nomning

Nomning is a theoretical concept in linguistics and cultural studies that describes the social process by which communities assign, negotiate, and stabilize names for entities, concepts, or practices. It emphasizes communal legitimacy and the establishment of conventional referents across discourse, rather than merely generating synonymous terms.

The term is etymologically constructed from "nom" (a root associated with naming, from Latin nomen) and the English gerund suffix -ing. It has appeared mainly in online discussions, informal research blogs, and worldbuilding communities, where it is used to describe how informal coinages become standard terms.

Nomning involves several mechanisms. Naming negotiations occur in public discourse, among experts and laypersons, through metaphorical extension, redefinition, and institutional endorsement. Digital media platforms accelerate nomning by enabling rapid diffusion and cross-linguistic adaptation. Through repeated use, a nascent label can acquire referential traction, stabilize across domains, and develop associated connotations and norms.

Contexts of nomning include technology, science communication, social movements, and policy debates. The stages range from coinage at the “nascent nomning” phase to widespread acceptance at the “standard nomning” stage, with potential decline if the term fails to gain consensus.

Critics argue that nomning overlaps with existing ideas about semantic change, branding, and language ideologies, and that distinguishing it as a separate mechanism may be unnecessary. Proponents, however, view it as a useful lens for tracing how communities co-create shared vocabularies.

See also: Naming, Nomenclature, Semantic change, Sociolinguistics, Language planning.