1 Introduction
1.1 Background and Significance of the Study
Language, a mirror that reflects changes in society, is the epitome of the development of politics, economy and culture. With rapid globalization and deep influence of informational revolution, people have to experience the things that they have never seen or imagined. When the existing vocabulary can no longer satisfy the needs of communication, neologisms come into being. Among the three elements that comprise a language, pronunciation and grammar are more stable compared with vocabulary. As a matter of fact, vocabulary is the most dynamic and most sensitive element that responds to the changes in a language.The study of English neologisms dates back to 20th century, and are mainly carried out from the perspectives of word-formation, semantics and lexicology. Most linguists endeavor to make clear the origin and usage of newly emerged words, while few of them focus on employing the approach of cognitive linguistics. But with the painstaking efforts made by numerous respectable cognitive linguists, cognitive approach has proved itself on providing a new perspective of explaining linguistic phenomena. The rudiment of Conceptual Integration Theory is Mental Space Theory proposed by Gilles Fauconnier in his book Mental Spaces (1985). This theory originated from Conceptual Metaphor Theory presented in Metaphors We Live By written by Lakoff & Johnson(1980). While unveiling the process of generating and interpreting the meaning of natural languages, Mental Space Theory was still ambiguous in specific procedures. Nevertheless, with the publication of a series of devoted works, i.e. Principles of Conceptual Integration (1996), Conceptual Integration Networks (1998), The Way We Think : Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities (2002), Fauconnier finally brought forward the mature Conceptual Integration Theory. The meaning of “conceptual integration” refers to the blends of mental spaces, which are small conceptual packets constructed as we think and talk, for purposes of local understanding and action. The establishment of Conceptual Integration Theory provides us with a handy tool to discover the hidden iceberg of the meaning construction and information integration of languages.
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1.2 Research Questions
This thesis attempts to answer the following three questions: (1) Can Conceptual Integration Theory be applied to analyzing the meaning construction of English neologisms? (2) How does the Conceptual Integration Theory interpret English neologisms? (3) How do conceptual integration networks correspond with types of English neologisms?
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2 Literature Review
2.1 Definition of Neologism
The term “neologism” is first attested in English in 1772, borrowed from French néologisme. This word is formed by two roots, “neo” and “logo”, and in Greek, “neo” means new, “logo” means speech or utterance. Thus, the combination of these two roots account for the meaning of neologism, which is “new word”. The explanations of neologism given by authorized dictionaries are as follows: a new word or a new meaning for an established word in Webster’s New World Dictionary(1951); any word phrase, or sense that came into popular use or enjoyed, a vogue in the given period in The Oxford Dictionary of New Words(1998); a new word or expression or a new meaning of a word in Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary(6th Edition) edited by Albert Hornby(2000). Bussman(1991), in his work Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, expresses that neologisms are newly-formed language form recognized by part of the language users. The famous online encyclopedia “Wikipedia”, combined with the ideas of Malmkjaer(2006) and Levchenko(2010), defines a neologism as the name for a newly coined term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not yet been accepted in
