Active Models in Modern Portuguese Neology: New Words and the Pandemic

Abstract

In this paper, neology is considered as a heuristic activity that is carried out with the help of language. The article uses materials from modern Portuguese-language media discourse, specifically from the internet versions of the leading media resources in Portugal and Brazil. The combination of structural, psycholinguistic, functional-stylistic, denotative, cognitive-discursive and lexicographic approaches helps to identify the main active models in the field of Portuguese neology. During the coronavirus pandemic, Portuguese neology developed in the classical way, although some new phenomena are observed at the same time. Processes that traditionally occur include word formation (affixation, abbreviation and word composition), semantic reinterpretations of lexical units, and borrowings. There is a large proportion of initial abbreviations in word formation, both alphabetic (sigla) and phonetic (acronyms). Many initial abbreviations are of an international origin. Compound words function alongside scientific symbols. In affixation, prefix word-formation prevails. To enrich the dictionary, borrowings are mostly taken from English. New neological models are associated with the determinologization of medical vocabulary, which migrates into everyday discourse. Proper names are interpreted in a new way. Some anthroponyms, mythonyms and toponyms acquire associative connotations or become part of complex words. Derivation in the field of phraseology, in which the number of fixed combinations increases, has become more common. Paremiology is renewed with antiproverbs. Linguocreative activity is represented by expressive memes and hashtags. In the pandemic period, along with neologisms, potential words with great expressiveness appear. Portuguese neology actively conceptualizes the events of the coronavirus pandemic. In the field of conceptualization, the subdomains of medicine, media and everyday discourse, in the focus of which lies the concept of “disease,” are distinguished. The latter is understood with the help of conventional lexical means and lexical resources from different styles. During the pandemic, the neological field “coronavirus pandemic” appears as part of the constantly expanding neologosphere of the language.