Doomscrolling or Joyscrolling? A Study of English Lexical Innovations of 2020-2022

Abstract

The years 2020-2022 experienced a number of world-shifting events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, a global economic recession, the racial justice movement, the US presidential election, and extreme climate conditions. Since no social phenomenon can avoid being represented in language, these episodes have influenced the language system, language use and discursive practices. The English linguistic landscape has not been spared the impact of the aforementioned events. The article focuses on analysing the meaning and formation of new coinages in the English language that reflect the changes in society within the specified timeframe. The data used for this study were collected from 2020-2022 updates to online dictionaries which include new words, revised versions of existing entries and new word suggestions. The research data were analysed both in qualitative and quantitative terms. The study singled out five lexical categories of neologisms based on the thematic criterion: 1) discrimination, 2) the influence of famous people, 3) climate change, 4) lifestyles during the COVID-19 outbreak, 5) the business world and employment. The classification manifests that these coinages have become integrated into the English language as part of everyday use for social and communicative purposes. The research findings show that the most productive word formation processes that contribute to the creation of the selected neologisms include compounding, blending, and compounding + affixation.