Naming IT

How new words enter the language.

This unit and the next one are about vocabulary change, or changes in the lexicon (word stock). Vocabulary change is commonly understood as a matter of new words for new things but it also shows both a social and a linguistic dimension.

From the social perspective, vocabulary will emerge out of particular contexts of relationships, intentions, communities and power. Considering word origins and how words come into the language can be a productive way of seeing this social dimension and the ways in which new words reflect and define how people are thinking and relating to each other, as well as to the technology being used.

Linguistically, words will show patterns of word formation, which relate to patterns in the language. The volume of technology-related language change is such that nearly all types of word formation are there, along with some new varieties (see Unit 6).

The British National Corpus Online Corpus of approx. 100 million words.
Corpus Linguistics @ LancasterInformation about field of corpus linguistics - past to present.
Free Online Dictionary of Computing Dictionary of NCT technical terminology.
What Is? IT Specific Encyclopedia
The Oxford English Dictionary Online
Word Smith Tools Download linguistic analysis software from Liverpool University.
Word Smith Tools Alternative link.
Acronym Finder List of over 168 000 acronyms associated with computing.
Linguistic Annotation Large selection of downloadable corpus analysis software.
CHILDES database Massive downloadable e-corpus of child language aquisition.
'Your Dictionary' Index of online dictionary resourses
Corpus Lingustic Research German site researching into the use of technology for linguistic research, especially corpus analysis.
Independent Newspaper online
The Times Newspaper online
The Guardian Newspaper online
The Sun Newspaper online