LATVIJAS UNIVERSITĀTE BAKALAURA DARBS

Transcription

1 LATVIJAS UNIVERSITĀTE BAKALAURA DARBS RĪGA 2016

2 UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA FACULTY OF HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH STUDIES USE OF NEOLOGISMS IN CLOTHING ADVERTISEMENTS JAUNVĀRDU LIETOJUMS APĢĒRBU REKLĀMĀS BACHELOR THESIS Elīna Enne Matriculation Card No. ee Adviser: Lect. Vineta Apse RĪGA 2016

3 ANOTĀCIJA Šajā darbā veikts pētījums par jaunvārdu lietojumu apģērbu reklāmās. Tā mērķis ir izpētīt un analizēt jaunvārdus attiecībā uz vārdu darināšanas modeļiem un lietojuma nolūku. Pirmkārt, darbs iepazīstina ar teoriju par jaunvārdiem, vārdu darināšanas modeļiem, kā arī reklāmas diskursu. Empīriskajā pētījumā darba autore izmanto diskursa analīzi. To veicot, noskaidrojās, ka visbiežāk lietotie vārdu darināšanas modeļi analizētajās apģērbu reklāmās ir teleskopēšana, akronīmi un strupvārdi. Analizētie jaunvārdi piesaista uzmanību un ir atmiņā paliekoši. Lai noskaidrotu, cik pievilcīgi jaunatnei šķiet jaunvārdi, tika veikta aptauja, izmantojot anketēšanu. Lielākā daļa respondentu atzina, ka lietotie jaunvārdi apģērbu reklāmās ir pamanāmi. Atslēgvārdi: jaunvārdi, vārdu darināšanas modeļi, apģērbu reklāmas, reklāmas diskurss, diskursa analīze, jaunatne.

4 ABSTRACT The paper provides an analytical analysis of the Use of neologisms in clothing advertisements with the aim to investigate and analyze neologisms in clothing advertisements regarding their word formation patterns and the purpose of use. Firstly, it introduces the theory on neologisms, word formation patterns as well as the advertising discourse. In the empirical research, the author uses discourse analysis. The study showed that blending, acronyms and clipping were most frequently used word formation patterns to create words in the analysed advertisements. The analysed neologisms attract attention and create a memorable effect. To investigate how attractive neologisms seem to youth, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted. The majority of the respondents admitted that neologisms used in clothing advertisements were eye-catching. Key words: neologisms, word formation patterns, clothing advertisements, advertising discourse, discourse analysis, youth.

5 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... 1 CHAPTER 1. Neologisms as a pattern of word formation The notion of neologisms The history of English vocabulary Word formation and neologisms... 6 CHAPTER 2. Advertising discourse Characteristics of advertising discourse Use of neologisms in advertisements Insight into advertising clothing CHAPTER 3. Analysis of neologisms in clothing advertisements Description of the research method and materials Findings of the discourse analysis Analysis of the survey findings CONCLUSIONS THESES REFERENCES APPENDIX 1 Clothing advertisements from the online advertising archive Ads of the World APPENDIX 2 Clothing advertisements by the company American Apparel APPENDIX 3 Clothing advertisements by the company American Eagle APPENDIX 4 Clothing advertisements from the online fashion news Fashionista APPENDIX 5 Questionnaire... 93

6 INTRODUCTION As English is developing year by year, it constantly introduces a wide range of new words or neologisms, which can exist for a short period of time and vanish from the lexicon or eventually earn acceptance by the public and deserve their place in dictionaries. Every single word has come a long way contributing the language, which makes the society wealthier developing their vocabulary. Words are also a powerful tool to interact with the potential customers through advertising. Nowadays, it is noticeable that advertisers become increasingly creative, and are willing to modify the existing words to create new ones for advertisements. Also, the clothing industry is an large player to advertise their products with the help of social media, magazines, television, posters, etc. in order to spread their message to the world. The importance and pressure to sell the product is high enough, which is an important factor to reach the customer with the help of language used for advertising purposes. It leads to the assumption that neologisms might be applied in clothing advertisements in order to attract attention to the brand and its products, namely clothing, therefore the aim of this paper is to investigate and analyze neologisms in clothing advertisements regarding their word formation patterns and the purpose of use. The following research questions have been defined: 1) Which word formation patterns of neologisms are used most in clothing advertisements? 2) What is the purpose of using neologisms in clothing advertisements? 3) What is the youth s evaluation and opinion on the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements? The enabling objectives of this paper are the following: 1) to read and compare the theory available on neologisms and advertising discourse in order to analyze the role of neologisms in clothing advertisements; 2) to select clothing advertisements to be analyzed; 3) to find neologisms and state the word formation patterns that are used to create the neologisms; 4) to investigate the purpose of the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements; 5) to conduct a survey among the youth of age in order to get to know their view on the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements; 1

7 6) to draw conclusions. In order to achieve the aim, the following research methods are applied in the present study: Analytical literature review on the notion of neologisms and on the advertising discourse; Discourse analysis of neologisms in the selected clothing advertisements; A survey. The applied research tool for the survey is a questionnaire. The bachelor thesis consists of three chapters; each of the chapters explores neologisms from a different angle. Chapter 1 deals with the theory on word formation patterns as well as neologisms and their use. A variety of neologisms is investigated. A number of theories by researchers such as Algeo (1991), Stockwell and Minkova (2001), Lee (2010) and Yule (2010), who have investigated neologisms in deeper level, are discussed. Chapter 2 deals with the theory on advertising discourse and clothing advertisements in particular. Goddard s (1998), Cook s (2001), Hill s (2005) and Kalmane s (2012) observations of neologisms in advertising are presented. Chapter 3 deals with the research methodology and corpus analysis. It presents findings of the discourse analysis of neologisms in clothing advertisements of companies American Eagle and American Apparel as well as online advertising archive Ads of the World and online fashion news Fashionista. Also, the findings of a survey conducted among the youth about their opinion on the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements are presented. 2

8 CHAPTER 1 NEOLOGISMS AS A PATTERN OF WORD FORMATION This chapter begins with brief information about neologisms and their role in language. The information about their historical background in English will be presented. The word formation patterns of neologisms will be specified and explained. 1.1 The notion of neologisms The word neologism as such already tells a lot about its meaning. From Greek language the word combination neos+logos means new words, which is a clear sign that neologisms will be about a creation of new lexical items (Specer and Zwicky, 2001). According to Newmark, Neologisms can be defined as newly coined lexical units or existing lexical units that acquire a new sense (1988: 140). In other words, these are words or phrases that have been newly invented and are in the process of being accepted by the society. In many cases, neologisms can be even made of already existing words or taken directly from another language. Stockwell and Minkova admit that Two most important sources of developing coinages are borrowing and word-creation (2001: 3). Hespelmath notes that when a neologism earns its acceptance, it changes the language as this integration process helps to develop the vocabulary (2010: 115). Lee adds that neologisms deal with the study of the linguistic phenomena that appear at a given time in the development of a language in use (2010: 170). Baldick (2001) agrees with Hespelmath and Lee. Janssen highlights the positive side of neologisms saying that Neologisms form a highly relevant linguistic category for many reasons - they are the elements that make a language living and dynamic rather than dead, they are indicative of language change, they form a serious obstacle in computational analysis and translation, and they help to show productive morphology of a language. (2006: 2) Wales notes that Each year brings its spate of neologisms which may eventually find their way into dictionaries, if they become widely accepted through a speech commonality (e.g. mobile phone; Teletubbies, e-commerce of the 1990s) (2001: 269). It means that not necessarily all of the neologisms will be accepted and integrated into the mainstream language, and especially in dictionaries. Newmark highlights, In fact, neologisms cannot be accurately quantified since so many hover between acceptance and oblivion and many are short-lived, individual creations (1988: 140). This remark should be taken in account because it is impossible to follow all of the neologisms as many of them created by people s 3

9 imagination and usually cannot even be taken seriously. Sometimes they are common only within some specific narrow groups of people or communities. Crystal states that Hundreds of neologisms come into the language every year. Not all of them stay for long, though. Some become very fashionable, then they die away. People stop using them. Others stay for years, and may become a permanent part of the language. It s impossible to predict which words will live and which will die out. (Online 1) Brown and Miller (2013) point out that the time perspective in the nature of neologisms is very crucial. There is a certain limit when neologisms cannot be counted as new words anymore. According to the authors, Examples of words that are neologisms in 2012 are biofuel, energy efficient, renewable, [ ] in a year or two they will no longer be neologisms (2013: 306). With this, the authors wanted to emphasize that after a certain period of time neologisms become as ordinary words that we use daily and do not recognize as something unique or unusual in our lexicon. Brown and Miller also mentioned examples of words such as airlift and baby-sit that were neologisms in English in 1940s, but today society does not consider these words as new ones (ibid.). Lee (2010) proposes four parameters of how neologisms can be determined: 1) Diachrony - words can be called neologisms if they have appeared not long time ago; 2) Lexicography - words can be called neologisms if they cannot be found in any dictionaries; 3) Systematic instability - words can be called neologisms if they provide instability by morphological, syntactical or phonological point of view; 4) Psychology - words can be called neologisms if the person considers them as part of the language. The author adds that if a neologism was coined to satisfy a linguistic demand, [ ] then the creation of neologisms is a response to certain needs of speech communities for new lexicon (ibid.: 170). Lee mentions that most neologisms are created for political, social and economic needs (ibid.). 1.2 The history of English vocabulary Etymology has originally originated in Greece. It is a study of original forms of the words. According to Durkin, Etymology is the investigation of word histories (2009: 1). Etymology s main function is to investigate early forms of the words and find their meanings. According to Stockwell and Minkova, One thing is certain: well over 80 percent of the total vocabulary of English is borrowed (2001: 2). The most significant amount of words 4

