Introducing English Linguistics

Creating new vocabulary
The discussion thus far has dealt with the meaning of existent words in
English. Sometimes, however, a different situation arises: some new phe-
nomenon is introduced into human experience for which some new word
needs to be created. While it is possible to identify a series of general
processes by which new words are formed, it is difficult to determine pre-
cisely when a new word was first used, and why all speakers of a language
ultimately agreed to use it. For instance, the computer term memory was
created through the process of meaning extension: the meaning of memo-
ry as it applies to the human mind was extended to cover the inner work-
ings of a computer. In the OED, the earliest citation containing a use of
memory with this meaning (taken from CIC) dates back to 1945:
The memory elements of the machine may be divided into two groups –
the “internal memory” and the “external memory.”
(OED Online)
While memory, as it is used in this example, is undoubtedly a new usage,
the usage did not originate in this example. Dictionaries can therefore
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INTRODUCING ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

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provide only general information about the origins of words, and they cer-
tainly cannot explain why a given word ultimately gains universal accept-
ance. However, there is one new word in English – 9/11 – that can provide
an interesting perspective on the process of word creation, and that can
also be used to describe the various word formation processes that serve
to provide general templates for the introduction of new words into
English.