
this is common sense, and I figured most people heard of something similar to
this. The average answer was 2.57, meaning most people heard of something like
this. Most people just commented that they’ve heard of something like this
before, and not much more. One participant wrote “go with the flow” is passé.
From this, I believe that even if the expression is a neo as long as it
contains a cliché-like phrase, it is seen as a non-neo.
“Driving isn’t a competition, it’s merely
a method.” My prediction is a two, since some people may have read this in a
driving manual or something. Also, because the language used is conversational,
I thought that would make the neo less unique-sounding. The average rating was
a 1.86. Most people had a hard time understanding what the neo meant, due to
the ambiguous use of ‘method.’ Ambiguity seems to add on to the neo-ness of a
phrase. Despite this, many participants commented that they heard of this but
‘they weren’t sure if anyone else has.’
“We call it a traffic wave.” The word
“traffic wave” sound s like a neo by itself, so I figure that the neo would get
a one (80% chance). The average rating was 1.29, which suggested that most
participants believed that the phrase is a neo. Most people didn’t know what
the word ‘traffic wave’ meant, hence that may have affected the participants’
decision on their rating. Interestingly, one person commented that, “the use of
‘we’ suggests a new jargon.”
“Automobiles are powerful and obedient.”
My prediction for this neo was a one, since many people probably do not see
their cars in that way. The average was a 1.29. The participants all agreed
that they have not heard automobiles being personified in such a way, and a few
went to the full extent of disagreeing with the neo (both gave a one). The
personification may have thrown some people off, but I also believe that when
one disagrees with the neo, they think it is a new idea, but if they agree to
it, they may think that the neo was around from before.
“Congestion is often not caused by the
road but by the way drivers are driving.” Since this was extremely obvious to
me, I thought that this neo would get a three. However, the average of the
participants was a 2.43. Similar to the above example, people seemed to rate it
according to their opinion. One participant wrote, “There are too many potholes
and weird merges, so some people will half agree,” (this participant gave a
two), again, rating the neo with their opinion. Other participants just stated
they’ve heard of something similar or exactly like this before.
“Many people are driving around in a
constant seething rage.” The use of the word ‘seething’ is uncommon, but the
rest is semi-obvious, so my prediction was a two. The average was a 2.43. The
drivers gave the neo a higher rating than the non-drivers. While the
non-drivers wrote things like “I’ve kind of seen it happen,” the drivers wrote
“So true!” “It’s really common.” “I’ve seen it, experienced it, it has to
happen, so it can’t be a new idea,” and so on. Interestingly enough, people
weren’t thrown off by the word ‘seething’ and based the neo on their own
experience. Therefore, it seems that rather than words within the neo, their
experiences have more power when rating a neo.
“Congestion makes you feel frustrated and
panicky.” I thought this would get a three, only because it’s obvious. Many
drivers experienced congestion, and they all probably felt frustrated and
panicky, hence, because the neo is something they experience in everyday life,
it will not seem like a neo. The average rating was a 2.43, and most people
commented that they have not only heard of this a lot, but they also experienced
it themselves, calling the neo “common sense.” It seems that neologisms are
also closely related to experience.
“Driving is a scream; holler, yell and
occasionally a middle finger.” This is one of the neologisms that I wrote. This neo got an overall average of 1.57. This neo received a rating of one 4 out of 7
times which means it got a rating of one 57% of the time. Most of the people chose to give this a
rating of one. Some said they gave it
this rating because it looked like something someone they knew would say. What I learned from this is that with some of
the responses I received most people have a hard time grasping the concept of
what a neo truly is.
“Drinking plus driving is the perfect
equation for a car accident.” This neo got an average of 1.86. For the most part the raters of this neo
decided to give it a one. It received a
rating of one 3 out of 7 times. This neo
got a rating of one 42% of the time.
Again it is interesting that they gave this a rating of one. I learned that the neo I created was
relatable and catchy due to the answers that were provided by the subjects that
I interviewed. Some things that were
mentioned were statements on how drinking and driving could impair someone
ability. The statement does seem
true. It seems the more truthful the
statement sounds the more likely people associate it to being a neo.
“Dangerous driving begins with the car and
ends in death.” This neo I created got the average of 1.86. The neo got a rating of one 3 out of 7
times. This means it got a rating of one
47% of the time. Again some of the subjects believed this to be a neo because
it seemed to be true. Someone actually wrote “Because it’s quite true”, as an
answer to why they chose that rating for this neo. I learned that statements that are ambiguous
could be turned into a neo.