10 comes directly from Latin and Greek or indirectly from French (Durkin, 2014; Baeskow, 2012; Hogg and Denison, 2006; Pyles and Algeo, 1993). For a deeper insight, Durkin divides the English language into four periods: Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English and Later Modern English (2014: 7). During all of these periods, English extended by adding new words to its vocabulary. The Old English period (5 th century to mid - 11 th century) faced the biggest influence from words with Latin origin. Durkin points out that it is also worth bearing in mind that the lexis of Old English overall showed an extremely large degree of transparency, having a great many large word families consisting of a root word plus very many analyzable compounds and derivatives formed from this root word; even allowing for the fact that many Latin loanwords in Old English also have compound and derivative formations, it is still probably the case that Latin contribution to the stock of root words in Old English is rather higher than 1.75%. (2014: ) The Middle English period (11 th century - late 15 th century), in terms of new words, was significantly influenced by the Norman Conquest because a large number of new words with Scandinavian origin, e.g. words such as skin or law, developed. Later, French influence also played an important role, as it was a prestige language of Europe. English lent some vocabulary from them as well, for example, words that symbolize luxury goods, religion, military, food, etc. (Durkin, 2014). The Early Modern English period (late 15 th century - late 17 th century) introduced literature in English, where appeared a lot of borrowed neologisms. Also, vocabulary from Romanic languages, German, Italian and Yiddish started to integrate into the English lexicon (Hogg, 2006; Durkin, 2014; Pyles and Algeo, 1993). The Modern English period (17 th century - today) is highly influenced by technology development and a high demand for new words (Online 2). New vocabulary came from European countries and Asia (Durkin, 2014). Hogg (2006) adds that in this period two varieties of the English language appeared: British English and American English. Ayto (2007) specifically highlights the period of 20 th century accenting the many areas neologisms come in: The fabric of our environment (nylon, plastic), how we get around (motorways, traffic jams, spacecraft), how we entertain ourselves (cinema, movies, radio, television), how we communicate with each other (cyberspace, Internet, mobile), how we fight each other (world war, air raid, genocide) - all these elements of human life, and many more, have produced certain key words that instantly locate themselves as post (2007: 1) Figure 1.1 represents a specific look on the lexical inventions through decades of the 20 th century and early 21 th century. Ayto (2007) sums up the main fields that influenced the 5

11 entry of new words into the English lexicon. According to the author, this table specifies the semantic fields which grew most rapidly in the succeeding decades of the 20 th century (2007: 2). This table helps to see how technological development has gradually influenced the English vocabulary. Figure 1.1 Lexical development during the 20 th century and the beginning of the 21 st century (Ayto, 2007: 3) Algeo (1991), similarly to Ayto, emphasizes that neologisms can be called a reflection to the historical background, and this is a process that is always in the motion to develop every single day. According to Algeo, as we have not yet reached the end of history, neither have we reached the end of our vocabulary (1991: 1). The historical background of English vocabulary was provided in order to get to know how new words were developed in the course of time, which helps to have broader comprehension about most significant influences of this process, for example, technological development or war. 1.3 Word formation and neologisms Carstairs-McCarthy (2002) and Zheng (2015) consider that neologisms are made of word formation patterns, as it is a way of creating new words. Algeo (1991) suggests six entomological principles in order to create new vocabulary: 1. Creating - new words are built from the scratch, and it is considered as the least successful manner of word creation; 2. Borrowing - words that have been taken directly from another language; 3. Combining - combination of already existing words or their parts; 4. Shortening - elimination of some parts of the existing word to create a now one; 5. Blending - merge of separate sections of two or more lexical units; 6. Shifting - transformation from one word s category into another. 6

12 Lee adds that Nowadays, the word formation denotes the processes of creation of new lexical units (neologism) (2010: 173). Plag defines word formation as putting together smaller elements to form larger words with more complex meanings (2002: 12). The word formation patterns need to be analyzed in order to get to know their specific division that will be taken into account doing empirical research for this paper. There are various word formation patterns for building new words, such as: 1) Affixation Affixation is used when forming new words by adding a morpheme to the word. It includes prefixes (at the beginning of the word) and suffixes (at the end of the word). Crystal (2003) as well as Stockwell and Minkova (2001) highlight that a lot new words in Modern English have been created particularly with the help of affixation. However, a lot of prefixes and suffixes are not from native language sources. According to O Dell, Not all the affixes used in new formations are traditional English ones (2015: 96). Durkin (2009) explains that most of the affixes of the English language are Latin or French. For example, prefixes like: non- (nonexistent), in- (inorganic, inadequate), dis- (disable), per- (periodic), pro (proactive, professional), inter- (international) and suffixes ion- (cohesion), tion- (stabilization, modernization), able- (stable, usable), ify- (intensify, clarify), ate- (imitate, state), ity- (reality, stability), al- (natural, virtual), ship- (relationship, friendship), ful- (useful, grateful), etc. Plag (2002) as well as Hogg and Denison (2006) agree with Durkin. O Dell (2015) claims that not all of the affixes are that old. The author mentions that prefixes E- and eco-, for instance, have led to the recent coinages of e-cigarette, e-edition, e-skin, and e-toll ; eco-town, eco-tourism, to suggest the words relationships with either electronics or the environment (2015: 95). 2) Compounding It includes words that are formed by joining two or more independent words together. According to Crystal, Thousands of compounds exist in English, written either solid (flowerpot) or with hyphen (flower-pot), and sometimes printed as separate words (flower pot) (2005: 226). Crystal (ibid.) adds that in some cases it is difficult to understand the meaning of the compound words if they are not meant literally. The author provides an example stating that a hot dog is just a warm animal, but a hot dog as a compound is something you can eat (ibid.). Fromkin (2003) agrees with Crystal mentioning that a combination of compound words does not necessarily mean the same as their parts. Bauer (1983) and Adams (2001) distinguish compounds in separate common categories based on their part of speech determining noun, adjective and verb compounds. Both authors 7

13 mention several possible combinations for building the compound words: noun + noun compounds (girlfriend), verb + noun compounds (showroom), noun + verb compounds (sunshine), verb + verb compounds (sleepwalk), adjective + noun compounds (sweetheart), noun + adjective compounds (lifelong), adjective + adjective compounds (bittersweet), particle + noun compounds (in-crowd), particle+ verb compounds (overdose), verb + particle compounds (drop-out). In addition, Fromkin (2003) explains how to comprehend the main part of the compound. The author points that the head is the part of a word or phrase that determines its broad meaning and grammatical category (ibid.: 93). In case words are from various word classes, the main part of the compound will be the ending, for example, noun + adjective = adjective or verb + noun = noun (ibid.). 3) Conversion Crystal defines conversion as a derivational process whereby an item comes to belong to a new word-class without the addition of an affix (2008: 114). In other words, it is a way of creating new words with the help of change in the already existing word s part of speech not adding any prefixes or suffixes. Yule calls conversion a category change or functional shift (2010: 57). It is also noted that conversion is especially productive in Modern English (ibid.). Plag (2002) has determined the most common four types of conversion: noun to verb (the water to water), verb to noun (to guess a guess), adjective to verb (open to open), adjective to noun (rich the rich). Stekauer and Liebel compare conversion with zero-derivation, where is no obvious difference in a newly coined word s structure (2005: 419). Антрушина (1999) agrees with Stekauer and Liebel. However, Stockwell and Minkova (2001) argue that conversion cannot be called a derivation of new words, particularly because of the fact that the word structure stays the same. They note that actually the word that has been transformed into another word class is not a new one, but already existing. The authors add that conversion is also easier to arrange in dictionaries mentioning that The process of conversion is, furthermore, extremely productive today: we can chair a meeting, air out opinions, panel the walls, weather the storm, storm the gates, the students, floor out enemies, polish the car, try to fish in troubled waters, and so on. Conversions that have been around long enough are normally shown with a single entry in the dictionary, with the identification n., a., v., meaning that the form occurs as noun, adjective, and verb all three. (ibid.: 12) Regardless of the Stockwell and Minkova s point of view, the present research will consider conversion a word formation pattern, as it changes the word-class completely, and the translation is not the same as well, which already proves that the word embodies a new form. 8

14 4) Clipping Clipping is an informal way to shorten a word, for example, the word mathematics transformed to maths. According to Crystal, Clippings are shortened words, where a part is used for the whole (2005: 227). Stockwell and Minkova (2001) remark that there are not only shortened words, but also phrases, for example, zoological garden transformed into zoo. Yule (2010) notes that clippings are most commonly used in casual conversations rather than in a businesslike or academic speech. Lee agrees and adds that Clipped forms often convey informal or affectionate connotations without a change in meaning or function (2010: 177). Lee (ibid.) has divided clippings into three classes: Front clipping - air plane plane; Back clipping - advertisement ad; Front and back clipping - influenza flu. Plag (2002) and Yule (2010) discuss that for native English speakers it is very common to shorten persons names, e.g. Aaron Ron, Elizabeth Liz. Yule (ibid.) notices that many clippings appear in the education sphere. The author comments, There must be something about educational environments that encourages clipping because so many words get reduced, as in chem, exam, gym, lab, math, phys-ed, poly-sci, prof and typo (ibid.: 56). 5) Blending According to Haspelmath and Sims, Blend is a lexeme whose stem was created by combining parts of two other lexemes stems, e.g. smog from smoke and fog (2010: 321). In other words, blending is a process, where words are created mixing two or more parts of the words together. O Dell (2015) and Fromkin (2003) highlight the similarity of compounds and blends. Fromkin explains that Blends are similar to compounds but parts of the words that are combined are deleted, so they are less than compounds. Smog, from smoke + fog; motel, from motor + hotel; infomercial from info + commercial; [ ]. (ibid.: 98) Plag (2002) distinguishes two types of blends. The first type, which the author discusses, is the formation of a new word where one word modifies another, e.g. motor + hotel = motel, whereas the second type involves words that have been created of two equally important words in a sense of their meaning, e.g. boatel equals a boat and a hotel. out that Yule (2010) notes the influence of television in creating new blends. The author points The activity of fund-raising on television that feels like a marathon is typically called a telethon, while infotainmnt (information/entertainment) and simulcast (simultaneous/broadcast) are other new blends from life with television. (ibid.: 56) 9

