The analysis of lexical change in specialized discourse

Abstract

This text explores the incipient approach to the analysis of language change in specialized communicative contexts. From history of science and terminology, incursions have been made in the subject of the evolution of the specialized discourse, but neither the theory of change nor the methodology of the analysis of variation have been applied. In this first work we expose briefly the main items which regulate the study of language change and a synthesis of the main lexical changes (neology, loanwords, lexicalization and minor grammaticalization), to conclude what theoretical and methodological adjustments should be introduced and what kind of analysis that should be done with the purpose of analyzing initiated and stabilized changes in specialized discourses. This first approach focuses on the topic of change towards medical discourse, due to the relevance of the intersection between communication and health in the current research.