“You should never have a rubber neck while
looking at an accident because you never know you could cause an accident on
your own.” This neo got an average rating of 1.57. The neo presented is something I made
up. I wasn’t too sure if people would
see it as a neo or just if they would see it as a statement that wasn’t a
neo. When I looked at the numbers the
majority gave this neo a rating one.
This neo got a rating of one 4 out of 7times. This neo got a rating of one 57% of the
time. When asked why they chose that
answer, some people simply replied that it sounds like one. I guess if I think about it the answer to why
people say it sounds like a neo could be the fact a neo could be considered a
catch phrase or statement.
“If you brake do we not stop and if we
stop do we not create a traffic wave?” This is a neo I wrote and for once it
didn’t have an average close to a rating of 1.
This neo got an average close to 1.85.
Even though its average is 1.85 it got a rating of two 4 out of 7
times. This particular neo got a rating
of two 57% of the time. I can’t figure
out why this statement confused them. If
I had to guess it could be that the mentioning of a traffic wave probably
wasn’t understood.
“Automobiles are powerful and obedient”
This is a neo that I didn’t make and was taken from the neo chart given to us
from Dr. James. The people I gave my
survey to decide to give this a rating of 3 for the most part. The average for this neo was 2.14. People chose the rating of three 4 out of 7
times. This neo got a rating of three
57% of the time. Some of my subjects
wrote that cars aren’t obedient as an explanation for the rating they
gave. Some even go further to say that
they aren’t obedient because the driver isn’t obedient. Something I learned from this is that most of
the people didn’t really agree with this statement.
“Congestion is often not caused by the
road but by the way drivers are driving” This neo chose from the neo chart they
had an average of 1.57. The rating given
was the rating of one 4 out of 7 times.
This got a rating of one 57% of the time. People chose to give it this rating because
they were convinced it was close to being a neo. Some explanations were “Some people can’t
drive” and another person was quoted for saying “I experience this every
day.” The more I look at these
statements I start to realize that the more relatable the topic of the neo the
close the neo is to being a neo in the eyes of the raters.
“We inherit aggressive and dangerous
driving patterns as children.” I chose this neo from the master neo chart given
to me from the neo chart provided by Dr. James.
The average of this neo is 1.71.
This neo was rated one 4 out of 7 times.
This rating got a rating of one 57% of the time. Most of the raters agreed with this
information. One of the raters actually
said, “Children observe many things from adults (mostly parents).” That was a pretty good observation the
subject made. I learned that it doesn’t
take a Psych major to make that observation but I guess it would take one to
explain it.
“Congestion makes you feel frustrated and
panicky” This neo got an average of 1.57.
This neo received a rating of two 4 out of 7 times. This neo got a rating of two 57% of the
time. This neo was taken from the neo
chart. A lot of the participants didn’t
think that this phrase was a neo because it seemed out dated and already heard
but weren’t sure about their answer.
Some examples for the explanation for this rating include “I don’t know,
it could have been said before.” Some
people actually referred that congestion makes you frustrated and impatient
which is true. Overall most of the participants
were stumped if it was or wasn’t a neo.
“We call it a traffic wave.” I obtained
this neo from the neo chart. Its
average is 1.85. For the most part this
was higher in the rating of 2. It was
rated two 4 out of 7 times. This neo
received a rating of two 57% of the time.
All the people who did the survey were unsure what a traffic wave
was. I explained to them what it was
after the survey but they still didn’t understand what it was after my
explanation. I learned from this
experience that it’s hard to explain a neo to a person and it’s even harder to
explain what a traffic wave is.
“Strap on your emotional restraint” is a
neologism, as it was made up just recently so it was as a 1 on the rating
scale. The statistical average was a 2.5 on the rating scale. 30% of the
participants ranked the phrase as a 1. 30% of the participants ranked the
phrase as a 2. The phrase was ranked as a 3 by 40% of the participants. These
results indicate that on the average ranking of 2.5, this phrase is not seen to
be a neologism by most people. The participants that ranked the phrase a 3
primarily ranked it because the phrase sounded familiar. The participants that
ranked the phrase a 2 stated that the phrase sounds somewhat familiar. The
participants that ranked the phrase as a 1 primarily did so because they have
not heard of the phrase.
“Shift into the right gear of mind”, a
neologism that was made up recently and is ranked as a 1 on the rating scale.