15 6) Acronyms According to Lee, the word acronym is of Greek origin, and it means heads of names (2010: 175). This meaning already makes a lot of sense about the nature of acronyms, because they are words that are built using initials from several words or phrases. Haspelmath and Sims (2010) and Crystal (2005) emphasize that acronyms are pronounced as a whole word, for example, NATO and UNESCO. Stockwell and Minkova acknowledge that If the resulting word is pronounced like any other word it is a true acronym (2001: 7). Plag (2002) and Carstairs-McCarthy (2002) admit that acronyms from the names of the countries are very common as well, such as UK (United Kingdom) or USA (United States of America). There are also acronyms that are not that easily pronounced. According to Fromkin, When the string of letters is not easily pronounced as a word, the acronym is produced by sounding out each letter, as in NFL for National Football League [ ] (2003: 96). In addition, many companies and corporations use acronyms as their names representing the main message and aim of their actions. Yule gives several examples, such as mothers against drunk driving (MADD) and women against rape (WAR) (2010: 58). He explains that usually people even do not recognize acronyms because they have assimilated acronyms as natural components of the person s vocabulary, e.g. ATM (automatic teller machine) or PIN (personal identification number) (ibid.). Fromkin (2003) and Yule (2010) have noticed that a large amount of acronyms start appearing in computer jargon. Fromkin specifies that Acronyms are being added to the vocabulary daily with the proliferation of computers and widespread use of the Internet, including MORF (male or female), FAQ (frequently asked questions), WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and POP (post office protocol), and many more. Other common acronyms are FYI (for your information), BTW (by the way), and TGIF (thank God it s Friday). (ibid.: 96-97) It must be taken into account that sometimes acronyms develop as a part of everyday language and they are not spelled with capital letter anymore, for example, laser (light amplification by simulated emission of radiation), radar (radio detected and ranging), scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) and zip (zone improvement plan) (Yule, 2010: 58). 7) Borrowing According to Pyles and Algeo, When speaker imitates a word from foreign language and at least partly adapts it in sound or grammar to their native speech ways, the process is known as borrowing, and the words thus borrowed are loanwords (1993: 286). Several authors agree with Pyles and Algeo stating that borrowing is a process where a linguistic material has been donated from one language to another (Durkin, 2009; Crystal, 2005; Hogg, 10

16 2006; Haspelmath and Sims, 2010). In Stockwell and Minkova s opinion, English has usually borrowed from other languages to get new words to cover new concepts or new materials or abstract phenomena (2001: 3). Most of the borrowed words are Latin, Greek and French (ibid.). Fromkin (2003) explains that due to the historical process, there is direct and indirect way to transfer the words from another language. Durkin acknowledges that We have two separate acts of borrowings, from the first language into intermediary language, and then into the destination language (2009: 140). In many cases, the process of borrowings goes through an intermediary or middle stage, which means that the outcome is only partly direct from the original language. Fromkin mentions an example stating that the word algebra was borrowed from Spanish, which in turn had borrowed it from Arabic (2003: 512). It means that the word algebra comes from Arabic in an indirect manner, where Spanish appeared only as an intermediary source. It has to be admitted that a great part of English vocabulary is built on borrowed words. According to Fromkin, English has borrowed extensively, [ ], of the 20,000 words in common use, about three-fifths are borrowed (ibid.). Crystal (2005) and Yule (2010) add information about a specific type of borrowing called loan translation or calque. It can be explained as a process, where separate parts of the word are translated in order to create a new word. Yule explains calques more extensively pointing that Interesting examples are the French term grate-ciel, which literally translates as scrape-sky, the Dutch wolkenkrabber ( cloud scratcher ) or the German Wolkenkratzer ( cloud scraper ), all of which were calques for the English skyscraper. The English word superman is thought to be a loan-translation from German Übermensch, and the term loan-word itself is believed to have come from German Lehnwort. (2010: 55) 8) Reduplication Reduplication is a word formation manner combining two words that are the same or with minimal difference in their spelling (Haspelmath and Sims, 2010). According to Crystal, Reduplication words are those like goody-goody and flip-flop, where the constituents are the same or very similar in sound (2005: 227). Professor Kauffman emphasizes that reduplications appear in order to emphasize, amplify, enlarge, diminish or add number (Online 3). It is very obvious that reduplicated words in many variations rhyme with each other, which makes them very easy pronounceable. Bauer compares reduplication to rhyme- 11

17 motivated compounds, i.e. heebie-jeebies, razzle-dazzle, culture-vulture, nitty-gritty, etc. (1983: 212). Антрушина (1999) recognises two types of reduplication: 1. Reduplication with no added phonetic change - bye-bye for good-bye; 2. Reduplication with modified root-vowel or consonant - ping-pong, chit-chat. Professor Kauffman calls these two types full reduplication and partial reduplication (Online 3). Reduplication is not the first choice for formal conversation. It is more used to appear in unofficial verbal interactions as a slang. Kauffman specifies the informal nature in the use of reduplication indicating that Reduplication in some cultures is a form of informal wordplay that is chosen over dry straight-forward discourse to convey intensity, humor, and playfulness, while applying cutesy, tongue-tickling or whimsical sounds and words. Doubling sounds, whether in words or parts of words, enables verbalization of thoughts to come alive in a colourful manner. It is a form of seasoning that salts and peppers language. (ibid.) 9) Back-formation According to Yule, Backformation is the process of reducing a word such as a noun to a shorter version and using it as a new word such as a verb (e.g. babysit from babysitter) (2010: 283). In other words, it is a way of forming new words by reducing affixes of an already existing word, for example, back-formation is the verb edit, which, historically, was formed in the bases of the complex form editor (Plag, 2002: 240). Bauer and Renouf (2001) as well as Yule (2010) and Fromkin (2003) admit that a large amount of back-formation is a result of verbs from compounds. Fromkin (2003) mentions many examples with backformation, where it can be clearly noticed that they have derived from words with -er at the end. The author notes, The verbs hawk, stoke, swindle, all came into the language as back-formations - of hawker, stoker, swindler (ibid.: 97). 10) Sound imitation or onomatopoeia Words that have almost analogous sound of the noise that they imitate are called onomatopoeia. According to Yule (2010), some language researchers look sceptically whether onomatopoeia deserves its status as a lexical unit as it has large influence from different sound effects. A chain of such words comes from usual situations from life, where, for example, emotions have been involved, e.g. crying, screaming, being angry or joyful (ibid.). Usually, such emotional exclamations are not planned and we produce them naturally as a result of certain reactions. According to Yule, Ouch! and other interjections such as Ah!, Ooh!, Wow! or Yuck!, are usually produced with sudden intakes of breath, which is the opposite of ordinary talk (ibid.: 3). 12

18 Hanada (2016) has noticed that onomatopoeia plays a significant role in the first years of children s life. Children start exploring the world through sounds and try to imitate them. Use of onomatopoeia is a natural way to express feelings even from early childhood. Hanada (ibid.) highlights that onomatopoeia can be a significantly more powerful source to describe things than adjectives or adverbs. Also, it is a very vivid way to contribute facial expressions. However, the author admits that using imitations of sounds in written documents can seem unserious and inappropriate. states that In many cases, the use of onomatopoeia refers to certain objects or creatures. Fromkin There is some sound symbolism in language - that is, words, whose pronunciation suggests the meaning. Most languages contain onomatopoeic words like buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Even here, the sounds differ among languages, reflecting the particular sound system of the language. In English cock-a-doodle-doo is an onomatopoeic word whose meaning is the crow of a rooster, whereas in Finnish the rooster s crow is kukkokikuu. (2003: 7) In addition, Lee (2010) points that the young generation is one of the largest audiences that uses onomatopoeia as an integral part of their everyday language. Nowadays, it is very common to use sound imitations in conversations with peers via social media, mobile phone and different other online chatting options. Lee calls this behaviour youth s slang and emphasizes that typically onomatopoeia represents angry and negative expressions (ibid: 172). Chapter 1 has discussed the historical background of word formation in English in order to get broader comprehension on the origin of neologisms in English. Also, the word formation patters were analysed, which helps to categorize neologisms based on their unique way of creation. The provided analysis of word formation patterns will be used for the empirical research of this paper in order to get to know which word formation patterns of neologisms are used most frequently in clothing advertisements. Also, Lee s (2010) lexicographical pattern of determining neologism will be applied. 13

19 CHAPTER 2 ADVERTISING DISCOURSE This chapter contains a brief description on the language and the main features of advertising discourse. Also, the use of neologisms and its connection to advertising discourse will be explained as the empirical research will concentrate on neologisms in clothing advertisements particularly. The purpose of the use of neologisms in advertisements and the target audience of such advertisements will be discussed. The specific nature of advertising clothing will be specified. 2.1 Characteristics of advertising discourse According to Crystal, both discourse and text can be used in a much broader sense to include all language units with definable communicative function, whether spoken or written (2005: 260). If discourse is considered as any written or spoken communication, it is obvious that advertising discourse also can be used both verbally and textually. Although in everyday life people are used to see advertisements anywhere they go, usually they do not pay attention to the nature of advertising discourse and how the advertisement addresses its message to the customer. The term advertise (Latin advertere) means to draw someone s attention. As the meaning already shows, the main purpose of advertising is to attract the potential customer/client in order to promote the company s products and services. It can be considered that people enjoy texts in advertisements more likely than reading any other type of literature as they are catchy and stay in memory very easily. According to Cook, The words and details of ads often come to people s minds more readily than those of novels and poems and plays, and they are often recalled with more laughter and enthusiasm (2001: 3). Kalmane (2012) adds that the entertainment factor plays the most important role in advertising, which can be achieved by adding attractive pictures, telling a humorous story or joke. El-daly points out that advertising can be seen to fall into three main categories: (1) consumer advertising, which is directed towards the promotion of some product or service to the general public; (2) trade advertising, which is direct to dealers and professionals through appropriate trade publications and media, and (3) public relations advertising, which is directed towards society by citizens or community groups or by politicians in order to promote some issue of social concern or political agenda. (2011: 25) 14

