Nonce words

Neologisms

Neologisms are newly born words. Most of them are terms. The layer of terminological neologisms has been rapidly growing since the start of the technological revolution. The sphere of the Internet alone gave birth to thou­sands of new terms which have become international (network, server, brows­er, e-mail, provider, site, Internet Message Access Protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol, Microsoft Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, etc). The Internet is an immense virtual world with its own language and its people, good or bad. Hacker means "someone who uses a computer to connect to other people's computers secretly and often illegally in order to find or change information". Spammer means "someone who sends emails to large numbers of people on the Internet, especially when these are not wanted". Recent discoveries in biochemistry, genetic engineer­ing, plasma physics, microelectronics, oceanography, cosmonautics and other sciences demanded new words to name new concepts and ideas. The vocab­ulary of our everyday usage is also enlarged by neologisms. Bancomat means "a European system of automatic cash-ejecting machines". Bankcard means "a small plastic card that you use for making payments or for getting money from the bank".

In most cases, newly coined words are not easily accepted by the linguistic community due to its conservative attitude towards every innovation. Therefore, a neologism seems, to the majority of language users, a stranger, a newcomer, and hence a word of low stylistic value, although the intention of the speaker (writer) may be quite the opposite.

Prof Morokhovsly draws the line between stylistic neologisms and lexical neologisms. Stylistic neologisms are new words denoting existing objects or concepts: seesaw (battle); hush-hush work (secret work); eggbeater (helicopter).

Lexical neologisms are new words denoting new objects and concepts: push-button war; rockumentary; fruitologist; death-star.

Stylistic neologisms are mainly used in the text to create speech characteristics.

Obviously humorous are the so-called nonce words, i.e. words created by the speaker (writer) to meet the needs of the actual communicative situation.

These are words invented by the writer or speaker for the given occasion. Such words do not remain in the language after being created by analogy with “legitimate” words. Having served their one-time purpose they disappear completely (if in oral speech), or stay on as curiosities (if in books of fiction). Being non-existent, unknown, yet comprehensible from the situation or context, they produce, as a rule, a humorous effect. The reason for this effect lies in the discrepancy between the outlaw status of the word and its formal correctness and the structural rightness of its appearance.

Thus, by analogy with the well-known word humanity a jocular word is formed: womanity. Compare the use of nonce words in the following examples.

There was a balconyful of gentlemen. (R. Chesterton)

She objected to George because he was George. It was, as it were, his essential Georgeness that offended her. (Wodehouse)

Her nose was red and dew-dropping. She was too … Jack-in-the-boxy. (Aldington)

To nonce-words may also be referred dash word combinations and sentences used attributively: fire-in-the-belly style; mad-as-hell voter; can’t-tell-the-truth-to-people philosophy; winner-take-all voting.

Barbarisms, or Foreign Words.

Barbarisms and foreignisms have the same origin. They should not be confused with 'loan­words ', or borrowed words in English. Words originally borrowed from a foreign language are usually assimilated into the native vocabulary, so as not to differ from its units in appearance or in sound. Their alien past is forgotten; often it is only a philologist that can tell their un-English origin.

The greater part of barbarisms was borrowed into English from French and Latin (parvenu - выскочка; protege -протеже; a propos - кстати; beau monde - высший свет; de novo -сызнова; alter ego - другое «я»; datum - сведения, информация). Barbarisms are assimilated borrowings. Being part of the English word-stock, they are fixed in dictionaries. Foreignisms are non-assimilated borrowings occasionally used in speech for stylistic reasons. They do not belong to the English vocabulary and are not registered by lexicographers. The main func­tion of barbarisms and foreignisms is to create a realistic background to the stories about foreign habits, customs, traditions and conditions of life.

Barbarisms are called 'denizens' (давать иностранцам права гражданства), i.e. words naturalized, words that long ago obtained all the rights of citizenship. Here is some jocular advice allegedly given to the students by a purist who fought against borrowed elements in English:

"Avoid using foreign lexical units! Employ terse, brief, easy na­tive monosyllables!"