The statistical average was 1.9 on the rating scale. 40% of the participants
ranked it as a 1. 30% of the participants ranked it as a 2. The remaining 30%
of the participants ranked it as a 3. The statistical average of 1.9 on the
rating scale shows that the majority of the participants thought that this
phrase could be a neologism. This phrase was primarily ranked as a 1 because
the majority of the participants hearing a similar phrase. The ranking of 2 was
primarily due to the phrase sounding somewhat familiar. And, the ranking of 3
was due to the participants thinking that the phrase sounded odd.
“Apply behavior for direction” is a neologism
that was made up just previously, it is ranked as a 1 on the rating scale. 10%
of the participants ranked the phrase as a 1 on the rating scale. The majority
of participants ranked this phrase as a 2 at 60%. And, this phrase was ranked a
3 by 30% of the participants. The statistical average of rankings was at a 2.2
on the rating scale. The participants that ranked the phrase as a 1 have never
heard this phrase. The ranking of 2 by the participants was ranked primarily
because it sounds a kind of familiar. The participants that ranked this phrase
as a 3 did so because it does not flow.
“Drive emotionally safe” is a neologism
that was created just recently and is ranked as a 1 on the rating scale. This
phrase’s average ranking was at 2.2 on the rating scale. 40% of the
participants ranked this phrase as a 1. 30% ranked this phrase as a 2. And, 40%
of the participants ranked this phrase as a 3 on the rating scale. The rankings
of 1 and 3 on the scale had the same amount of rating percentages. This phrase
was ranked as a 1 by participants primarily because they have heard of similar
phrases, such as “drive safe”, but never “emotionally safe.” This phrase was
ranked a 2 on the scale by participants because it does not sound cohesive.
This phrase is ranked as a 3 on the rating scale because the participants have
never heard of it.
“Turn the emotional driving key” is a neologism because it was just made up; it is
ranked as a 1 on the rating scale. This phrase was ranked as a 1.6 on the
statistical average. 50% of the participants ranked this phrase as a 1 on the
rating scale. 30% of participants ranked this phrase as a 2 on the rating
scale. And, the other 20% ranked this phrase as a 3. Participants that ranked
this phrase as a 1 did so primarily because it sounds like a new simile.
Participants that ranked this phrase as a 2 did so because it sounds kind of
familiar. The participants that ranked this phrase as a 3 on the rating scale
did so because it doesn’t flow grammatically.
“Affective driving skills” is ranked as a
3 on the rating scale because it has been used prior to this report by Dr. Leon
James. The statistical average ranking for this phrase was a 2.2 on the rating
scale. 20% of the participants ranked this phrase as a 1; primarily because they
say it sounds awkward. 40% of the participants ranked this phrase as a 2;
mostly because it sounds kind of familiar. The remaining 40% of the
participants ranked this phrase as a 3; due to the fact that they have heard
the phrased used in drivers education classes.
“Aggressive driving turns on road rage” is
ranked on the scale as a 3 because this phrase has been used by Dr. Leon James
prior to this report. The statistical average of rankings by participants was a
1.9 on the rating scale. 50% of the participants ranked this phrase as a 1 on
the rating scale; this was primarily reported by the participants because they
have never heard it before. This phrase was ranked as a 2 on the rating scale
by 10% of the participants; they reported that they ranked it as this because
it sounds true. The remaining 40% of the participants ranked this phrase as a
3; mostly because they reported that they have heard it somewhere.
“You can’t change until you want to” is a
phrase used by Dr. Leon James prior to this report; it is ranked as a 3 on the
rating scale. None of the participants ranked this phrase as a neologism. 50%
ranked this phrase as a 2 on the rating scale; they reported this ranking
because they said it was a familiar saying in movies. The other 50% of the
participants ranked this phrase as a 3; these participants have heard this
phrase in a variety of events such as pep talks and leadership seminars. The
statistical average ranking for this phrase was 2.5 on the rating scale.
“Personality undergoes a rapid
transformation” is a phrase mentioned by Dr. Leon James; it is ranked as a 3 on
the rating scale. The statistical average was a 2.1 on the rating scale. 30% of
the participants ranked this phrase as a 1 on the rating scale; primarily
because they have never heard of it. 30% of the participants ranked this phrase
as a 2 on the rating scale; they ranked this because it sounds vaguely
familiar. The remaining 40% of the participants ranked this phrase as a 3;
mostly because they have heard this phrase in various places like pep talks and
motivational speeches.
“Age of Rage” is a phrase created by Dr.