20 Voltadewi admits that advertising is like commercial communication where companies promote their product through public media (2014: 14). The difference with regular communication is that in this case customers respond with their desire and willingness to buy the product or not. Sedivy and Carlson (2001) agree with Voltadewi saying that the advertiser has to interact with consumers professionally, because they are the first ones who provide the judgment and based on it make the decision whether the product is worth to pay attention to. As an example, they compare the interaction between the advertiser and the customer with teachers and students noting that, Teachers (advertisers) would act out of a sense of responsibility to their students (consumers), and students (consumers) would act out of trust (ibid.: 3). With this comparison the authors say that with bad impression through the advertisement, the potential customer will not feel a desire to buy the advertised product or service. Newmark (1998) adds that successful communication with the help of advertising influences people to buy the products that actually are not necessary to them. It means that the impact of an advertisement is strong enough to force the person purchase the particular good. Williamson has an analogic opinion, The information that we are given is frequently untrue, and even when it is true, we are often being persuaded to buy products which are unnecessary (2002: 17). According to Voltadewi, there are three main functions of advertisement, there are informative, persuasive and reminder function (ibid.). Informative advertisements emphasize product s features, main characteristics, and where the product can be bought. The persuasive function involves customer persuasion in order to buy particular brand products or attract the potential customer to buy the company s products instead of the competitor s products. However, the reminder function is applied to remind customers about the latest news about the products or the company in order not to lose the connection or feedback from their clients. According to Kalmane, Advertising messages are composed on the basis of various language means, such as presuppositions, weasel words, figures of speech and grammar means, and putting them in extraordinary places, advertisements can achieve extra influence on customers using these language means (2012: 1). Cook (2001) highlights that advertising discourse is based on the mutual interaction between text and context, where the text is a form of linguistics and context is a summary of the following components: Substance - (1) a tangible material that carries the advertisement, for example, paper, (2) musical fragments and photography; 15

21 Paralanguage - non-verbal communication, for example, gestures, facial expressions, clothing; Situation - connection and features of the main role player in the text; Co-text - linguistic material that surrounds the main thought of the text; Intertext - influence and involvement of one text within another text; Participants - (1) senders, for example, advertising agency, (2) receivers or the target group of the particular advertisement; Function - what the text is supposed to achieve with a help of senders (ibid.: 4). Figure 2.1 shows all of the elements that interact with each other concerning the advertisement. Cook explains that An ad is not a tangible or stable entity, it is the dynamic synthesis of many components, and comes into being through them (2001: 6). The author emphasizes that advertising discourse is all about the people (society/participants) who send the message and receive it. It is crucial to select the target audience of the advertisement in order to operate with the contextual elements more efficiently creating appealing content with the help of language, pictures, music, situation, etc. in order to affect their decision to buy the selected product (ibid.). Figure 2.1 Influencing components in the advertisement (Cook, 2001: 6) Goddard (1998) perceives advertising discourse through a different perspective stating that images play an important role and complement the text of advertisement significantly. She explains that Images work alongside the verbal text to create a whole reading, and that we should pay attention to who is in the picture (and who is out of it). Images, like verbal text, do not arrive on the page by accident. Copywriters give careful consideration to the type of people they want to represent - or, it would be more accurate to say, to re-present, as every image is a re-presentation of something; it is never a natural phenomenon. As soon as people are pictured, they become representative of the social groups they are seen to represent -groups such as gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, social class, occupation and region. But the people are also not simply static pictures. They are part 16

22 of the way the text interacts with us, the readers. (1998: 114) In other words, Goddard points out that the use of images in advertising is not a coincidence, it is the first thing that catches people s attention and convinces to pay attention to the text of the advertisement as well. With a successful word play, the image can give a very powerful impression about the product and even remind different senses, such as smell, touch or taste. Tanaka (1994) shares an observation how advertisers use images to illustrate intangible benefits of the products, for example, the smell when advertising the perfume, deodorant or air freshener. It is very important that the photography reminds the associations with the particular smell, in this case, If I wish to recall the smell of a rose, it is a fact a visual image that I invoke, a bouquet of roses under my nose; [ ], I try mentally to reconstitute the scent itself (1994: 95). 2.2 Use of neologisms in advertisements According to Newmark, Most people like neologisms, and so the media and commercial interests exploit this liking (1988: 140). Carstairs-McCarthy compares involvement of neologisms in advertising to linguistic fashion in the media (2002: 108). People are always interested in upgrades of products; use of neologisms is a useful tool to complement them and make more interesting. Lehrer acknowledges that there is also a great increase, indeed acceleration, in clever, trendy, eye-and-ear-catching words, [ ], neologisms are often witty; they involve word play (2007: 3). Talking more specifically about the purpose of the use of neologisms in advertising, in Lehrer s (2007) opinion, advertisers use neologisms only in order to obtain the customer s attention, and admits that they are easy and quick to memorize. Kalmane thinks analogically to Lehrer and acknowledges that in advertising neologisms are created to gain attention (2012: 72). She adds that usually neologisms attract the customer s attention because they sound weird and funny, and can be catchy (ibid.). Whereas, Lee (2010) states that advertisers include new word concepts in their advertisements to provide special uniqueness and originality. Lehrer remarks that the reason of new lexical inventions in advertising is the want that the consumers remember the name of the product, process, or business establishment (2003: 370). Kalmane admits that Neologisms are more frequently used in advertisements where the target audience is young people (2012: 75). She defends her view with a statement that young generation is more connected with technologies and new inventions in vocabulary due to the fact that many neologisms are born or are developed through social media and spread with the help of chatting, tweeting and other communication possibilities via social media. 17

23 Nowadays, young generation tends to share, like, tag, etc. messages, which helps the latest trends in fashion and many other areas go viral and become known with enormous masses of people, especially young children and adolescents who use the Internet on daily basis. Also, in Kalamane s opinion, young people are usually more likely to search explanations of neologisms online, while the largest part of older people probably would not invest time and energy doing such research (ibid.). As a result, the young generation spreads neologisms not only through social media, but also face to face, when talking with each other. Eventually, these neologisms gain larger potential to become accepted by general public. that Lee (2010) highlights that even more neologisms are needed in advertising. He states Neologisms are frequently generated in the media, advertising and technical domains, being described as a response to a particular need (the need to create neologisms PC). Here we can mention words used: super-computer, multi-user, hardware, software, etc. There are also such words as telebanking, finger-print scanner, etc. The speed of scientific and technological progress, combines with the practically universal adoption of the globalisation concept by the countries of the world, have created a pressing need in all speech communities for new lexicon to name new items or concepts. (ibid.: 171) What Lee is trying to explain is that technical development is growing so rapidly that society cannot keep up with the new vocabulary, and as a result, this gap should be filled with new lexicon or neologisms. Newmark (1988) as well as Stockwell. and Minkova (2001) offer their observations that a noticeable amount of neologisms that appear in advertisements are particularly found in companies brand names. Newmark (ibid.) points out that many brand names are transferred directly from other languages. In some situations, they can be connected to the country, where the product is made. However, Stockwell. and Minkova observe that usually brand names are derived from old words, For instance, the headache remedy named Aleve clearly is intended to suggest alleviate, [ ], Frigidaire is a clever coinage for a particular brand of refrigerating device (2001: 5-6). Also, there is used the suffixation method, for example, with a brand Kleenex, which is built from clean and the suffix -ex. In contrast to Newmark, Stockwell and Minkova, Plag points that neologisms are important writing headlines or advertisement texts (2002: 193). He emphasizes that they are crucial, especially, for the purpose to compound large chunks of phrases into a shorter version (ibid.). Taking into account the above mentioned, it is not possible to necessarily say that neologisms are applicable only in one place of the advertisement. The use of neologisms is 18

24 diverse and they can be exploited not only as brand names, but also as any other textual addition to the advertisement. 2.3 Insight into advertising clothing No doubt, that clothing advertisements are a powerful weapon to convince customers to follow the latest fashion trends even if the information and the image behind is truly inadequate and does not correspond to the reality. According to Phillips and McQuarrie, the fashion advertisers seek positive evaluations from consumers by filling their ads with beautiful people, luxurious goods, and lovely settings (2011: 102). It can be admitted that advertisers purposefully use words as a tool to catch attention to increase the actual value of the product; the authors show concern that people become obsessive with their clothing consumption behavior and advertisers use it for their benefit (ibid.). Sedivy and Carlson (2011) admit the fact that clothing advertisements are constantly changing by every season, which relates to the retailers desire to convince to buy the latest clothing collections. It means that the customer s satisfaction about the purchased product will be short term and next season will bring new disappointment and desire to keep up with the latest clothing trends. In other words, it is like a never-ending cycle, where people become the clothing industry s slaves falling for the pressure that the clothing industry forces to the society with a help of advertising. Hill acknowledges that clothing advertisements promote consumption of each season s newest fashion, [ ], advertising widely publicized the new looks, educating the masses and creating aspirational wants (2004: 31-33). Van der Laan and Velthusis comment this process as obsession with appearance and identity (2016: 25). Goddard (1998) notes that brand names play big role in clothing advertising; people have a strong desire to wear high-end branding clothes as if it would say something about their personality and status in public. Hill (2004) adds that society is so addicted to brands because brand clothing brings a feeling of increased self-worthiness and higher value of their personality as well as individuality. He illustrates the idea that clothing advertisers project the image of high style, encouraging the masses to aspire the look like the rich and famous (ibid.: 142). Hill mentions an example with the research, where women actually admitted that they felt like their individuality could be measured by the hat they were wearing (ibid.). Sedivy and Carlson (2011) point out that the desire for expensive clothing is highly related to persons emotions and feeling about themselves. They mention the case of Diesel clothing line, which the founder Renzo Rosso comments speaking about their aim promoting the clothes: We don t sell products, we sell the emotions our products generate (ibid.: 20). Taking into consideration all the above mention by Goddard, Hill, Sedivy and Carlson, it 19

