Neologisms with the Prefix փոխ (pokh) in Western Armenian

Abstract

In the course of time, vocabulary units of a language are bound to undergo various changes, being influenced by up-to-date concepts and phenomena. Word-forming units such as prefix, infix and suffix are likely to undergo functional changes, thus being transformed froma productive unit into a non-productive one and the other way round. The semantic analysis of the prefix փոխhas revealed that it has become a productive unit due to the recent geopolitical changes, for example: փոխհանդուրժողականություն, փոխահաբեկչություն, փոխանվստահություն, փոխբացառում, փոխ­ընդունելի, փոխինտեգրացվել and others. The analysis has also clarified the list of words formed with the prefix փոխա.Thus, in the range of words with the derivational meaning “the second in order” փոխարքա, փոխգնդապետ, փոխծովակալ, փոխհյուպատոս, փոխնախագահ and some others, the word փոխգնդապետ is not justified, since it is a separate military title in the range մայոր- փոխգնդապետ – գնդապետ – գեներալ – գեներալ մայոր – գեներալ լեյտենանտ – գեներալ գնդապետ, where none of the units is subordinate to the following one. The same refers to the noun “vice-admiral”, which is а military title in Navy, a rank between «admiral» and «subadmiral». This implies that military titles should be presented in a different scales.