An Analysis On The Formation And Spreading Mechanism Of Chinese Neologisms

A great number of Chinese neologisms have sprung up in recent years. The State Language and Characters Commission has released a total of1680neologisms in the series of report Language Situation in China from2006to2010, which has caught the attention of many scholars. Neologism has long been a heated topic in the field of linguistics. Previous researches on Chinese neologisms were mainly conducted from such angles as lexicology, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics. Cognitive linguistic theories have been applied to the analyses on Chinese neologisms in recent years as well. However, the previous studies from this perspective neglect language use that plays an importance role in the formation and spread of language, which makes the studies not comprehensive or thorough enough.This thesis unites language use and domain-general cognitive processes to provide a theoretical framework on the basis of usage-based theory in which the formation and spreading mechanism of the500Chinese neologisms that were released by the State Language and Characters Commission in2010are analyzed. The500neologisms are classified into five groups according to the ways in which they are created, namely new words and expressions in old forms, new words and expressions created from non-existing words and expressions, abbreviations of existing words and expressions, homophones of existing words and expressions, and new words and expressions derived from existing words and expressions. The dynamic formation and spreading process of the neologisms, the mechanism therein and how the mechanism operates in the process are carefully discussed group by group.Three major findings are procured from the discussions:(i) About99%of the500neologisms are formed on the basis of existing words and expressions, which shows that language use has to be taken into account in the analysis on the formation of Chinese neologisms.(ii) The frequency of language use, exemplar memory, categorization and analogy affect the formation of Chinese neologisms. The frequency of language use mainly operates in the formation of the neologisms that are abbreviated from existing words and expressions and those that are derived from existing words and expressions. Exemplar memory is closely related to the formation of all the neologisms that are derived from existing words and expressions and some neologisms which are homophones of existing words and expressions. Categorization affects the formation of the neologisms that are homophones and derivations of the existing words and expressions. Analogy only operates in the formation of the neologisms that are derived from existing words and expressions.(iii) Frequency of language use, exemplar memory and chunking are involved in the spread of all the500Chinese neologisms.