Exercises C1 : use Neologisms in English (answers)

These exercises are based on the course on neologisms in English at C1 level. Practise identifying and using blended words, affixed forms, and borrowed vocabulary as they appear in modern English.

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Exercice 1 — Identifying Word-Formation Processes

Choose the correct word-formation process that best describes each underlined neologism.

1. The term 'brunch' is a classic example of which word-formation process?
2. The word 'unfriend', widely used on social media, is best described as which type of neologism?
3. The English word 'entrepreneur' illustrates which word-formation process?
4. The neologism 'podcast' is formed by which word-formation process?

Correction

1. B. Blending, because 'breakfast' and 'lunch' have been merged into a single new word.
2. C. Affixation, because the negative prefix 'un-' has been added to the existing verb 'friend'.
3. C. Borrowing, because the word has been taken directly from French into the English lexicon.
4. C. Blending, because 'iPod' and 'broadcast' have been merged to create a new compound concept.

Exercice 2 — Match the Neologism to Its Definition

Match each neologism on the left with its correct definition on the right. Write the full definition sentence that corresponds to each word.

1. Staycation
2. Cyberchondriac
3. Hyperlocal
4. Loanword

Correction

1. A staycation refers to a holiday spent at home or in one's home country rather than travelling abroad, blending 'stay' and 'vacation'.
2. A cyberchondriac is a person who repeatedly searches online for medical information and becomes convinced they are suffering from serious illnesses, combining 'cyber' with 'hypochondriac' through blending.
3. Hyperlocal describes content, news, or services that are focused on a very specific, small geographic community, formed by adding the prefix 'hyper-' to the existing adjective 'local'.
4. A loanword is a word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification, reflecting the borrowing process that continuously enriches the English lexicon.

Exercice 3 — Neologisms in Context: Gap-Fill

Complete each sentence by filling in the blank with the correct neologism or word-formation term. Write the full completed sentence as your answer.

1. The word 'smog', formed by combining 'smoke' and 'fog', is a well-known example of ___, a process in which parts of two words are fused to create a single new lexical item.
2. When English speakers began using the word 'tsunami', borrowed from Japanese, they were engaging in ___, one of the key processes through which modern English continuously expands its vocabulary.
3. The neologism 'post-truth', which became widely used in political discourse, was created through ___, since the prefix 'post-' was attached to the existing adjective 'truth' to express a new cultural concept.
4. Understanding how neologisms enter everyday speech is essential at C1 level, as it allows learners to ___ unfamiliar vocabulary by analysing its component parts rather than relying solely on dictionary definitions.

Correction

1. The word 'smog', formed by combining 'smoke' and 'fog', is a well-known example of blending, a process in which parts of two words are fused to create a single new lexical item.
2. When English speakers began using the word 'tsunami', borrowed from Japanese, they were engaging in borrowing, one of the key processes through which modern English continuously expands its vocabulary.
3. The neologism 'post-truth', which became widely used in political discourse, was created through affixation, since the prefix 'post-' was attached to the existing adjective 'truth' to express a new cultural concept.
4. Understanding how neologisms enter everyday speech is essential at C1 level, as it allows learners to decode unfamiliar vocabulary by analysing its component parts rather than relying solely on dictionary definitions.