New lexis in the interaction of languages and cultures: the case of Selfie in the Lithuanian language

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Neologija; Neologizmai; Skoliniai; Vediniai; Kalbų kontaktai; Socialiniai tinklai; Neology; Neologisms; Borrowings; Derivatives; Language contacts; Social networks.

ENThis article deals with the adaptation of the English neologism selfie in the Lithuanian language. It sheds light on how selfie first appeared in Australian English back in 2002 and on the socialisation and lexicalisation of this word in the English and Lithuanian languages. The aim here is to analyse the characteristics of the usage of the neologism selfie and its adapted form selfis in the Lithuanian language as well as its rivalry with other Lithuanian equivalents of the word. Based on the usage data obtained from the Database of Lithuanian Neologisms, the online corpus WebCorp, and the Google search engine, the loanword selfie was found to have first appeared in Lithuanian blogs back in 2013 at the latest. After a brief period of time, in early 2014 or sooner, it began vying with its Lithuanian equivalent, asmenukė. Eventually, with the formational families of selfis and asmenukė expanding, two rival lexical semantic systems have emerged in the Lithuanian language, both consisting of what usually are variations of the name of the object (selfie, selfis and asmenukė, asmenutė, asmeninukė), actor (selfininkas, -ė, selfukininkas, -ė and asmenukininkas, -ė), action (selfintis and asmenukintis), and additional tool (selfi stikas, selfio lazda and asmenuklazdė), as well as the different new versions thereof. After it had made its way into the Lithuanian language, the English neologism selfie (selfis), as the name for a new sociocultural phenomenon with its own semantic and formational family, became anchored there and was adapted to the inflectional system of the host language just as it provided an impetus for producing local equivalents. This case can be considered to be a typical mini-model, one that demonstrates what happens when a loanword for a new and trendy element of reality, which therefore has a considerable potential to spread, enters the Lithuanian language.Without a shadow of doubt, similar processes are also taking place in other languages that have borrowed this word. New comparative neological studies of other languages would help us form a better understanding of the origin, functioning, and prevalence of neologisms, as well as the mechanisms of how local equivalents of borrowings are made and how they compete with them. [From the publication]

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