Typological and Semantic Analysis on the Emerging Neologisms in Philippine Online Broadsheets during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted almost everyone on earth, leading to a variety of changes that have created what is now reffered to as the “new normal”. This paper examined the changes that occurred specifically on the words used during COVID-19 pandemic. It investigated how a ceratin language has evolved in response to the shifts brought about by COVID-19 virus. Since language is dynamic, it changes to accommodate new societal happenings, such as introducing or coining completely new words through different processes. The study explored the language of pandemic specifically the emerging neologisms during Covid-19 found in Philippine Online Broadsheets and analyze the types and semantic aspect of the neologisms. Using a descriptive qualitative method of analysis, the researcher collected and analyzed the gathered data, which the researcher believed was a trending issue of global concern. The words and phrases were collected from online news articles which are the Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Manila Times, Manila Bulletin and Philippine Star. The study was framed by the two theories which are etymological and denotation which were used in analyzing the semantic aspect while the types of neologisms were based on Peter Newmark’s Types of Neologisms. The researcher gathered and analyzed sixty-eight (68) emerging neologisms and the study revealed that the terms were formed through collocation, acronyms, derived words, phrasal words, eponyms, etc. Also, there were terms formed that stands for new concepts, ideas and things while some neologisms already existed in the English dictionary or it has been used before, but have gained and acquired new meanings or new prominence.