Derivatives from the Proper Noun “Trump” in the Context of the Health Crisis

A Semantic and Morphological Approach

Abstract

The article focuses on neologisms derived from the proper noun “Trump” from the morphological and semantic point of view. Our morphological observation is accompanied by short journalistic extracts with comments; the emphasis is put on neologisms’ semic activity.

Organised in two parts, the article points out some examples of this recent phenomenon. First of all, we are concerned with the French adjective “trumpien” whose suffix -ien produces not only relational but also qualifying adjectives. In other words, supplementary semes join the derivative of the American President’s proper noun and in this way they specify the definition of “trumpisme”, the second example described in the article. Numerous occurrences of the derivative allow us to delimit the semantic content of this neologism, besides other things, by putting it in opposition or in parallel other -ismes, with “macronisme” arguably the most common one.

The link established between the “trumpisme” and the “macronisme” is still being actualised, and it has been intensified during the coronavirus crisis. We could suppose that an acute topic such as the world pandemic would not allow any space for politics in the media. However, the medical crisis actually boosted the lexical creativity in this field using new elements connected to the pandemic like -virus, -pandémie or corona-. Thus, spreading of the coronavirus becomes a metaphor of spreading of a specific political ideology, in this case Donald Trump’s and Emmanuel Macron’s.