Additionally, of all the new words sampled in Algeo’s study, 76.7 percent turned out to be nouns, 15.2 percent were adjectives, 7.8 percent were verbs, and 0.3 percent were other parts of speech (270-71). ![]() Second to composites, Algeo found that 14.2 percent of the neologisms of the sample decade were shifted forms: “words…used in a new meaning and sometimes as a new part of speech, usually without any change of form.” Only 9.7 percent of new words were shortenings 6.0 percent were borrowings and finally, 4.8 percent were blendings. Linguist John Algeo, who has been co-editor of a regular collection of neologisms in the journal American Speech for over a decade, clarifies that “word change is very rapid, compared with grammar….Words come into being, change their uses, and pass out of existence far more readily than either sounds or grammatical constructions” (Algeo, 55.4, 264).* In “Where Do All the New Words Come From?” (55.4), Algeo devised a method to ascertain the sources for new words from 1963 to 1973 and found that in this decade-long period, 63.9 percent of new words were composites-in other words, “compounds or forms derived by affixation” (notably this is also the chief source of new words as far back as the Old English period). The Structure of Neologisms In General:īefore discussing war terminology specifically, it is helpful to touch on a few general trends in English word formation. In discussing these loci of linguistic creativity, an assortment of military terms will be given, with a focus on terms coined during the Gulf War.Ģ.1. Topics will include the overlap between military and hospital terminology and the use of military metaphors in the business sphere, especially to characterize business women. It will culminate in considerations of the appropriation of military discourse into the public sphere and the infiltration of military terminology into other specialized vocabularies. This article will focus throughout on the incredible productivity and flexibility of military terminology. Such practical and ideological means range, for instance, from the fostering of community among servicemen, to the adoption of an abundance of timesaving acronyms, to the development of neologisms that mask violence of warfare-whether in the service of bolstering a soldier’s psychological state, giving a particular ideological spin to wartime news reports, or associating combat with sexuality. From there, several notable ways that military terminology fulfils both practical and ideological means will be considered. This article will begin with a brief discussion of the general grammatical trends in English word formation as compared to the grammatical trends manifested in the development of military neologisms. Moreover, since the armed forces and its component units constitute definitive “subcultures or social groups” that “daily share a common set of experiences and, perhaps, even a world view,” they “can be expected to share a common lingo” (Murray, 126). That military language is exceptionally productive is not, perhaps, surprising it makes sense that “each crisis creates its own vocabulary” (John Mason in Murray, 126). Wayne Silkett adds that “few specialized vocabularies have been as similarly borrowed, copied, and altered as has the military vocabulary” (13). ![]() Murray remarks in his discussion of naval fighter pilot terminology, “The study of English in century has shown that members of the armed services…are especially prone to linguistic creativity,” whether soldiers, sailors, or flyers (126). In recent years, numerous dictionaries have been compiled in the attempt to ascertain and record the often ephemeral vocabulary associated with specific wars-not only weapons terminology and technical jargon, but also the colorful slang that inevitably characterizes every war. Warfare and the Military Greatly Impact the English Language:įor better or worse, the language of the military and of warfare in particular has greatly impacted the English language. Military Terminology and the English Languageġ.
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