A Study of Meaning Construction of XY Series Neologisms

Abstract

This study examines the word formation of XY series neologisms, where y is fixed and x is replaced by other words. Cho (2019) suggests that H-type word formation should be accepted as one of word formation processes considering the differences of meaning between the parent word and its series. Ahn and Cho (2019) discuss the similarities of the XY series neologisms with the H-type word formation in the case that the parent word serves as a basis for series production, whether the word formation of the parent word belongs to blending or compounding. This study focuses on the meaning construction of series neologisms, such as the -gate series, within a cognitive framework. To this end, Booij’s (2013) analysis of morphological constructions is explored. Once the segmented part, that is, the remnant, becomes part of constructions or schemas, the meaning of the segmented part, a semantic preserver inherited from the parent word, is inherited into the series neologisms. As in Construction Grammar, meaning is attributed directly to schematic constructions.