Active models in modern Portuguese neology: new words and the pandemic

Abstract

In the paper, neology is considered as a heuristic activity that is carried out with the help of language. The article uses materials of modern Portuguese-language media discourse, of the Internet version of the leading media resources in Portugal and Brazil, in particular. 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 develops in a classical way, at the same time some new phenomena are observed. Traditionally, occurring processes 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 international origin. Compound words function alongside scientific symbols. In affixation, prefix word-formation is prevailing. To enrich the dictionary, borrowings are attracted mainly from the English language. New neological models are associated with the determinologization of medicine 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, is boosting. Paremiology is being 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, subdomains of medicine, media and everyday discourse, in the focus of which lies the concept of “disease”, are distinguished. The latter is understood both 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.