A study of coinages: the case of a stand-up comedy

Abstract

This paper investigates neologisms in data retrieved from stand-up comedies. It postulates social media interaction as a main source of new words, and analyses coined words as specific wordforms in the stand-up comedy routines that mirror current society events. Preconditions, formation of coined words in the stand-up comedy discourse, and their perception by non-native speakers are considered. The article touches the derivational potential of new coinages, discusses the most productive word-building techniques, and describes respondents’ reactions to coinages in order to understand whether they can adequately interpret the words’ meanings. Obtained results demonstrate the relevance of digitally coined words in modern English. They prove the hypothesis that satirical work across the world has a strong impact on our society and the language we use. Potential future research in the field of social mass media neology on the basis of other non-related languages is suggested.