Branches of linguistics. Synchronic vs diachronic approaches to the language study. Lexicology – ‘the science of the word’ Lexicon

Lexical Neologisms

Two common elements used to produce new words related to the Internet are cyber- and e-:

cybercafé, n. ‘a cafe that offers its customers computers with Internet access’; cyberterrorist, n. ‘a criminal who uses the Internet to do damage to computer systems’;

Semantic neologisms – new meanings of already existing words – result from semantic derivation due to the functional mobility of the vocabulary:

virus, n. ‘a piece of code which is capable of copying itself and typically has a detrimental effect, such as corrupting the system or destroying data’;

Idiomatic Neologisms

to open the kimono ‘to open a company's accounting books for inspection; to expose something previously hidden’; a sleep camel ‘a person who gets little sleep during the week, and then attempts to make up for it by sleeping in and napping on the weekend’; to put skin in the game ‘take an active interest in a company or undertaking by making a significant investment or financial commitment’;

27. Polysemy. Semantic structure of English words. Diachronic and synchronic approaches to polysemy. Types of polysemy.

Polysemy (Gr. πολυσημεία ‘multiple meaning’) is the ability of words to have more than one meaning.