Ecological Neologisms and Their Semantic Features: A Comprehensive Analysis of Contemporary Environmental Terminology

Rakhimova Mokhinur Kaxramon kizi

doi:10.47134/jpbi.v2i4.1934

Authors

Rakhimova Mokhinur Kaxramon kizi Uzbekistan State University of World Languages

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47134/jpbi.v2i4.1934

Keywords:

Ecological Neologisms, Environmental Linguistics, Semantic Analysis, Terminology, Discourse Analysis

Abstract

The rapid evolution of environmental science and ecological awareness has precipitated the emergence of numerous neologisms within ecological discourse. This study examines the semantic features and linguistic characteristics of ecological neologisms through a comprehensive analysis of contemporary environmental terminology. Using corpus linguistic methods and semantic field theory, we analyzed 450 ecological neologisms collected from scientific literature, environmental reports, and digital media sources between 2010-2024. Our findings reveal distinct semantic patterns including metaphorical extensions, compound formations, and hybrid constructions that reflect both scientific precision and public accessibility. The results demonstrate that ecological neologisms exhibit unique morphological structures, semantic transparency, and pragmatic functions that distinguish them from general scientific terminology. These findings contribute to our understanding of how environmental discourse shapes and is shaped by linguistic innovation, with implications for science communication and environmental education.

References

A. A. Metcalf, Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019.

A. Corner and J. Clarke, Talking Climate: From Research to Practice in Public Engagement. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.

A. Fill and P. Mühlhäusler, Eds., The Ecolinguistics Reader: Language, Ecology and Environment. London: Continuum, 2018.

A. Goatly, Green Grammar: Environmental Metaphors in Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

A. Stibbe, Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By. London: Routledge, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367855512

B. G. Norton, Toward Unity Among Environmentalists: Environmental Language and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

D. Crystal, Language and the Environment: Essays on Environmental Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

D. Geeraerts, Theories of Lexical Semantics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

E. Sapir, Language, Culture, and Environment: Selected Essays. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2017.

G. Booij, The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

G. Lakoff and M. Johnson, Metaphors We Live By: Environmental Applications. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020.

G. Monbiot, Feral: Rewilding the Land, Sea and Human Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.

I. Plag, Word-Formation in English: Environmental Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316771402

J. S. Dryzek, The Politics of Earth: Environmental Discourses. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

J. Verschueren, Understanding Pragmatics. London: Edward Arnold, 2018.

K. Krippendorff, Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071878781

L. Bauer, Morphological Productivity in Environmental Terminology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2019.

L. Martinez, “Environmental discourse in policy documents: New terminology and communication strategies,” Environmental Communication, vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 923–941, 2019.

M. A. K. Halliday, Language and Science: Environmental Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum, 2020.

M. Garner, “Scientific neologisms in environmental journals: A corpus study,” Journal of Environmental Linguistics, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 234–256, 2021.

P. Anderson, “Media representation of environmental neologisms,” Language and Media, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 145–167, 2022.

P. Hohenhaus, “Lexicalization and institutionalization of neologisms,” Word Structure, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 134–158, 2020.

P. Mühlhäusler, Linguistic Ecology: Language Change and Environmental Challenges. London: Routledge, 2016.

R. Harré, J. Brockmeier, and P. Mühlhäusler, Greenspeak: A Study of Environmental Discourse. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2019.

R. Thompson and K. Wilson, “Terminological innovation in climate science,” Applied Linguistics, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 567–589, 2020.

S. L. Lewis and M. A. Maslin, The Human Planet: How We Created the Anthropocene. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2c3k261

S. Roberts, “Viral environmental terms: How neologisms spread online,” Digital Humanities Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 89–112, 2020.

V. Evans, Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2019.

W. Chen, “Digital platforms and environmental terminology: A social media analysis,” Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 178–195, 2021.

Z. Kövecses, Metaphor in Environmental Discourse: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.