Creation and Use
Nonce words frequently arise through the combination of an existing word with a familiar prefix or suffix, in order to meet a particular need (or as a joke). The result is a special kind of pseudoword: although it would not be found in any dictionary, it is instantly comprehensible: e.g. Bananaphone. If the need recurs (or the joke is widely enjoyed) the word may enter regular use.
Alternatively, nonce words can be logatomes. These are nonsense words that nevertheless obey the phonotactics of a language, that "sound like" native words. Many examples are found in nonsense verse, such as "Jabberwocky". Nonce words may also disobey the phonotactics, such as fnord (fn- does not occur in modern English), or be barely pronounceable or unpronounceable nonsense, such as kwyjibo.
Nonce words are often created as part of pop culture and advertising campaigns. A poem by Seamus Heaney entitled "Nonce Words" is included in his collection "District and Circle".
Read more about this topic: Nonce Word
Famous quotes containing the words creation and and/or creation:
“For me, the principal fact of life is the free mind. For good and evil, man is a free creative spirit. This produces the very queer world we live in, a world in continuous creation and therefore continuous change and insecurity. A perpetually new and lively world, but a dangerous one, full of tragedy and injustice. A world in everlasting conflict between the new idea and the old allegiances, new arts and new inventions against the old establishment.”
—Joyce Cary (1888–1957)
“She sings as the moon sings:
“I am I, am I;
The greater grows my lift
The further that I fly.”
All creation shivers
With that sweet cry.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)