Insight into the Latest Computer and Internet Terminology

Abstract

Information technology is an exceptional field where new terms seem to be popping up everyday. The rate of new words being added to the English language is about 15 words a day, whereas in the field of information technology there are up to 5 words added. The field presents not only a great increase of new terms but also quick changes in its terminology. In addition, information technology terms have some exceptional features: they tend to be lively and colourful, simple, fresh, playful, user-friendly and sometimes even humorous.

For the present article, the latest computer and Internet terms were taken from Webopedia, an online computer and Internet terminology source. The main aim was to overview trends in their structure and formation. The results have shown that there are about three times more complex terms consisting of two and more words than simple ones consisting of just one word. In the formation of the latest computer and Internet terms, two main methods have been observed: semantic change, which accounts for 26 % of all terms, and morphological change accounting for the rest 74 % of terms. Compounding being the most frequent process of morphological change suggests that the meaning of terms consisting of two and more words is often narrowed and clarified. Also, the meaning is often transparent from the composite parts of a term. Other methods like conversion and borrowing have not been observed in the analysis.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.19.955