neologizm

Neologizm, in Turkish linguistics and in general linguistics, denotes a newly coined word or a new sense assigned to an existing word. Neologisms emerge to label new concepts, technologies, social practices, or cultural phenomena and may enter everyday speech gradually or remain limited to specific communities.

Neologisms arise through multiple processes: coinage of entirely new terms, borrowings from other languages, calques (translations of foreign phrases), or semantic shifts that extend a word’s meaning. Morphological creation—derivation, compounding, blending, clipping, and acronymization—also contributes. In Turkish, affixation and the combination of Turkish roots with productive suffixes regularly yield neologisms.

Lifespan and usage: Some neologisms are nonce words that appear briefly, while others gain traction, spreading through media and communities and becoming part of standard usage. Technological and social changes drive rapid coinage and broad diffusion across languages.

Examples: widely used neologisms include selfie, emoji, crowdfunding, and chatbot. Turkish discourse often imports English terms or forms new words by adapting foreign roots to Turkish phonology and morphology, but many English-origin terms circulate widely in Turkish as well.

Lexicography and attitudes: Dictionaries monitor neologisms by tracking frequency, acceptance, and context. Terms with sustained use may be lexicalized and included in reference works; others fade or remain limited to jargon, slang, or technical registers.