25 almost seems like the society becomes shallower by years determining the person s value by their clothing expenditures. Goddard (ibid.) says that more and more common becomes putting designer or brand names on the clothing with big letters, which makes the person a walking advertisement himself. The author explains, For example, clothing in its broadest sense can be seen as advertising ideas about the wearer, but manufacturers labels on our clothing are a very direct strategy for them to get themselves some free publicity (ibid.: 6). Goddard adds that even the plastic bags that we carry around are a very powerful advertisement that can significantly influence other people s purchasing choices. In opposition to Goddard s opinion, Phillips and McQuarrie (2011) state that big and well-known brand names do not play such of a big deal for clothing advertisements. They mention that today it is more and more typical for any clothing line to try to copy popular designs and simply make fashionable clothes that would be affordable for anyone, especially the youngest generation, and that is all what matters to convince people to buy the product. Phillips and McQuarrie (2011) highlight that a large group of young people is not so financially stable and cannot afford high-end designer clothing, but it does not mean that they are limited in their choices to wear clothing that exposes great sense of style and fashion. Phillips and McQuarrie remark that Today, a fashion brand must develop mass appeal by engaging large numbers of fashion conscious consumers. A driving concern of contemporary fashion brands is the need to sell relatively low-priced items so as to earn profits and lure younger customers to the brand, while still maintaining fashionable image. (2011: 101) In addition, Goddard (1998) tells that occasionally clothing advertisements use names of personality traits referred to the pieces of clothing, for example, intelligent or confident, and people are really convinced to buy this clothing in order to show that they possess, in this case, intelligence or confidence. Goddard provides an example of such a case, We are unlikely to be sure who is advertising what: is the manufacturer advertising itself [...], or is the wearer using the T-shirt to advertise some quality he or she supposedly possesses, such as party-going inclinations? (ibid.: 7). Interestingly, there are also unique situations, where advertisers of clothing bring controversial content to their advertisements or clothing image in order to draw the customer s attention, no matter whether in a positive or negative way. Goddard presents an example saying that One attention-seeking strategy developed in recent years to increasing levels of sophistication is the startling image. The Benetton clothing company, for example, showed a series of large-scale hoardings which featured real scenes of life and death - a baby being born, covered in blood [ ], a man on his deathbed. The outcry of public 20

26 offence which followed these advertisements drew yet more attention to them. Since the Benetton adverts, a number of different companies (for example, Holidays and Gossard) have appeared to use the strategy of deliberately upsetting, outraging or otherwise irritating the general public in order to draw some extra attention. (1998: 12) This example shows that sometimes a negative advertisement can turn into a positive result for the company, because everyone has noticed the brand and cannot resist not to pay attention to its production. However, not necessarily everyone will succeed and will financially benefit with the help of this kind of strategy (ibid.). Thus, Chapter 2 has described the advertising discourse and has admitted that it can be called commercial communication, where the dialogue has been created between the advertiser and the potential customer. Regardless of the way how neologisms have been manifested in the advertisement, they tend to catch customers attention or make a complex concept of words shorter and easier to memorize. It is noted that clothing advertisements have a changing nature because of the variable fashion trends, which force people to buy new clothes each season. 21

27 CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS OF NEOLOGISMS IN CLOTHING ADVERTISEMENTS This chapter of the paper, first, explores discourse analysis as a research method, which has been applied to analyze the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements. Furthermore, the procedure and findings of discourse analysis of neologisms in clothing advertisements found in the online advertising archive Ads of the World, online fashion news Fashionista and clothing companies American Apparel and American Eagle will be presented, and results of a youth survey will be analyzed. 3.1 Description of the research method and materials According to Jones, discourse analysis is a sub-field of linguistics, which is the scientific study of language (2012: 2). However, Brown and Yule (1983) add that discourse analysis also looks to the purpose and context where the language has been applied. In other words, both textual and contextual aspects are important in discourse analysis. Brown and Yule highlight that the discourse analysis is committed to an investigation of what that language is used for (1983: 1). Fairclough compares discourse analysis to cross-discipline, meaning that it can be applied not only for one particular area, where the language is used, but several ones, for example, linguistics, psychology, anthropology and many others (1989: 11). Kelly-Holmes has investigated discourse analysis for the purpose of advertising and admits that it can be described as functional dialect (2005: 8). It means that, in this case, discourse analysis investigates language of specific purpose or advertising, in particular. Kelly-Holmes (ibid.) notes that investigations show that the language used for advertising is very particular and simple rather than complex. Figure 3.1 shows Jorgensen and Phillips s (2002) interpretation of linguist s and professor s Norman Fairclough s three perspectives, how to look at the discourse analysis. These three perspectives are divided as follows: Text - analysis of any textual material, either written or verbal. There could be analysis of syntactic factors, particular words, grammar or rhetorical devices used in a text. 22

28 Discursive practice - analysis involves text production and text consumption. In other words, the dialogue is created between the source that has created the text and target audience, which receives the text. Social practice - analysis of way of representing the text. Schiffrin et al. (2003) indicate that social practice includes nonlinguistic (clothing, gestures, etc.) and nonspecific (general understandings/ background knowledge brought to the particular text) factors of language. Figure 3.1 Three dimensions of discourse analysis (Jorgensen and Phillips, 2002: 68) Particularly, this paper will focus on the first or textual dimension of the discourse, as the emphasis is directed to the text of advertisements and the new lexicon used in it. The present research concentrates on both qualitative and quantitative investigation perspective. Jones (2012) highlights that qualitative approach of analysis tends to be more crucial than frequency as it looks more to the meaning expressed through words rather than numbers. Creswell (2013) disagrees admitting that the mixed research approach is the most effective due to the fact that a quantitative approach can support and strengthen the collected results identified in qualitative findings. Therefore, the author of the present paper has chosen to apply Creswell s approach using both of the perspectives. Because of the fact that qualitative perspective is often considered subjective, it is important to ensure the reliability and validity of the obtained data. According to Paltridge, Validity refers to the extent to which a piece of research actually investigates what it says it will investigate, and the truth or the accuracy of the generalizations being made by the researcher (2006: 217). Titscher et al. equate validity to truthfulness of some measurement 23

29 (2002: 244). The validity will be added to the research by creating a survey that will test the data collected from the discourse analysis. Reliability of the results obtained can be ensured by the consistency of the data collection, analysis and interpretation procedures, it refers to the results obtained in the project (Paltridge, ibid.: 216). Titscher et al. (ibid.) add that reliability can be resulted by applying repetitive and constant actions. The reliability will be achieved by looking at the consistency and similarities of the data collected through the discourse analysis and those of the survey. To analyze the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements, the author of this paper selected printed advertisements of the online advertising archive Ads of the World, online fashion news Fashionista and the clothing companies American Apparel and American Eagle. Both sources Ads of the World and Fashionista were selected because they have collected the best clothing advertisements of the world during the last years. Clothing companies American Apparel and American Eagle were chosen due to the fact that both of the companies were considered the best brands last year, especially among the youth (Online 4). All of the advertisements analyzed contain parts of the text with an emphasis on eye-catching headlines or descriptions of the product. Nine of the advertisements analyzed were from the online advertising archive Ads of the World. Although Ads of the World is founded in the USA, it is the most extensive advertising archive, which collects the best advertisements not only in the homeland, but all across the world. What makes this archive unique is the fact that it collects numerous varieties of advertisements, e.g. printed, TV, radio, online and outdoor advertisements. All of the advertisements are divided into different sections based on the industry which the particular advertisement represents. The members of this archive are privileged to be involved in giving the ratings, commenting and collecting the advertisements (Online 5). Overall, nine neologisms were found in the advertisements of Ads of the World. Five of the analysed advertisements were from the clothing company American Apparel. The company American Apparel is founded in the USA, and it manufactures, distributes and even designs their clothing. The company sells all kind of clothing for men, women and kids. American Apparel is proud that they invest big efforts manufacturing their clothing as environmentally friendly as possible. Today their stores are available internationally as the company supports free and fair trade. American Apparel s slogan Made in the USA represents the company s place of foundation (Online 6). Overall, six neologisms were found in the American Apparel advertisements. 24

30 Seven of the advertisements analysed were created by the clothing company American Eagle. The company s roots come from America, but their stores are spread all over across the globe. American Eagle is special with their strength to sell high quality clothing and accessories with affordable and reasonable prices. Additionally, they are very concentrated to offer clothing that is not only qualitative, but also trendy and fashionable (Online 7). Youth is one of their biggest target audiences. The company s slogan is Live your life, which represents that their clothing is designed for everyday wear to feel comfortable and flexible every single day of life. Overall, seven neologisms were found in the American Eagle advertisements. Twenty-four of the analysed advertisements were from the online fashion news Fashionista, which not only provides the latest information about fashion, but also collects fashion advertisements and informs about the latest discounts in the stores. Fashionista shares their news as well as advertisements not only on their web-site, but also other social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, Tumbler, Breaking Media and others. This method helps to reach as many followers and members as possible. Fashionista proudly highlights that today they have 2.5 million people who follow their daily news. Their target audience are those who are highly interested in fashion or as they state, fashion-focused customers (Online 8). Overall, twenty-four neologisms were found in the Fashionista advertisements. All four sources were selected because they provide wide range of advertisements, which illustrate an extensive variety of clothing as well as present advertisements that are creative and unique textually and visually. All of the sources have become leaders by presenting or selling the clothing worldwide. The number of advertisements analysed varies by each source, based on the frequency of neologisms that the advertisements involve. The author of this paper has selected to analyse advertisements, where the neologisms appeared as well as the overall advertising image was presented in a creative manner. Also, it was important to select advertisements which correspond represent the clothing and fashion industry as the purpose of the paper is to investigate neologisms in clothing advertisements. Neologisms were determined using Lee s (2010) method of lexicography, where words can be considered as neologisms if they do not appear in a dictionary. For this purpose Collins online dictionary of English language was used. 3.2 Findings of the discourse analysis The aim of this paper was to investigate neologisms in clothing advertisements, thus to get to know word formation patterns as well as the purpose of using neologisms in the selected advertisements. 25

