Mediaboss Marketing

Tuesday, 27 March, 2012 Written by Karl Allan Barlaan

Online encyclopedia Wikipedia and its local version Wikifilipino attribute the first documented use of neologism noynoying to the Manila Standard Today. Having since been used by left-leaning organizations as protest gimmick, picked up by the foreign press, and eliciting varied commentaries from diverse sectors including the Palace, the word has acquired a life of its own.

Arguably and at this point, it matters little who coined the term or which media outfit first took notice, only that it thrives, thus begging the question, Why?

According to linguistics professor David Maurer, there are two kinds of new words: neologisms and neosemanticisms (New words: Where do they come from and where do they go, 1980).

Neosemanticisms are words or groups of words already in the language that acquire fresh meanings by use in new situations.

Linguistic Society of the Philippines member Arbaya Haron-Boquia cites one example: salvage as a filipinism or the distinctly-Filipino use of a foreign word. Salvage in English means rescue or save something from complete destruction or loss. As filipinism, it translates to summary execution.

Neologisms are entirely new words. (They) are rare, though in the twentieth century their coinage has increased perceptibly mainly because of developments in science and technology.

Recently, the Oxford English dictionary immortalized such words as: gaydar or a homosexual persons ability to identify another person as homosexual by interpreting subtle signals conveyed by their appearance, interests, etc. and cyberslacking as spending ones employers Internet and email facilities for personal activities during working hours.

Both have been popularized through mass mediatraditional and digital and used extensively by the populace. Both, like noynoying, piggybacked on the dynamism of language, its tendency to evolve alongside social, technological, and political changes.

The theory is that words cannot just be created, destroyed, or re-defined at will. They have to be relevant, shared both through experience and by utterance or frequent usage, and reflective of reality, its perception, or at the very least a portion of itwords have to be competitive.

Read more here:
Language beyond propaganda