Protologism
New word that has not yet been independently published From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In linguistics, a protologism is a newly used or coined word, a nonce word, that has been repeated but has not gained acceptance beyond its original users or been published independently of the coiners.[1][2] The word may be proposed, may be extremely new, or may be established only within a very limited group of people.[3][4]
A protologism becomes a neologism as soon as it appears in published press, on a website, or in a book, independently of the coiner[5]—though, most definitively, in a dictionary.[6] A word whose developmental stage is between that of a protologism (freshly coined) and a neologism (a new word) is a prelogism.[7]
Overview
Summarize
Perspective
Protologisms constitute one stage in the development of neologisms. A protologism is coined to fill a gap in the language, with the hope of its becoming an accepted word.[8][9] As an example, when the word protologism itself was coined—in 2003[10] by the American literary theorist Mikhail Epstein—it was autological: an example of the thing it describes.[11]
About the concept and his name for it, Epstein wrote:
I suggest calling such brand new words 'protologisms' (from Greek protos, meaning 'first, original' and Greek logos, meaning 'word'; cf. prototype, protoplasm). The protologism is a freshly minted word not yet widely accepted. It is a verbal prototype, which may eventually be adopted for public service or remain a whim of linguo-poetic imagination.[12]
According to Epstein, every word in use started out as a protologism, subsequently became a neologism, and then gradually grew to be part of the language.[12]
There is no fixed rule determining when a protologism becomes a stable neologism,[13] and according to Kerry Maxwell, author of Brave New Words:
[A] protologism is unlikely to make the leap to neologism status unless society connects with the word or identifies a genuine need for it [...] there's no guarantee that simple exposure to these creations will be effective in getting them used, as discovered by British inventor Sir James Dyson when he fruitlessly attempted to promote a verb dyson (by analogy with hoover) in the early 2000s.[14]
In science
It has been suggested protologisms are needed in scientific fields, particularly in the life sciences, where very complex interactions between partially understood components produce higher order phenomena.[15] Nevertheless, until the unappreciated concept in question has been thoroughly investigated and shown to be a real phenomenon, it is improbable that the term would be used by anyone other than its creator[15] and achieve the status of neologism.
See also
- Hapax legomenon, a word occurring only once in a given context, such as in the works of a particular author
- Neologism, a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not yet been fully accepted into mainstream language.
- Nonce word, a word created for a single occasion
- Sniglet, a humorous word made up to describe something for which no dictionary word exists
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
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