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lexicalization:

 

Lexicalization is called "lexicalization" because it involves a process related to the lexicon, which is essentially the vocabulary of a language.

In very simple terms, lexicalization is the process by which a word or phrase becomes an established part of a language's vocabulary. Think of lexicalization as being when a new word or expression gets "added to the dictionary."

This can happen in a few ways:

A new concept needs a name, so a word is created or adapted.

A phrase that was once descriptive becomes a fixed expression with a specific meaning.

A word from another language is adopted and becomes commonly used.

For example, "email" is a lexicalized word that came about with the rise of electronic communication. It started as "electronic mail," but over time, it became a single word that's now a standard part of English vocabulary.


Question:
An ASL student asks, "What does it mean when I see a hash tag (#) in front of a sign in ASL textbooks?"

Response:
You have asked a very good question.
The answer is that a (#) in front of a word in an ASL textbook usually refers to "a fingerspelled version" of a sign that has been spelled so often (and typically at very high speed) that the letters have been smushed together and mutated so they now look like a single sign rather than individual fingerspelled letters.  Eventually people just start doing the "sign" instead of making any attempt to spell out each letter.

This process is an example of lexicalization.

Lexicalization can be a bit complex but I will explain it to you and give you some examples. If you invest some time you will "get it."

I'm going to repeat things a few times (below) on purpose because the repetition will help you master the concept.

Here we go...

Let me give you a quick example of a lexicalized English word:  "goodbye"
Long ago "goodbye" used to actually be "God be with ye."  Then over time it was said so often that it got shortened to "goodbye."  That process of starting with a string of words and shortening them into a single word (goodbye) is an example of "lexicalization."
 

The "goodbye" example involves several key aspects of lexicalization:

  1. Phonetic reduction: The original phrase was shortened, losing some of its sounds.
  2. Semantic shift: The meaning became more generalized, losing its specific religious connotation.
  3. Grammatical change: What was once a full clause became a single interjection.
  4. Conventionalization: The new form became widely accepted and used in the language.

Lexicalization can involve the fusion of multiple words into a single lexical unit, often accompanied by changes in pronunciation, meaning, and grammatical function. This process is a common way that languages evolve over time, creating new words from existing phrases or expressions.


 


Lexicalization in American Sign Language (ASL)

People who study language are called linguists.

Linguists needed a word to describe "the process of making words by squishing a string of words (or parts of words), into one word, or making up new words, and/or stealing "borrowing" words from another language."

 

So, linguists built a word that means "the process of making words by squishing a string of words, or words parts into one word (or group of words that you treat as one concept), or making up a new word, and/or borrowing a word from another language."

 

The word linguists came up with to mean "the process of making new words by squishing a string of existing words, or words parts into one new word (or group of words that you treat as one idea or thing), or inventing new words, and/or borrowing a word from another language" is:  "lexicalization." 


Really. It is. "Lexicalization" means to turn a string of words (or word parts) into one word. Or make up a new word that people start using so much that it becomes part of the language.  (Or borrow a word from some other language).

Let's taking a look at what is meant by each part of the terms "lexicalize" or "lexicalization." *


"lex-" Think of the term "lex-" as basically meaning "a word."


"-ic" is used to turn a word into a noun or adjective

 

"-al" means "of the kind of" or "to be like"

"-ize" means "to make or become"


"-ation" means "an instance of something" -- or in other words "when something happens or an example of something"

"-ization" means "when something becomes or happens"


So...put all those meanings together you get something like:  "The process of becoming like a word."

Think of "lexicalization" as meaning "glue and hammer together other words or word parts into a new word" (or go steal ..er I mean borrow a word from some other language).  Or just coin a new word that people adopt.

 

The fancy words for "gluing and hammering" are affixation and compounding. (Affixing is when you glue a part of a word onto another word. For example "run" +"ing" = "running" is an example of affixation. Compounding is when you hammer two whole words into one word. For example, "green" + "house" = "greenhouse.")

 

The nice word for stealing is "borrowing."

 So, affixation, compounding, and borrowing are ways of making new words for a language.  They aren't the only ways but they are ways we are discussing right now.

 

Affixation, compounding, and borrowing are processes that let us build words. The process of building a word (out of other words or word parts) using affixation or compounding -- or borrowing a word from another language is called "lexicalization."

