Title: Neologisms in Nigerian Electoral Slogans
Authors: Daka, Temple Christiana
Volume: 10
Issue: 5
Pages: 327-332
Publication Date: 2026/05/28
Abstract:
Languages are living units and means of communication among humans which have evolved in decades. It is one of the factors that distinguish human beings from animals as the former communicates with language (verbal and non-verbal) which helps them to express thoughts, feelings and ideas. Neologisms can be referred to as newly coined lexical units that are already in existence that acquired a new sense. This study ascertained neologisms in Nigerian English with particular focus on electoral slogans used across two Nigerian general election cycles (2019 and 2023). The study analyzed 30 neologisms drawn from diverse sources including campaign materials, social media content, political speeches and media coverage. The morphological analysis reveals that compounding emerges as the most productive word formation process (53%), followed by affixation (20%), blending (7%), acronym (7%), clipping (7%), abbreviation (3%) and shortening (3%). This pattern reflects Nigerian English tendencies toward compound formation and demonstrates increasing sophistication in political branding through blended ideological terms. The findings demonstrate that neologisms exist in electoral slogans and electoral neologisms represent a significant mechanism of lexical innovation in Nigerian English. The study concludes that electoral neologisms constitute dynamic sites of linguistic creativity that enrich Nigerian English while serving crucial communicative functions in democratic discourse.