Neologisms in the Time of the Coronavirus: a Selected Sample

Abstract

In times of crisis language is often enriched with new words called neologisms. After all, extraordinary circumstances call for new words. This also applies to the corona crisis. For example, the Dutch have had to deal with the anderhalvemetersamenleving and other corona measures. Moreover, the crisis has caused a lot of “corona damage”, both economically, psychologically and physically. The vaccination campaign has set the stage for a return to normality. This route also provides necessary neologisms. This article takes a look at which neologisms were used on one day in a particular newspaper. Since most neologisms consist of compound nouns, the sample will focus on these only. The De Volkskrant online edition, dated 16 April 2021, will be used for this purpose, using the articles obtained after entering the search term corona. After a short introduction to neologisms and the different types of compositions, the neologisms obtained are then categorised according to different composition categories and according to corona themes. Finally, a conclusion is drawn based on the results obtained.