Neological Verbs with Negative and Positive Connotations: A Formal and Pragmatic Analysis

Abstract

This article examines neological verbs from a discursive perspective. The lexical items under analysis were collected from extensive press corpora, with the support of platforms such as Néoveille and Sketch Engine. These tools not only facilitated the identification of new verbal units but also enabled their placement within a broader linguistic and socio-political context. Through formal and pragmatic analysis, the study explores the relationship between a verb’s meaning and the circumstances of its enunciation. The verbs are thus categorised according to the positive or negative connotations they acquire in specific contexts and through the illocutionary force they convey. This discursive approach provides insight into the dynamics of verbal neologisation as a response to social change, political discourse, and current world events, highlighting the key role these phenomena play in shaping contemporary language use.