19 International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics ...

G E N E R A L S E S S I O N
(1) watch > analog watch, mail > snail mail, weapon > conventional weapon, etc.
There has been very little discussion of the phenomenon in the literature and of the structure and
function of the mechanism that creates retronyms. All available analyses more or less agree that in
pairs like the ones in (1) above a general term (first member of the pair) is renamed to become more
specific (second member of the pair) because of the appearance of a new term that is coined in order
to name a new invention or discovery, conceptually related to the old one (see e.g. Ahmad &
Collingham <strong>19</strong>96: 762-763, Anastasiadi-Symeonidi 2001: 68-69, Xydopoulos 2008: 164-165):
(2) digital watch >> watch >> analog watch
As shown in (2), the invention of “watches that display time in digits” led to the coinage of the term
digital watch. The new term is the reason, or else the (retronymy) instigator, for watch to become more
specific with the addition of a modifier that will differentiate it from the new term (i.e. analog as
opposed to digital).
In this paper, expanding on the available analyses, I view retronymy as a subcase of hyponymy
and oppositeness relations, on the basis of Cruse <strong>19</strong>86: 136 ff analysis of hyponymy and
incompatibility, and make the following claims:
• I understand the two members of the retronymic pair, like in (1) above, as representing the
hierarchical relation of the superordinate and the subordinate term in hyponymy (cf.
taxonymy).
• The new term, the so-called “retronymy instigator” is coined in such a way as to be
incompatible with the modified old term.
• Both the modified old term and the new term are co-hyponyms of the, hypernymic, old term
which, in its turn, has become an autohyponym.
• Retronyms appear in the source-language (mostly in English) and are transferred to other
languages as loanwords/calques.
Finally, on the basis of these claims I understand the (recurring) mechanism that creates retronyms
as involving three phases that can be described as follows:
(a) Creation of a hyponym to name a new concept on the basis of its basic difference with the
old concept: e.g. digital watch: “type of display” as the basic difference (cf. retronymy
instigator) from watch.
(b) Transformation of the old term into an autohyponym: e.g. watch (meaning either “any watch”
(generic) or “analog watch” (specific)).
(c) Modification of the old term is modified with the addition of an antonymic adjective (referring
to the basic difference) to create a new incompatible co-hyponymic term: e.g. analog watch.
Key references
Ahmad, K. & Collingham, S. <strong>19</strong>96. Renewable Terminology. In M. Gellerstam et al (eds.) EURALEX '96: Proc. I-II,
Part II - Papers submitted to the Seventh EURALEX <strong>International</strong> Congress on Lexicography in Göteborg,
Sweden. Göteborg: Göteborg University, Sweden, 759-771.
Anastasiadi-Symeonidi, A. 2001. Rebaptism. In Hellenic Language and Terminology 3 rd Conference Papers.
Athens: Hellenic Society for Terminology, 63-77
Cruse, A. <strong>19</strong>86. Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fromkin, V., R. Rodman & Hyams, N. 2003. An Introduction to Language (7 th Edition). Boston, MA: Thomson.
Xydopoulos, G. J. 2008. Lexicology: Introduction to the analysis of the word and the lexicon. Athens: Patakis.
The status of Russian as an intracommunal language
within the Pontic Greek community in Cyprus
Dionysios Zoumpalidis
University of Cyprus
denispace@hotmail.com
The status of a particular language can be seen in terms of the frequency it is used for communication
purposes within a particular speech community. The status of the Russian language within the Pontic
Greek community in Cyprus is rather vague today. The majority of Pontic Greeks, who grew up and
lived in the area of Caucasus, in Russia as well as in other parts of the former Soviet Union, have
Russian as their dominant language since it was the language of administration and education. Having
moved to Cyprus in early <strong>19</strong>90s, Pontic Greeks started learning Standard Modern Greek (SMG), and
to a lesser extent the Cypriot Greek dialect, as in their majority they identify themselves as “Greeks”.
The formal education in Cyprus, where the language of instruction is SMG, presents an opportunity to
younger Pontic Greeks to learn SMG as a second (or even as a first) language.
The present paper investigates the current status of the Russian language as it is reflected in
interactions among Pontic Greeks who live permanently in Cyprus. Russian, which is seen as a
<strong>19</strong> th ISTAL 62