PECULIARITIES OF NEOLOGISMS IN THE GERMAN

Abstract

The term neologism entered usage in the mid-18th century, borrowed from French into German. In France, néologisme was coined in the first half of the 18th century. It's a neoclassical loan word formation, combining the elements (néos) 'new' and (logos) 'word, teaching'. The emergence of neologism in France can be traced back to the linguistic and lexicographical environment, where heated debates about the merits and drawbacks of new words and their inclusion in the dictionary took place. This same context led to the adoption of the term neologism in German, even though it had carried a negative connotation for a long time: neologism was seen as an unsightly, superfluous new word that contaminated the refined German language.