Haluzárna, bafačky and homokonec: Neologisms on the Website of the Czech-Slovak Film Database and the Relevance of Cover Image

Haluzárna, bafačky a homokonec: Neologismy na webu Československé filmové databáze a relevance neologismů (nejen) pro popis slovotvorby
Haluzárna, bafačky and homokonec: Neologisms on the Website of the Czech-Slovak Film Database and the Relevance of

Author(s): Jakub Sláma
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Sociolinguistics, Philology
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze - Filozofická fakulta, Vydavatelství
Keywords: neologism; prefixoid; slang word; suffixation; word-formation

Summary/Abstract: Studies of Czech neologisms usually focus on neologisms found in standard texts or in a collaborative online dictionary including mostly expressive words, invented words and the like. The paper attempts to bridge the gap by focusing on less formal and standard, yet fully authentic texts, i.e., user reviews in the Czech-Slovak film database. Based on 2,006 novel lexical units found on the website, it is shown that while neologisms are mostly found among lexical words, some are also found among grammatical, supposedly closed-class words. It is illustrated that derivation by suffixes and prefixoids as well as compounding are the most productive processes, yielding some surprisingly productive types of new words. Finally, the paper focuses on three prominent patterns found among the neologisms (X-árna, V-ačka, and homo-N) and points out their relevance, thus illustrating that studies of neologisms do not need to be trivially descriptive and classificatory but can point towards more general issues, both theoretical and methodological.

  • Issue Year: 105/2023
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 23-38
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Czech