The learner with even a vague knowledge of historical lexicology (etymology) will undoubtedly have noticed that the adherent of the purity of English has not, himself, used a single native word in his ultra-patriotic admonition: each word, from first to last, was borrowed from French, or Latin and Greek (through French).

Along with denizens (the stylistic value of which, like that of native words, maybe of various kinds), there are borrowed words called 'aliens', i.e. 'strangers': words whose foreign look, or foreign sound, or both, have been preserved, although they are widely used in English. They are mostly late borrowings from French (bouquet, billet-doux, rouge, garage, idee fixe), Italian (dolce-far-niente), or Latin (dixi, alter ego, etc.). The words sputnik, perestroika, glasnost are known and felt to be Russian words, while bouquet or garage, though obviously French in origin, have become part of the English vocabulary.

To characterize various alien borrowings in one single formula is impossible. Much depends on the meaning of the word, on the func­tion it performs in social life, on the language from which it came to English. The stylistic value of a French or Italian borrowing, pertaining to higher spheres of life, to music, theatre, art in general, is stylistically incomparable with that of borrowings from exotic languages, such as those of American Indians (words like squaw, moccasin, opossum).

The use of foreign words and foreign expressions in books of fiction may have various aims in view. In the following example the sentence in French merely characterizes the lingual behaviour of Fleur Forsyte, who is French on her mother's side:

"Why don't you like those cousins, Father?"

Soames lifted the corner of his lip.

"What made you think of that?"

"Cela ce voit."

"That sees itself! What a way of putting it!" (Galsworthy)

But the French parting formula Au revoir used by Fleur when she takes her leave thus addressing Jon Forsyte has a special stylistic value. This expression is occasionally used in England even by those ignorant of French, and it has something exquisite, a tinge of elegance about it. It is stylistically 'higher' than the commonplace English good-bye. Compare the Italian ciao, bambina current among Russian youngsters a few years ago. The same tinge of elegance is felt in the French word chic used by Winifred Dartie, whose husband informs her of his intention to call their first-born child Publius Valerius:

She had been charmed. It was so chic. (Galsworthy)

Barbarisms and foreign words are used to:

- to give speech characteristics;

- to supply the local colouring;

- to depict local conditions/ habits

- to reflect the foreign environment;

- to show the foreign origin of the character;

- to create the impression of an utterance made in a foreign language

However, translator and interpreters should be very careful with the use of foreign words. The over-use of barbarisms in the Ukrainian language and how it affects the development of the language is highlighted in the book by Р. Зорівчак Боліти болем слова нашого.

She gives the following examples of the invasion of foreign words into the Ukrainian language and how it distorts it:

амбасадор = посол, в домені науки= галузі, репрезетнатн = представник, імпакт = вплив, елімінувати = виключати, гльорифікований = прославлений, іншуренс = страхування, індикувати = вказувати, рідерси = читанки, на кшталт = на зразок, родзинка програми = окраса програми

peace negotiations – мирові переговори = переговори про мир

the Canadian Peace Organization – канадська мирова організація = канадська організація миру

the heart disease – серцева хвороба = хвороба серця

a portest meeting –протесний мітинг = мітинг протесту

hotel workers - готельні робітники = працівники готелю

2. Colloquial / low-flown / degraded vocabulary

Colloquial vocabulary embraces conversational lexis, jargonisms, professionalisms, dialectal, slangy and vulgar words.

Common colloquial vocabulary is part of Standard English word-stock. It borders both on neutral vocabulary and on special colloquial vocabulary. Colloquialisms are familiar words and idioms used in informal speech and writing, but unacceptable in polite conversation or business correspondence. Compare standard speech sentence "Sir, you speak clearly and to the point" and its colloquial equivalent "Friend, you talk plain and hit the nail right on the head".

There are some specific ways of forming colloquial words and gram­matical fusions. The most typical of them are contraction (demo = demon­stration, comp = comprehensive school, disco = discotheque, pub = public house, ad = advertisement), amalgamation of two words in a single one (s'long = so long, с'топ = come on, gimme = give me, wanna = want to, gonna = going to, don't = do not, he's = he has/is), affixation (missy = miss, girlie = girl, Scotty = Scotchman), compounding, composing and blending (legman = reporter, hanky-panky = children's tricks, yellow-belly = coward, motel = a hotel for people who are travelling by car).