If you take some words or words parts and squeeze them, hammer them, sand them down into a word you have "lexicalized" those words or word parts into a word.  If you borrow a word from some other language and start using it as a word in your language you have "lexicalized" that word. 

"Lexicalize" means to make existing words become a new word -- or -- a sign. Yah. All of the above applies to making signs (as in sign language signs) too.

If you take a bunch of signs or parts of signs and you squish them down into one "sign" or maybe you steal ..er borrow a sign from some other language you have "lexicalized" (made) a new sign.   Well, not you, you-- but rather the community of language users.  Don't "you" go deciding what to lexicalize --  but if the community does it feel free to use the new sign.

Review time!
 

Lexicalization in general refers to the process of squishing a string of words (or signs) or parts of words (or signs) into a single word (or sign).  Or just go "borrow" a sign from some other language.

That is not a very scientific definition but hey, it's basically right.

In ASL, lexicalization (very) often refers to the process where fingerspelled words become signs that are recognized as single units or "words." This process tends to involve changes to the handshapes, movements, and orientation of the fingerspelled letters, making them more streamlined and integrated into the language. 

Now since American Sign Language linguists wanted a quick and easy way to tell other linguists "Hey, I'm going to use a lexicalized sign here!" -- they decided to start putting a hash mark in front of the typed or written label for the sign.  For example instead of writing or typing "DOG" they wrote "#DOG." 

 

You may be curious at this point just what exactly got squished to make a sign language dog? 

Good question!

The answer is:  The individual fingerspelled letters "D," "O," and "G," were all squished (or "lexicalized") into a quick smooth movement that basically looks like you are snapping your fingers. That movement is considered to be a "sign" that means "dog" and we type that as "#DOG."  When other ASL linguists, educated ASL teachers, and certain clever students who actually um "studied" see "#DOG" they know that it means the version of the sign for "dog" that consists of snapping the fingers (and they also know that at one point that sign used to be the fingerspelled letters  "D," "O," and "G" (even though the "#DOG" sign doesn't look much like fingerspelling anymore and instead just looks like a sign).

https://youtu.be/TXmuXH4fmu0


 

Here are the main legitimate and common ways that lexicalization occurs in languages:
 

1. Compounding: Combining two or more existing words to create a new word with a specific meaning.
Example: "Sunflower" from "sun" and "flower"

2. Abbreviation / Acronymization: Creating a word from the initial letters or parts of a phrase.
Example: "Laser" from "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation"

3. Blending: Merging parts of two or more words to create a new word.
Example: "Brunch" from "breakfast" and "lunch"

4. Conversion/Zero derivation: Using a word as a different part of speech without changing its form.
Example: "Google" (noun) becoming "to google" (verb)

5. Derivation: Adding affixes to existing words to create new words.
Example: "Happiness" from "happy" + "-ness"

6. Semantic shift: Existing words acquiring new meanings over time.
Example: "Mouse" now also referring to a computer input device

7. Eponyms: Words derived from names of people or places.
Example: "Boycott" from Charles Boycott

8. Borrowing/Loanwords: Adopting words from other languages.
Example: "Emoji" from Japanese

9. Backformation: Creating a new word by removing affixes from an existing word.
Example: "Edit" (verb) from "editor" (noun)

10. Onomatopoeia: Creating words that phonetically imitate the sound they describe.
Example: "Buzz" for the sound bees make

11. Reanalysis: Reinterpreting the structure of a phrase, often resulting in a new word.
Example: "Hamburger" originally from Hamburg + -er, now reanalyzed as "ham" + "burger"

12. Broadening or narrowing: Expanding or restricting the meaning of existing words.
Example: "Awesome" broadening from "inspiring awe" to "very good"

These processes often interact and can occur simultaneously, contributing to the dynamic nature of language evolution and vocabulary expansion.
 

Notes: 
* Definitions source: Oxford dictionary

** Oh sure, if you look up "lex-" in a dictionary (such as that fine Oxford one) you might see that it means "law" -- but please think deeper.  A "lexicon" is a set of vocabulary. The "law" is a bunch of words.  Also, "lexeme" means "a basic lexical unit of a language, consisting of one word or several words, considered as an abstract unit" -- or in other words "a lexeme is a word or a group of words that you think of as a word."  Think of a lexeme as being "a word" or "a couple or few words glued together." (Scientific I know, right?)

Also see:

https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/fingerspelling/fingerspellinglexicalized.htm


https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/lexicalized_fingerspelling.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 


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