Leon James; it is ranked as a 3 on the rating scale. The statistical average
ranking for this phrase is a 1.7 on the rating scale. 40% of the participants
ranked this phrase as a 1 on the rating scale; primarily because they have
never heard it. 50% of the participants ranked this phrase as a 2 on the rating
scale; they reported that it sounds like a video game or a lyric from a song by
rap artist Eminem. The remaining 10% ranked this phrase as a 3; mostly because
they have heard it somewhere.
There seems to be four elements that people applied when rating a
neo:
Experience, the
first one on the list, seems to have the most power when the participants rated
the neologisms. Despite the fact that a neo is a new “word, expression, or
brief sentence,” when the participant actually experiences what the neo is
describing, they believe that the neo is not new. Some people seemed to
misunderstand neologisms and new ideas; hence they rated the phrase as less
likely to be a neo if they have already experienced it.
Opinion is
another factor that swayed the ratings. When the subjects agreed with the neo
they gave it a higher rating, and vice versa. During the survey, when asked for
the reason why the subject gave a certain rating, the subject stated their
reason for agreeing instead. This may have been due to the fact the subjects
did not understand what a ‘neo’ is, since their opinion should generally have
no effect on whether an expression is a neo or not.
Clarity of the
expression in question also seemed to have some role in the rating process. The
ambiguity of the neo made the meaning vague as well, which made the neo
confusing and perhaps more ‘neo-like.’ When the subjects did not understand
what the neo meant, they assumed they never heard of something like it before,
and rated it a lower number.
Finally, when there was a
“neo-esque” expression within the short sentence then the subjects were more
likely to believe the sentence was a neo. For example, the word “traffic wave”
was a new term for many people, so the subjects rated the expression as being
more neo-like. On the other hand, the expression that used a cliché-like phrase
“go with the flow,” got a higher rating. Even though the subjects never heard
of the sentence in question, because of that commonly used phrase, the
“neo-ness” of the neo was in doubt.
Taking data on the phrase “we call
it a traffic wave” twice was done in order to check the validity of 5 factors
of neologisms. Both sets of data were taken from different sample groups and
the data shows that the averages are different. Thus
supporting the 5 factors of neologisms hypothesis.
The Issue of Neologisms
Based on the qualitative and quantitative
data that was collected it is clear that the mass majority of people do not
think much about neologisms. This is to say that the definition of neologism is
not consistent from person to person and everyone has their own interpretation
of the word. When thinking of a neologism, people use 5 functions to base their
interpretations on their meanings for words: Experience; opinion; clarity; neo
within a neo.
Experience
relating to the action or situation in which a neologism is describing causes
people to identify more with the definition and neologism so they are more
likely to see the neologism as not being a neologism, and visa versa. Opinion
on the neologism, in regards to the way it sounds, what it means, and its
syntax, shapes the thought that a neologism is a neologism or not. Clarity of
the meaning of a neologism also causes a person to either assume it is a
neologism or not. Having a neologism within a neologism causes people to
believe that a whole phrase is neologism rather than just that one word.
This topic is not
thought of very much on a day to day basis. Neologisms are created
instantaneously and infinitely by every single person that speaks a human
language; whether it be describing something in a different way or hearing and
learning a new word, phrase, or idea. Although not thought of frequently,
neologisms are a part of everyday life in the sense that everyone is learning
something new and interpreting it all the time. Neologisms are infinitely
forming as unstable (refer to research) descriptions and forming into Passé
(refer to research) phrases or words.
The issue of
neologisms is an important issue because it is a part of our human ability to
communicate with speech. Neologisms first started forming when humans first
started to speak; and now we have over 6,912 languages (http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/worldlanguages.htm).
Neologisms are taking the past and forging it into the future while smelting
cultures together as words and ideas are borrowed and traded.
This approach
expands the view of neologisms by giving it thought. With the knowledge that
language is alive and constantly changing and that every individual has their
own perspective of every single word; neologisms are part of our every day
lives. This approach causes us to look at language not as an unchanging
constant, but as an interpretation of how we think and interpret everything.
References
Neologism. (n.d.) Retrieved
This website
contains the definition of the word neologism. It also contains links to the
history of neologism and relevant words and phrases.
Leon, J. Half a Century of Science in Psychology: Scientific
Neologisms Coined by Leon James for the Period 1958-2008. Retrieved from http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/neochartp1.htm
This website is Dr.
Leon James’ master neo chart and website. This site is the basis and
inspiration of this report.
NTVC. (2007). World Languages. From http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/worldlanguages.htm
This site
contains data on world languages. It also contains sections of data from the Ethnologue.
This site contains data by continent about languages.