A Lexicon of
Neologisms. Mikhail Epstein (Emory University)
infinition n
(definition + infinitity; Lat in, not + finire, to bound, limit, from
finis, boundary) – an
infinite process of defining something that cannot be fully or precisely
defined; an endless list of possible definitions.
infine v trans (Lat in, not +
finis, boundary; cf.
define, refine) – to define in a negative way something indefinable, to
stop or postpone the process of definition.
Certain fluid concepts in their emergent state
are subject to infinition--infinite dispersal of their meaning--rather
than to definition. To infine
is to suggest the infinity of possible definitions of a certain term or concept
and therefore to problematize its meaning and the possibility or the benefit of
defining it. For example, to infine
love means to enlist all existing definitions and to recognize that the theme
itself is subject only to infinition. Infinition
releases the concept from restricting demarcations and places it in an
indeterminate zone. For example, Jacques Derrida never defines his method of
deconstruction but only infines
it in numerous passages. Infinition is for the humanities what a transcendental
number is for mathematics with its "infinite decimal expansion,"
expressed by a non-periodic decimal fraction: an endless approximation to and
escape from a discrete definition.
* *
*
lexicopoeia n
(Gr lexis, "word,
phrase, expression," from legein, say, and Gr poiein,
"to make or compose") – word-composition, word-creation; the minimal genre of literature, the
art of composing a single word, a neologism (using the material of roots,
combining forms, onomatopoetic units, etc.)
There are many sorts of neologisms: new brand
names, scientific terms, political or technical jargon, colloquialisms, and
slang. When a word is composed for the word's sake, as a manifestation of its
beauty, this genre of verbal artistry is called "lexicopoeia."
The
word "lexicopoeia"
graphically and phonetically reminds me of "cornucopia"— a symbol of verbal abundance.
lexicopoem n
(Gr lexis, word, phrase,
expression, from legein,
say, + Gr poiein, to make or
compose) – a single word as a poetic composition; a neologism as a verbal artistic work.
Ralph Emerson said: "Every word was once a poem." The word lexipoem is a condensation of this aphorism
into a single word. Every word (lexis) was once a poem (poiema)… and still IS at the moment of its
coinage.
* * *
protologism n (Gr protos, first, original + Gr logos, word;
cf. prototype, protoplasm) - a newly created word which has not yet gained any
wide acceptance. It is a prototype, or a hypothetical projection, of a new lexical unit , which may eventually
become current in writing or speech.
In contrast to protologisms, neologisms are words that already enjoy public usage by people other than their inventors. As soon as a protologism finds its way into newspapers and websites,
journals and books, it becomes a neologism.
The
word "protologism" proposed here and now is itself an example of protologism.
* * *
textoid n
(text+the suffix “-oid” of Gr origin,
“like,” “like that of”; cf. asteroid) - a virtual
text that is open to editing by any user and exists only in the moment of its reading.
The textoid is a transitory text that has never
been written as such and has no other composer than the reader herself.
Is the traditional notion of text,
central to the humanities, left intact in the digital era? Or is the immutable, self-identical
text converted now into fluid, dynamic, nomadic text-like formations, textoids that wander from site to site and
are modified by users, much like an epic song in a traditional community? For
example, Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, is a huge collection of textoids that are permanently revised and
never acquire the stable status of texts.
* * *
Silentese noun or adjective (silent + suffix –ese, like in Chinese,
Japanese, Portuguese) –
the language of silence; it may use paralingustic signs, gestures, mimicry and
facial expressions.
He
didn't say anything. – Why,
he spoke eloquently, but it was Silentese, the most difficult language to study and understand.
We
are working on a Silentese-English
dictionary. It translates into
English the contents of our minds and the meanings of our
silence for which, so far, we have no vocabulary.
In our comprehension of complex visual images or mathematical formulas
we often use Silentese. We
can think them, but are unable to verbalize them.
* * *
verbject n (verb+object)
– a verbal object, a mixed
genre of conceptual art or
installation in which a material object and its verbal description compose one
aesthetic whole.
In Ilya Kabakov's verbjects, words do not hide what is standing before the
viewer; the material presence of the object remains sharp and tense, and the
more the artist's vision is concentrated, the more naturally it engenders and "leads" a text.
PreDictionary. A Lexicon of Neologisms