31 The research questions were: 1) Which word formation patterns of neologisms are used most in clothing advertisements? 2) What is the purpose of using neologisms in clothing advertisements? 3) What is the youth s evaluation and opinion on the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements? The advertising archive Ads of the World represents nine advertisements and nine neologisms found in them (see Appendix 1). Advertisement 1 promotes Reebok sportswear and footwear. It uses neologism Reetone as a headline. This neologism s word formation pattern is blending as it is combined from the brand name Reebok + tone. It highlights that the clothing and footwear advertised is intended to help toning up the muscles as the material of clothing is stretchy as well as the footwear is designed with a better balance and unique sole. The neologism was used in order to attract attention to the new product line, where the target audience most probably would be young people with an active lifestyle, including daily sport related activities. Advertisement 2 demonstrates the brand Burlington, which produces socks made of ecological, environmentally friendly materials. This advertisement includes a massive title BioFresh in the footer of the advertisement, which is a neologism created using the blending method, combining biological + fresh. In this case, the neologism highlights the product attribute to keep feet dry during the day as the qualitative and ecological material allows the skin breathe. Advertisement 3 presents Dope-gent brand. The company concentrates on men s clothing and footwear. In this particular advertisement, the neologism dope is repeated two times. This neologism is borrowed from Dutch, and recently it was integrated as American slang word meaning to be awesome, stylish, interesting, excellent, etc. (Online 9). Firstly, this advertisement involves the word dope in a question form Searching for Dope?, and the second time it is included in the footer of the advertisement. Clearly, the neologism is used with an intension to draw attention to their clothing and footwear in order to emphasize that the products the company sells is for stylish and creative people. Advertisement 4 introduces with LTB Jeans. The company manufactures different style jeans for both men and women. The advertisement includes one neologisms sushing, created by using the affixation method, connecting sushi with the suffix -ing. The neologism is used in order to complement the image of the advertisement, where people are captured having a good time eating sushi. The intention of creating such a message in a clothing advertisement 26

32 is to show that their jeans is an important part of outfit to look trendy in different occasions, including celebrations. Advertisement 5 is from the company Mode Marie. The advertisement of this company uses neologism OMG!, which is an acronym from Oh my God!. Without doubt, the advertisement involves the mentioned neologism, because their goal is to attract customers attention. The neologism effectively expresses surprise and positive shock related to the clothing this company promotes. Advertisement 6 is from the company Calikdenim. The advertisement includes an extensive title using neologism Superego, where the word is made using the affixation method with the prefix -super + ego. The word ego as such implies the meaning of confidence and self-appearance (Online 10). The prefix -super even strengthens and intensifies the meaning. The neologism is used with a purpose to highlight that the company s clothing helps to increase the customers self-esteem and better their image in order to feel trendy and follow the latest fashion. Advertisement 7 presents clothing for kids and is created for a back-to-school campaign by brand Plaza Italia. In the headline of the advertisement there appears the sentence Invasion of the ultradesks, you will be glued to your seat. This sentence reminds parents and their children that the study season is coming, and there will be a necessity to purchase comfortable clothes for daily wear. Also, this sentence includes the neologism ultradesks, which is created using affixation with the prefix -ultra + desks. The neologism helps to complement the creative image of the advertisement, where desks are demonstrated following the kids. Obviously, this image helps to bring a though that school is just around the corner and it is a high time to prepare for it. Advertisement 8 promotes Macy s clothing with the help of the model and actress Claudia Schiffer, whose photo is presented in this advertisement. In the footer of the advertisement there appears Claudia s signature with the neologism at the end XOXO. The neologisms XOXO is a symbol, which was invented recently as a popular addition to informal messages and s. Its meaning is hugs and kisses, where X is a symbol for kiss and O for a hug (Online 11). The whole purpose for using it is to attract attention so that the customer is willing to buy Macy s clothing, which is recommended by the celebrity who also wears it. In such a way, people have connection to the brand, and they feel the need to buy the product in order to resemble Claudia Schiffer, in this case. Advertisement 9 is from the company Citadium, which sells clothing, footwear and accessories for both men and women. The advertisement includes the neologism BFF, which is an acronym with a meaning - best friends forever. The neologism is used in order to shorten 27

33 the long version of the phrase. The company promotes that clothing choices can connect friends while shopping and spending time together. It can strengthen the friendship and help to find similar clothing style. The clothing company American Apparel represents five advertisements and six neologisms found in them (see Appendix 2). Advertisement 10 includes one neologism Hoodies, which is created using clipping as a word formation pattern. The word is shortened from the phrase hooded sweatshirts. The neologism is created in order to shorten the full version of the word as well as to make it sound catchier. Advertisement 11 promotes American Apparel clothing line for pets. The advertisement uses neologism Fluffytime, which is a compound combined from fluffy + time. This neologism is applied with a purpose to highlight the product attribute to ensure warmth as well as to emphasize that the material of the cloth is very soft and comfortable to wear. The image of the advertisement is complemented by the neologism showing that their clothing for pets is not only useful, but also just as fashionable as for humans. Advertisement 12 presents neologism Bubblelicious, which is a blend created from bubble + delicious. This advertisement represents American Apparel sleepwear. Firstly, this neologism helps to complement the image, where the model is captured with a bubble gum. Secondly, it shows that sleepwear can be both comfortable and attractive as the adjective delicious cannot be taken literally. It helps to describe that women can feel self-confident wearing their clothing. Advertisement 13 includes two neologisms. The first one is flexfleece, and it appears in the headline of this advertisement. It is a blend made of flexible + fleece. Fleece itself represents cloth that is soft and pleasant (Online 12). The neologism is used in order to describe the clothing as being warm and easy to wear in any situation. The second neologism is hoody, which can be found in the description of the advertisement. It is a clipping created of hooded sweatshirt to make the word shorter. Both neologisms are connected to each other and mean that a hooded sweatshirt from American Apparel is very comfortable and warm. Advertisement 14 involves one neologism BFF, which is an acronym and means best friend forever. The neologism is used as the advertisement s headline, and the bold letters help to attract attention. Also, this acronym very well goes together with the advertisement s image of friends wearing similar style clothes by American Apparel. The neologism is used in order to show that clothing choices can strengthen a friendship as well. 28

34 The clothing company American Eagle represents seven advertisements and seven neologisms found in them (see Appendix 3). Advertisement 15 presents one neologism jegging, which is created using the blending method combining jeans + legging. The neologism successfully describes the appearance of the clothing piece as there is used a stretchy material as for the leggings, but the clothing print looks like jeans. Advertisement 16 promotes American Eagle jeans for men. In this advertisement there can be found one neologism Flex, which is a clipping from the adjective flexible. The neologism is used in order to shorten the full version of the word, as well as to represent that their jeans are comfortable as in the description of the product mentions made to move with you. Advertisement 17 includes the neologism beagle, made of beagle + Eagle. The word is created using the blending method. The advertisement was made in order to promote American Eagle clothing line for dogs to make them as trendy as their owners. The neologism uses the word beagle, which is a dog breed. It already helps to represent that the clothing line is not meant for humans. Advertisement 18 presents the neologism AE, which is an acronym of American Eagle. The acronym was used in order to shorten the full version of the brand name and give more space for the visual image of this advertisement. Advertisement 19 presents the neologism crops, which is a blend combining crop + tops. The neologism was used in order to describe the style of the new American Eagle shirts, which are shorter than a regular T-shirt and without sleeves. Advertisement 20 and Advertisement 21 both include the neologism tees created from tee + shirts using the blending method. Both advertisements are very similar, except for the fact that one represents T-shirts for women and the other for men. The neologism is used in order to shorten the word and make it sound catchier and less serious. The online fashion news Fashionista represents twenty-four advertisements and twentyfour neologisms found in them (see Appendix 4). Advertisement 22 demonstrates Victoria Secret clothing line PINK. The advertisement includes the sentence Pink the beach, where pink is the neologism made using the conversion method as it changes the part of speech from adjective to verb. The neologism is used with a purpose to represent the visual appearance of the clothing line, as it is in pink color. Advertisement 23 promotes Nordstrom brand s clothing. The advertisement includes the neologism faves, which is a clipping from the word favorites. The neologism was included in the phrase fall faves, so it represents the new season s clothing line for the fall. The 29

35 neologism was used in order to shorten the full version of the word as well as to show that their brand is a favorite place to shop for the new fall season. Advertisement 24 promotes Adidas sports clothing and footwear. It presents a neologism in a form of acronym mvp, which means the most valuable player. The acronym is addressed to Derrick Rose, who is the youngest most valuable player in the NBA history. In this advertisement, Derrick Rose is photographed wearing Adidas clothing and footwear, which helps to sell their product to the customers who follow the NBA activities and want to feel as professional and stylish as he is. The advertisement includes the phrase be a part of history, which can also catch the customer s attention and create desire to be a part of the movement and feeling connected to the sport s world. Advertisement 25 represents new Reebok sports clothing line, which is represented with the neologism Reezig. This neologism is made using blending, connecting the brand name Reebok + zigzag. The neologism was created with a purpose to attract attention to the new accents to Adidas clothing, which includes a zigzag line to give style to the clothing as well as to their footwear. Advertisement 26 promotes Nike sports clothing and sneakers. This advertisement involves one neologism athleisure, which is created using the blending method, from the words athletics + leisure. The neologism is used in order to emphasize that their clothing and sneakers can be useful not only for sports activities, but also for a rest time to feel comfortable in any situation. Advertisement 27 introduces Ahodress clothing brand, which is intended for youth s audience. The neologism LOL appears on the print of the shirt demonstrated in the advertisement and is an acronym meaning laughing out loud or lots of laughs. Recently, this acronym has been very popular, used in text messages, social media and chats (Online 13). This acronym is used to attract attention as people, especially youth, link it with positive associations. Advertisement 28 is from the sports brand Viewsport, which sells clothing as well as footwear. The advertisement includes the neologism fitfluential, which is a blend combined from fit + influential. The neologism tries to attract attention of those who are interested in sports in order to sell their clothing, which is positioned as a tool to promote a healthy lifestyle of being fit. Advertisement 29 presents the U.S.A. clothing brand for women. The advertisement demonstrates one neologism comfy, which is a clipped form of comfortable. The shortened version of the word was made with a purpose to make it look and sound catchier as well as represent the product attribute of being pleasant to wear. 30

