A Morphological Analysis of Hashtag Neologism on Tiktok and Instagram

Abstract

This study investigates hashtag neologisms on TikTok and Instagram within the Nigerian social media community. Although there has been extensive research on neologisms and hashtags individually, there is a notable absence of studies specifically addressing “hashtag neologisms”. This research fills the intellectual gap by examining the formation, meaning, and usage of 50 hashtag neologisms collected over three months. Findings reveal two categories: neologisms popularized through hashtags and those potentially originating as hashtags. Various morphological processes were identified, including blending, acronyms,and compounding some of which are characterized by semantic shift. This study contributes to internet linguistics by providing insights into the role of social media in language evolution. It offers a framework for analyzing hashtag neologisms applicable to other contexts and fills the gap in the literature concerning the study of hashtag neologisms on Instagram and TikTok within the Nigerian social media community. The research has implications for showcasing the linguistic creativity of social media users, illustrating how digital platforms facilitate the creation of new words and expressions.