English in the Pandemic: Changes and Challenges

Abstract

The article sheds light on some of the new developments in English under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic: namely, various types of neologisms, which have appeared over the past year and a half. The paper offers an overview of these new formations, supplemented by discourse analysis. The study is based on the material gleaned from online editions of The Economist newspaper, with the examples selected using the method of continuous sampling. Research results indicate that the majority of neologisms are portmanteau words; however, abbreviations, compounds and new coinages referring to people’s work arrangement are also encountered. In addition, some data on the increase in dictionary searches for words connected with the pandemic are adduced. COVID-19 has boosted the capacity of the English language for expanding its vocabulary, and the changes brought about by this process should be thoroughly studied and understood.