Analogical neologisms in English

The main purpose of this paper is, on the one hand, to show the relevance of the notion of analogy to English word-formation, and, on the other hand, to propose an array of (phonological, morphotactic, and semantic) similarities between analogy-based neologisms and the model words they are based on. The theoretical framework of this paper is Natural Morphology. In particular, we adopt Dressler & Ladányi’s (1998: 35) approach to analogy, with a tripartite subdivision distinguishing surface analogy, created on the model of a unique concrete form, from rule productivity, with a precise abstract pattern described in a rule format, and from analogy via schema, with prototype actual words but no exact pattern. Examples of English creative neologisms of the three types – selected from the online collections Neologisms – New Words in Journalistic Text (1997-2012) and The Rice University Neologisms Database (2004-2014) – are adduced and categorised along scales of similarity between target and model. The paper discusses analogy in relation to the key notions of creativity, productivity, and rule. It shows that analogy is not devoid of relations to morphological rules, as the oft-cited compound nouns earwitness and whitelist, respectively after eyewitness and blacklist, demonstrate. Although analogy is less constrained than rules, it is viewed as a promising area of investigation in word-formation. The paper shows that surface analogies recur throughout the spectrum from rule-based to extra-grammatical formations. It identifies scales of affinities between target and model which allow for the association of the former with the latter. These scales may correspond to different degrees of easiness in both recognising the model (model recoverability) and understanding (or accepting) the target (target disambiguation).