36 Advertisement 30 and Advertisement 31 are by the clothing company for kids and teenagers Smallable. The brand name itself is a neologism created using the affixation method - small + suffix -able. Both advertisements include the sentence Adult fashion now available for kids, which also helps to comprehend the purpose of the particular neologism. Together with the visual explanation, the neologism highlights that their clothing line for kids can be as sophisticated and classy as the one for adults. Basically, they explain that the company creates clothing that is comparable to adult fashion trends, only in a smaller version that can fit for a kid as well. Advertisement 32 presents H&M clothing. There can be found one neologism jumpsuit, which is made by blending jumper + suit. The neologism makes it clear that there is presented a costume type piece of clothing, which consists of a connected top and bottom. Advertisement 33 promotes the clothing company OOTD. The acronym OOTD is the neologism and means outfit of the day (Online 14). This neologism appeared as internet slang relatively recently and mostly can be seen used in social media presenting different outfits in the form of images and videos. The neologism is used with the purpose to get the customer s attention showing that their company is the place to get their outfit for a daily wear. Advertisement 34 is by the clothing brand Aeropostale, and there can be found one neologism airo. This neologism is clipping of the full version of the brand name. The clipped version was applied with a purpose to present the word in a shorter manner and giving more space for the advertisement s image. Advertisement 35 promotes Old Navy s dress collection for women and young girls. The advertisement involves a bright headline using the neologism Dresstination. This neologism is made by applying the blending method, merging dress + destination. This bright and catchy headline is used in order to get the female customer attention showing that particularly Old Navy is the right place to look for purchasing a new dress. Advertisement 36 is by Nike sports clothing and footwear brand, and there can be found the neologism ab, which is a clipping from abdominal. The neologism is used in order to shorten the word making it look and sound less formal. Lately, this word can be seen a lot related to the particular exercises for abdominal workout routine, for example, at which gives countless workout routines for beginners and professionals (Online 15). Most probably, this neologism would be the most familiar for those who are sports enthusiasts spending a lot of time and effort on bodybuilding at gym or on other sports related activities. Advertisement 37 is from the footwear and clothing brand UGG of Australia. This advertisement is intended for men, and it includes a bold headline using the neologism 31

37 gamechangers. This word was created using compounding by uniting separate words game and changers together. The neologism is used in order to emphasize that they have unique production, which differs from other brands. They attract those who are interested in wearing clothing that can be not only fashionable, but also qualitative and pleasant to wear throughout all seasons, which makes this company different or gamechanger, but their customers gamechangers. Advertisement 38 is by the company Simply Be from the United Kingdom. This company creates fashion for plus-size women and girls. The advertisement provides a bold statement every body is beach body ready. In this statement there can be found one neologism beach body, which is formed using the compounding method. Although these are two words, reading or saying together they become as one unit. The neologism is integrated in the whole message of the statement and is used with a purpose to get attention and encourage female audience to be confident in their own skin no matter what shape or size they have. Also, the producer wants to highlight that women do not have to be skinny to look and feel stylish. Advertisement 39 promotes Lindex lingerie for women. The advertisement includes the neologism bravolution, which is a blend of brave + revolution. Similarly to the previous advertisement from Simply Be, this neologism is used to highlight that every woman is unique regardless of any imperfections. Advertisement 40, Advertisement 41 and Advertisement 42 are from the children clothing company Disney Store. All three advertisements include one neologism. The first one is onomatopoeia or sound imitation Zzz, which imitates snoring. It helps to get attention that their clothing is comfortable and helps to have a good sleep during the night. Another neologism is onomatopoeia OOOOOOOOOOOOHH!, which imitates surprise. This neologism complements the advertisement s message welcoming to see new arrivals at the store. The third neologism is BTS, which is an acronym from back to school. It is used to shorten this word combination. Advertisement 43 promotes BeautyLicious online clothing store. The store s name itself is neologism, blending beauty + delicious. This neologism helps to attract attention and characterizes their clothing as beautiful and full of fashion and style. Advertisement 44 promotes Four Plus and Angel teenager clothing brand in its sales campaign. The advertisement includes one neologism ginormous, which is a blend consisting of gigantic and enormous. This bold neologism helps successfully highlight how significant their discount is. 32

38 Advertisement 45 is from the company Red Bubble, which sells clothing as well as accessories for women, men and children. The advertisement presents a bright statement WOOW! Another of my happy moments!. In this statement there can be found one neologism WOOW, which is onomatopoeia. This sound imitation helps to earn attention as it represents positive surprise and convinces the customer to feel positive wearing this company s clothing Word formation patterns Figure 3.2 Word formation patterns used in clothing advertisements Figure 3.2 indicates that the most frequently used word formation patterns of neologisms in the analyzed clothing advertisements are blending (17 cases), acronyms (8 cases) and clipping (7 cases). As can be seen in this figure, the blending method has earned a significant predominance over other word formation patterns applied in the advertisements. Overall, forty-six neologisms were found. Looking at the purpose of neologisms used in the analyzed clothing advertisements, it can be seen that they are used in order to attract customer attention, add uniqueness, complement the image of the advertisement, present the word in shorter manner or highlight the product attributes. 3.3 Analysis of the survey findings The author of this paper asked youth of age to complete a questionnaire about their view on the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements (see Appendix 5 for the questionnaire used in this survey). The questionnaire was distributed in period from April 20, 2016 to April 30, It was made available online in order to provide more convenient and quick access for the respondents. Overall, 100 respondents filled in the questionnaire. Figure 3.3 presents that the majority (79 respondents) often pays attention to clothing advertisements. Only 21 respondents answered that they did not notice clothing advertisements very frequently. 33

39 Yes 79 No 21 Figure 3.3 Respondents answers to Question 1 - Do you often pay attention to clothing advertisements (online, at the store, print media, etc.)? The second question focusses on the respondents evaluation of five neologisms and five regular words that appear in clothing advertisements on the scale from 1 to 10 where 10 represents the highest value of attractiveness and 1 the lowest value of attractiveness. It was designed in order to get to know how attractive neologisms are found by youth. The particular neologisms were chosen for the evaluation, because respondents might be more familiar with them due to the reason that they often appear when using social media and social networks. The rest of the words that are not considered neologisms were chosen as close synonyms to the neologisms that were selected, for example, WOOW = Impressive, Beautylicious = Pretty, etc. It was done with intention to compare whether neologisms would seem more attractive than regular words. Table 3.1 shows that the word Dope, which is considered as neologism, was evaluated by respondents quite differently, but the highest number of respondents found the attractiveness of this word above average or average ticking the rating 6 (19 cases) and 5 (15 cases). However, not far from behind follow respondents who evaluated this word as highly attractive. This tendency could be related to the fact that many respondents might have judged based on how the word looks or sounds not knowing the actual meaning. Most probably, those who are familiar with the meaning, evaluated the word with a higher rating. Also, this neologism came with its new slang meaning stylish and creative relatively recently, so this could be one of the reasons why people do not recognize it yet. The average rating of the word Dope equals Table 3.1 Respondent evaluation of the word Dope Dope Total Average rating Respondents Table 3.2 presents evaluation of the word or onomatopoeia WOOW. This neologism is rated with a high attractiveness level. As findings show, the most frequently ticked rating is 8 34

40 (31 cases) and 9 (20 cases), the lowest ratings are ticked rarely. The liking of this neologism could be earned because of its expressiveness and ability to show surprise and shock emotion. Also, sound imitations are more familiar for anyone who sees or hears them because many of the sounds are integrated all over the world and are used naturally when showing certain emotions about something. The average rating of the word WOOW equals Table 3.2 Respondent evaluation of the word WOOW WOOW Total Average rating Respondents Table 3.3 demonstrates the evaluation of the word good, which is not considered a neologism. The word received quite a low level of attractiveness as most frequently ticked ratings were 2 (26 cases) and 4 (21 cases) that are below average. The reason for such a negative response could be that this word is very well-known and used in different situations, and it does not seem as something unique and outstanding that particularly represents great clothing. In other words, it could be hard to impress the customers using it. The average rating the word received equals Table 3.3 Respondent evaluation of the word good Good Total Average rating Respondents Table 3.4 summarizes the data evaluating the word Beautylicious, which is a unique neologism. It was rated in most cases with average or above average level of attractiveness ticking 6 (22 cases) and 5 (18 cases). It might be that this word did not receive the highest ratings due to the fact that it can seem as misspelled and very unknown. Most probably, those who figured out how the word was blended together, gave the highest ratings for this word. It seems that it could be difficult to use this neologism for advertising as not all customers would get the message. The average rating the word received equals Table 3.4 Respondent evaluation of the word Beautylicious Beautylicious Total Average rating Respondents

41 Table 3.5 presents the evaluation of the word impressive. This word is not a neologism. The findings show that most frequently it was rated with 7 (17 cases) and 6 (16 cases), which is above the average level of attractiveness. Regardless the fact that this word is not neologism, it is powerful and expressive on its own, so it could successfully present new clothing collections or discounts in clothing advertisements. This could also be the reason why it got positive feedback or reaction by respondents. The average rating of the word impressive equals Table 3.5 Respondent evaluation of the word impressive Impressive Total Average rating Respondents Table 3.6 demonstrates how respondents evaluated the word pretty according to its level of attractiveness. Most frequently it received a rating below average or average, ticking 4 (23 cases) and 5 (19 cases). The word was not considered as highly attractive, which could be connected with the reason that it does not seem as highly expressive for representing and wanting to sell the clothing, which has to be presented as stunning to stand out for the customers. The average rating of the word pretty equals Table 3.6 Respondent evaluation of the word pretty Pretty Total Average rating Respondents Table 3.7 shows evaluation of the word OMG. This acronym is a neologism, and it received a relatively positive response, as the most frequently ticked ratings were 7 (21 cases) and 6 (16 cases). Many respondents evaluated this neologism as highly attractive as well. These results are not very surprising as this acronym indicated shock and surprise emotion, which could be appealing for youth audience in order to raise the interest into the particular clothing advertisement. The average rating of the word OMG equals Table 3.7 Respondent evaluation of the word OMG OMG Total Average rating Respondents

