In communication, neologisms are used to describe some new things, new concepts and new ideas in written and verbal ways。 According to the Oxford Essential Dictionary of New Words edited by Erin, word is novel arrangement of letters with a meaning not quite duplicated by any other arrangement of letters。 This is the ideal form of a new word and actual new words are messier。 For one thing, new words consists of more than one word---they’re multiple word lexical units, to be technical。 “Often, new words are the expression of existing word… A new word must earn its place in the dictionary by showing that people, lots of people, are using it in lots of different places。 This is great to show that the new word is a solid citizen of the English language” (Liu 53)。   

According to the above analysis, the definition of neologism may be described as follows: neologisms are newly coined words or words that are given new meaning to fit new situation because of social, economic, political, cultural, scientific and technical changes in human society。 In short, neologisms are those new words and expressions which are called vogue words。 These words are more popular and appreciated by the people。

Since the 1980s, the world has stepped into an information age。 Science and technology surged at a rapid speed。 Great changes were found in political, economic and cultural fields。 Therefore, a large number of neologisms emerged in English, which challenge these students who learn English as a foreign language。 Theoretically and practically, it is of great significance to research on the source and development tendency of neologisms。 Theoretically, it helps language learners have a better understanding of rules which lead the development of languages。 Practically, in foreign language learning, it helps foreign language learners get clearer about the features of English and enlarge their vocabulary, which can facilitate their foreign language learning。文献综述

Early in the 1930s, the first dictionary of neologisms had been complied。 American linguist Dwight Bolinger was the earliest scholar who began to describe English neologisms in periodicals in sequence。 He created a column Living Language in Words (published in Los Angeles) between 1937 and 1940。 In 1943, his column appeared in American Speech and he gave it another name of Among the New Words。 The column has been dedicated to collecting the latest new words since then。 War is the beds of neologisms。 Since the Second World War, quiet many dictionaries and books about new words come into being。 But it was in the 1970s when technology began to develop quickly that the study of neologisms began to catch the public attention。 Many columnists began to write articles about neologisms and some famous dictionaries like Oxford English Dictionary started to publish their supplements。 While from the mid 1990s, the evolution of the Internet has accelerated the renewal of famous dictionaries。 Some publishers design their own websites online and invite consumers to participate in the collection and research of neologisms。

II。 Sources of Neologisms

2。1 Rise of New Concepts and Ideas in Social Culture

   The better living condition and higher cultural level lead to the appearance of an ocean of new things。 With the development of social culture, new concepts and ideas are put forward constantly。 As there are much more concepts than existing words, there will always be new words created。 Even new culinary techniques demand new labels such as cheeseburger, chiliburger, mushroomburger, etc (Holley 35)。

Brian Foster presents us a clear example of rapid changes of English vocabulary。 In 1914, a young girl named Monica Baldwin went into a convent, remaining alone there until 1941。 When she returned to the outer world again, she found herself in a completely different world; the conditions of daily life is largely enhanced owing to surprising technical progress and social development。 She was more amazed at the language that people speak。 During a railway journey, the term “luggage in advance” is beyond her understanding。 It is very foolish for her to read newspapers because words like hippies, chairwoman and feminism were totally incomprehensible to her, let alone how confused she was when hearing friends say “believe it or not” (Foster 67)。