The most productive way of building colloquial words in Russian and Ukrainian is derivation. Lots of suffixes and prefixes convert neutral words into conversational: мама = мамочка, мамуля, мамуся, мамка, мамаша, маман, мамища; книга = книжка, книжица, книжонка, книжища.

Many of colloquial words are extremely emotional and image-bearing. For example, the interjections oops, oh, gee, wow, alas are capable of ren­dering dozens of contextual subjective modal meanings, such as gladness, rapture, disappointment, resentment, admiration, etc. Not less expressive are Russian and Ukrainian colloquial words. Compare: пустомеля, скупердяй, одурелый, чумной, орать, проныра. Expressive colloquial words form long chains of synonyms: лицо = физиономия, портрет, морда, рожа, харя, рыло, будка.

Conversational words occur in everyday oral communication, in mass media as well as in works of artistic prose and poetry (dialogues of characters etc.). Their function is to give an expressive evaluation of facts and events, to create the atmosphere of confidence, sincerity etc. They mark the message as informal and non-official.

Now we would like to describe various types of low-flown words in a greater detail. As I.V.Arnold (1973) points out, the boundaries between literary, familiar and low colloquial layers are not very sharply defined. V.A.Maltzev (1984) separates colloquialisms into two classes - "functional colloquial elements" and "notional colloquial lexis and idiom".

To the first class, he refers social phrases (greetings, leave-takings, requests etc.), forms of direct address, and interjections, whose main functions in any conversation are emotive, phatic, and conative. They convey no conceptual information, yet informal direct human communication is impossible without them. The second class of "notional colloquialisms" has definite conceptual meanings. Such words and phrases are used only in familiar, friendly English spoken by equals, and add a shade of humour and jest to a conversation. Compared to their neutral equivalents, they are more emotional, expressive, and figurative. E.g.:

COLLOQUIALISMS: cliff-hanger, cook funny shaver headshrinker coot

think-tank monkey pro hoof splinter bags burp peckish change cock-eyed blind ace moonshine peanuts

NEUTRAL EQUIVALENTS: prolonged, tense situation; falsify strange

chap, youngster psychiatrist foolish person expert in some field mischievous child professional foot splitting headache trousers belch hungry satisfaction tipsy drunk first class, excellent nonsense matter of no importance

Apart from colloquialisms, low-flown vocabulary is represented by slang, dialectal words and vulgarisms.

Comparing slang and dialects, V.A.Maltzev labels the former as substandard and the latter as non-standard. He gives mostly an anthropological explanation of the difference between the two types of vocabulary. The users of slang are well aware of the fact that they speak the language not accepted by the speech community as good one; dialectal (regional) usage is based on territorial varieties of the language whose users are not necessarily aware of the deviations from the national standard (literary) language they have in their speech. However both slang and dialects are below colloquialisms in social prestige. Colloquialisms are used more or less automatically, subconsciously, while slang is a conscious, intentional degradation of the vocabulary.

To illustrate the striking difference between the formal (neutral), colloquial, dialect and slang levels, we would like to quote from S.B.Flexner, the author of the Dictionary of American Slang (1975) who gives the following examples corresponding to the four types of vocabulary usage:

Sir, you speak English well, (formal)

Friend, you talk plain and hit the nail right on the head, (colloquial) Cousin, y'all talk mighty fine. (American Southern dialect) Buster, your line is the cat's pajamas.Or: Doll, you come on with the straight jazz, real cool like, (slang)

buster -fellow, guy; line - usual topic, mode of conversation; the cat's pajamas - remarkable person, thing etc.; doll - pretty girl or woman; straight - honest, normal; jazz - talk; cool - satisfying, pleasant

Colloquialisms are used to:

- to mark the passage as informal, non-official, conversational

- to give an expressive evaluation of facts and events;

- to give an emotional coloring to speech;

- to add authenticity in imitating oral communication;

- to give additional characteristics to the objects described

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