42 Table 3.8 presents evaluation of the word pleasant, which is not a neologism. The word received very low ratings as 2 (26 cases) and 1 (21 cases) were ticked most regularly. These ratings represent the lowest level of attractiveness for this word. Similarly to the word good, it most probably does not stand out and is not that noticeable in terms of clothing representation. The average rating of the word pleasant equals Table 3.8 Respondent evaluation of the word pleasant Pleasant Total Average rating Respondents Table 3.9 demonstrates the data of the evaluation of the word Comfy, which is a neologism. This is the only word that most frequently received the highest ratings: 10 (30 cases) and 9 (22 cases). Respondents considered this neologism as highly attractive. It could be related to the fact that even though it is a neologism, it is easily understandable, pronounceable and represents great and important quality regarding clothing. The average rating of the word Comfy equals Table 3.9 Respondent evaluation of the word Comfy Comfy Total Average rating Respondents Table 3.10 provides evaluation results for the word marvelous. It is not a neologism. This word received a rating around average 6 (22 cases) and 4 (19 cases) ticked most. This word has an expressive meaning, but it seems that a certain number of respondents perhaps did not know the meaning of the word clearly or just did not find it attractive enough. The average rating of the word marvelous is Table 3.10 Respondent evaluation of the word marvelous Marvelous Total Average rating Respondents Figure 3.4 summarizes average ratings of all the words evaluated by the respondents. It shows that the respondents found neologisms Comfy, WOOW and OMG most attractive. Other 37

43 words were rated with average or low level of attractiveness. Neologisms such as Beautylicious and Dope did not receive the highest ratings, which might be related to confusion of spelling or inability to figure out the meaning of the word. However, the neologism Beautylicious still managed to rank into the Top 5. The word impressive ranks into the fifth place, which can be explained with its expressive and bold meaning. The rest of the words were not considered as highly attractive finding them in clothing advertisements. The positive evaluation of neologisms shows that their use in clothing advertisements can be useful and ensure a positive feedback about the advertised product Figure 3.4 Average rating for the words evaluated by youth As can be seen in Figure 3.5, convincingly more respondents (60 cases) considered neologisms LOL, ginormous and faves as unique and eye-catching. The second largest part of respondents or 23 of them considered these neologisms as useless. Only 9 respondents ticked rather no than yes, and 8 respondents ticked rather yes than no. This figure helps to highlight that youth perceives the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements positively Yes, definetely Rather yes than no 8 9 Rather no than yes 23 No, they are useless Figure 3.5 Respondents answers to Question 3 - Do expressions of clothing advertisements such as LOL, ginormous and faves seem unique and eye-catching to you? 38

44 Table 3.11 presents answers of Question 4 where respondents had to choose from two advertisements based on how attractive they found them. Both advertisements were from the sports clothing and footwear brand Reebok promoting the same collection with zigzag design. The Advertisement No. 1 did not involve any neologism, but the advertisement No. 2 included neologism Reezig creatively representing the new collection. Results show that the majority or 62 respondents found the second advertisement with neologism more attractive than the advertisement without neologism. The respondents were asked to comment on their choice. A significant number of respondents admitted that the advertisement with neologism attracts more attention, is catchier and seems unique. As respondents were young audience, they also found the second advertisements less serious and more amusing because of the visual and textual combination. Many added that it stays in memory easier as well because of the neologism used provides better understanding about the particular style of clothing as it uses zigzag pattern for designing it. Respondents who chose the first advertisement without a neologism, commented that they liked more minimalistic advertisements without unusual headlines or expressions. They mentioned that modern, unknown words are confusing because they cannot comprehend their meaning. Table 3.11 Respondent choice of advertisements regarding their attractiveness Respondents Advertisements 1 2 To sum up, the analysis focusing on clothing advertisements of the online advertising archive Ads of the World, online fashion news Fashionista and the clothing companies American Apparel and American Eagle shows that in most cases blending, acronyms and clipping were used as word formations patterns to create neologisms. It has been established 39

45 that mostly neologisms in clothing advertisements are used in order to attract attention or complement the image of the advertisement, which was also validated by respondents who filled in the questionnaire designed to get to know their reaction to neologisms. 40

46 CONCLUSIONS The present research was undertaken to analyze the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements. In the theoretical research of the paper, it was shown that neologisms are words or phrases that have been recently created and are in the progress of being accepted by the society and dictionaries. They cannot be counted because many neologisms vanish from the lexicon very rapidly. It has been determined that word formation contributes the process of creating new lexical units. The author has highlighted ten main word formation patterns for building new words: affixation, compounding, conversion, clipping, blending, acronyms, borrowings, reduplication, back-formation, onomatopoeia or sound imitation. Also, a description was provided about advertising discourse and the role of neologisms in advertisements. It is considered that the use of neologisms in advertising attracts attention, makes it unique as well as helps to shorten long phrases or words. The empirical research investigated neologisms in clothing advertisements of online advertising archive Ads of the World, online fashion news Fashionista and the clothing companies American Apparel and American Eagle. The first research question was: Which word formation patterns of neologisms are used most in clothing advertisements? According to the results of the analysis, in most cases clothing advertisements used neologisms that were created using such word formation patterns as blending, acronyms and clipping. The blending method demonstrated significant predominance over other word formation patterns that were applied building new words for advertising purposes. The second research question was: What is the purpose of using neologisms in clothing advertisements? The results show that the neologisms found in the analysed clothing advertisements tend to attract attention as well as make the advertisements more unique and memorable. In some cases they complement the image of the advertisement or help to emphasize the product attributes. Also, neologisms appeared as a useful tool to shorten long phrases or words, for example, using an acronym for the name of the clothing brand. The third research question was: What is the youth s evaluation and opinion on the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements? The findings of the survey provided that youth had a positive reaction towards the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements. The largest part of respondents admitted that they often paid attention to clothing advertisements. Most of neologisms evaluated in the survey were considered as very appealing and attractive. The largest part of respondents (62%) added 41

47 in the comments that they preferred the advertisement with neologism involved in it because it attracted attention, was eye-catching and seemed unique, which is the reason why it better stays in memory. Some respondents gave an opinion that the neologism matched the image of the advertisements giving better understanding about the particular clothing. A smaller part of respondents (31%) who did not give a positive feedback on the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements commented that the neologism confused them because sometimes it is too hard to guess the meaning of new words. Some respondents (7%) acknowledged that the neologism helped to attract the attention, but they could create an unserious impression. Having performed this analysis, the author of the paper acknowledges that neologisms are undeniably catchy and attract attention, but sometimes they are too exaggerated, which can potentially give a rather negative than positive effect regarding the willingness to purchase the particular clothing. The author suggests that this topic could be researched on deeper level, as there seems not to exist detailed and scientific research about the proper use of neologisms for formal and informal purposes. Regarding the limitations of the research, there could be analysed even more clothing advertisements, and the number of respondents who filled in the questionnaire could be increased as well in order to strengthen the results collected. Nevertheless, in author s opinion, the present study is trustworthy, as the data collected showed consistent and similar results. 42

48 THESES 1. Words can be considered as neologisms if they are newly invented and have not earned full acceptance by society and have not established their place in dictionaries. 2. Neologisms can be analyzed based on the following word formation patterns: affixation, compounding, conversion, clipping, blending, acronyms, borrowings, reduplication, back-formation, onomatopoeia or sound imitation. 3. It is considered that advertising discourse can be used both verbally and textually; so, it investigates the language use in written and spoken manner. 4. It is admitted that neologisms are more commonly seen in advertisements where the target audience is youth. 5. Blending, clipping and acronyms were used the most as word formation patterns creating new words in the analyzed clothing advertisements of online advertising archive Ads of the World, online fashion news Fashionista and the clothing companies American Apparel and American Eagle. 6. The purpose of using neologisms in the analyzed clothing advertisements was to attract attention, complement the image of the advertisement, highlight specific qualities of the product as well as to shorten long words or phrases creating a memorable effect. 7. The majority of youth that was surveyed provided positive feedback regarding the use of neologisms in clothing advertisements. Respondents gave their point of view acknowledging that neologisms are a powerful tool to get attention and make the advertisement unique and memorable as well as provide better understanding of the product. 8. According to the presented analysis, the author of the paper acknowledges that regardless the fact that neologisms truly are eye-catching, they do not provide very formal impression and sometimes can be confusing with their meaning, which can lead to a negative response by the customers. 43

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53 APPENDIX 1 Clothing advertisements from the online advertising archive Ads of the World Advertisement 1 Source: 48

54 Advertisement 2 Source: 49

55 Advertisement 3 Source: 50

56 Advertisement 4 Source: 51

57 Advertisement 5 Source: 52

58 Advertisement 6 Source: 53

59 Advertisement 7 Source: 54

60 Advertisement 8 Source: 55

61 Advertisement 9 Source: 56

62 APPENDIX 2 Clothing advertisements by the company American Apparel Advertisement 10 Source: Crimson jpg 57

63 Advertisement 11 Source: 58

64 Advertisement 12 Source: 59

65 Advertisement 13 Source: 60

66 Advertisement 14 Source: BFF-06.jpg 61

67 APPENDIX 3 Clothing advertisements by the company American Eagle Advertisement 15 Source: 62

68 Advertisement 16 Source: ZjQtNGJmNi04MTJjLTFmNjk4MTQ5ZmU1Nw.jpg 63

69 Advertisement 17 Source: 64

70 Advertisement 18 Source: 00/35812_ _ _ _ _n.jpg 65

71 Advertisement 19 Source: w/s1600/american+eagle+ss10+campaign+16.jpg 66

72 Advertisement 20 Source: 82LpPsH26CU/UYshTXVAvgI/AAAAAAAAADE/pKXYykPCQgE/s1600/nnn.png 67

73 Advertisement 21 Source: m1tdpithaya/uyshrnqgy_i/aaaaaaaaac8/5gqfehd9fdw/s1600/nn.png 68

74 APPENDIX 4 Clothing advertisements from the online fashion news Fashionista Advertisement 22 Source: 69

75 Advertisement 23 Source: mb.jpg 70

76 Advertisement 24 Source: pg 71

77 Advertisement 25 Source: 0afcd 72

78 Advertisement 26 Source: 73

79 Advertisement 27 Source: 74

80 Advertisement 28 Source: 75

81 Advertisement 29 Source: 76

82 Advertisement 30 Source: 77

83 Advertisement 31 Source: 78