Neologisms emerge within the language mainstream and constitute an indispensable aspect, particularly in literature and new phenomena in our lives. These novel terms, born from creative minds, often lack defined equivalents in other languages, posing challenges for translators. In the realm of translation studies, neologisms, especially those related to the coronavirus pandemic, have garnered significant attention. This study focuses on slang "coroneologisms" and their translations compiled by Thone (2020). Utilizing the resources provided by english-corpora.org, the frequency of coroneologisms was examined. A questionnaire featuring a selection of the most frequently occurring neologisms was randomly selected and distributed to twenty-nine translators to gauge their translation approaches. The results, classified according to Newmark's (1988) taxonomy to reveal the normalization status of equivalents. Strategies employed for translating normalized examples are identified using Molina and Albir's (2020) framework. The study finds that various neologism types, such as blends and derived words, undergo normalization, primarily through translation into blends. While translators employ diverse strategies like amplification and generalization, they generally lead to normalization. However, old words with new meanings often face mistranslations or omissions rather than normalization. Overall, blends emerge as the most normalized neologism type, whereas old words with new senses exhibit the least normalization.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject: Special Received: 2026/02/8 | Accepted: 2026/02/10 | Published: 2025/09/22
Ghahremani K, Talebzadeh H. Analysis of Lexical Normalization in the Covid19- related Neologisms: The Case of English to Persian Equivalents. IJAL 2025; 28 (2) :2-2 URL: http://ijal.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3293-en.html