English Elements in Contemporary Korean Neologisms

This study investigates the morphological status of English elements, focusing on their role in contemporary word formation in Korean. Drawing on neologisms listed in New Words of 2019 published by National Korean Language Institute, the study identifies and classifies different types of neologisms created through the interaction of English and Korean lexical elements. The analysis demonstrates that English elements are systematically Koreanized and pattern with Korean elements across a range of word formation processes, including compounding, blending, affixation, and abbreviation. These forms are shown to conform to Korean morphological principles rather than reproducing English word-formation mechanisms. On this basis, this study challenges approaches that analyze such forms as loanwords, loanblends or instances of affix borrowing from English. In particular, elements often analyzed as English-derived affixes are argued to be intermediate forms, having undergone morphological reanalysis while retaining lexical properties. While compounds, blends, derivations exemplify ‘Koreanization of English elements’, abbreviations, especially alphabetisms and acronyms, are analyzed as instances of Englishization of the Korean lexicon, reflecting the adoption of a new word-formation pattern into Korean morphology. The findings contribute to research on loanword morphology by highlighting the dynamic, bidirectional nature of the Korean and English interaction.