Neologisms in Maltese: language as a tool without barriers

This study focuses on neologisms in Maltese whose diverse word formation strategies, namely the root-and-pattern morphology and concatenative morphology, offer wide possibilities for analysis. In short, the term neologisms refers to newly coined words in a language (Kilgarriff 2008). Neologisms in English include lactivist (n.) and mansplain (v.) whilst neologisms in Maltese include stessu ‘selfie’ (n.) and kejkina ‘cupcake’ (n.). The linguistic mechanisms through which these neologisms are created are numerous and give way for the language to grow and to adapt over time. In fact, on one hand, there are arguments for neologisms and their full potential in breaking language barriers, but on the other there are arguments claiming that neologisms are imposed and ephemeral. Examples from everyday life and from the different types of neologisms are explained and the productive mechanisms through which they are created in Maltese are brought to light. The MLRS Corpus also provides numerous examples for this study. Therefore, through this study I will address: (i) the definitions of neologisms and their applicability in Maltese; (ii) the mechanisms through which neologisms are formed; (iii) the relevance of neologisms in widening our vocabulary.peer-reviewe

Nikteb...

Ġabra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: L-iben il-ħali ta’ David Agius Muscat – Kaptan ta’ Kit Azzopardi – Il-lanterna ta’ Charles Bezzina – Li kelli mmur lura ta’ Ġorġ Borg – Firda ta’ Ġorġ Borg – Garden fairy ta’ Charles Briffa – Sejf jinfidlek ruħek ta’ Charles Briffa – Waqt ta’ Joseph Buttigieg – Vjaġġ ta’ John Caruana – Ċaqlembuta ta’ Antoine Cassar – Ħaġa tqila ta’ Carmel G. Cauchi – F’tarf il-blat ta’ Leanne Ellul – Int ta’ Victor Fenech – Pippin u l-bojja ta’ Charles Flores – L-arloġġ ta’ Joe Friggieri – Il-fjur tal-ġakaranda ta’ Joe Friggieri – Fjur tal-kaktus ta’ Joel Galea – Biss is-skiet ta’ Joel Galea – Għalissa ta’ Maria Grech Ganado – Ilsna ta’ Maria Grech Ganado – Is-sried ixoqqna fin fin ta’ Adrian Grima – Ħsieb ħalliel... ta’ Patrick Sammut – Lament lil ommi ta’ Salv Sammut – Hekk kif tinħass ġol-arja x-xitwa ta’ Lillian Sciberras – F’għajnejha, il-ħarsa siekta ta’ Clare Azzopardi – Għad jagħdab l-irdum ta’ Paul P. Borg – Forsi...xi darba ta’ Charles Casha – Faxxa ngħas ta’ Sergio Grech – Il-mejda tal-mogħdija ta’ Pierre J. Mejlak – Min jaf bi Stojan Kurepa? ta’ Immanuel Mifsud – L-eħrex jum tal-gwerra ta’ Maurice Mifsud Bonnici – Il-vażett tal-bewsiet ta’ Rita Saliba – Pjanu ta’ Trevor Żahra – Il-ħalliel ta’ Guy de Maupassant, traduzzjoni ta’ Toni Aquilina – Salvu tal-pasturi ta’ Francis Ebejer, traduzzjoni ta’ Steve Borg – Sunetti ta’ William Shakespeare, traduzzjoni ta’ Oliver Friggieri – Nikteb... ta’ Nizar Qabbani, traduzzjoni ta’ Kevin Saliba.peer-reviewe

Servitude et grandeur militaires

Ġabra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: Notturn op. 9 nru 2 ta’ Beverly Agius – Naf ta’ Carmel Azzopardi – Ħsejjes ħajja ta’ Clifton Azzopardi – Il-ġrajja t’għasfur stramb ta’ Mario Azzopardi – Tektik...u għana ta’ Rena Balzan – Kun af li f’qiegħ għajnejk ta’ Charles Bezzina – Il-qalb imwebbsa ta’ Ġorġ Borg – Bħal ħuta mġewħa ta’ Louis Briffa – Taħt il-Mezquita, Cordòba ta’ Norbert Bugeja – Il-maskarat ta’ Alfred Degabriele – Trid mara ta’ Leanne Ellul – Id-dgħajsa ta’ Victor Fenech – Ilħna ta’ Joe Friggieri – Roulette ta’ Joe Friggieri – Għera ta’ Joe P. Galea – Ħġieġa ta’ Maria Grech Ganado – Ġenna qatt mirbuħa ta’ Karmenu Mallia – Il-fantażma tal-mara mqarba ta’ Albert Marshall – Daħlet Qorrot ta’ Daniel Massa – Granada, parque central ta’ Immanuel Mifsud – Waħda mara ta’ Immanuel Mifsud – Mors ta’ Therese Pace – Għada ta’ Alfred Palma – Emmint xejn ma jintemm ta’ Ġorġ Peresso – Tuffieħa bl-imsiemer tal-qronfol ta’ John Peter Portelli – Lil Karmenu Vassallo ta’ Andrew Sciberras – Irrid il-qamar jiddi ta’ Carmel Scicluna – Din il-biċċa ħuta ta’ Steve Borg – Karta li taret mar-riħ ta’ Lina Brockdorff – Nixtieq, u kemm nixtieq! ta’ J. J. Camilleri – Caterina ta’ Sandro Mangion – L-għajta tal-pappagall ta’ Pierre J. Mejlak – Id-destin ta’ Laurence Mizzi – L-arloġġ tal-bozza ta’ Rita Saliba – Kurżità ta’ Alfred Sant – Il-ġeneral ta’ Vincent Vella – Mirja ta’ Trevor Żahra – L-adulteri ta’ Golan Haji, traduzzjoni ta’ Clare Azzopardi u Albert Gatt – L-istennija ta’ Berislav Blagojević, traduzzjoni ta’ Kit Azzopardi – Il-qattus ta’ Ghassan Kanafani, traduzzjoni ta’ Walid Nabhan – L-iben addottat ta’ Guy de Maupassant, traduzzjoni ta’ Josette Attard – Sunett nru. 18 ta’ William Shakespeare, traduzzjoni ta’ Alfred Palma – Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías ta’ Federico Garcia Lorca, traduzzjoni ta’ Therese Pace – Servitude et grandeur militaires ta’ Alfred de Vigny, traduzzjoni ta’ Paul Zahra.peer-reviewe