The obsolescence of dictionaries of neologisms

Abstract

Neologisms are lexical units in a transitory stage from nonce formations to institutionalization as words in their own right in the lexical component. Dictionaries of neologisms are, thus, provisional in nature, since they collect lexicon in the process of consolidation. In this paper, three dictionaries of Spanish neologisms are analysed ―Diccionario de voces de uso actual (1994), Nuevo diccionario de voces de uso actual (2004), and Neologismos del español actual (2013)― in order to identify the criteria followed for lemma selection. The study includes two analyses: first, a sample of each dictionary's macrostructure is compared to one another, to detect similarities and divergences among them; second, a list of nearly 1 000 neologisms documented in corpora is contrasted with the macrostructures of neologism dictionaries to identify which neologisms have been included in them and based on what criteria. The results show that the macrostructures of these dictionaries are compiled by combining the criteria derived from the three basic functions of neologism dictionaries as defined by Adelstein and Boschiroli (2019, 2020): dictionaries as transitional, reparative and testimonial artifacts.