Neologenesis Project
The secret manipulation of my language stream...
In the fall of 2008 I began consciously and covertly to feed a new word, or a neologism, into conversations with those around me: locals, colleagues, students, friends and family. I couple this speaking activity with a written commentary on the process: notations on the effect of this effort, including the circumstances of each insertion or displacement; how that new word is received; how the secret manipulation of my language stream alters my circle of verbal effects; and my musing on language as a life form.
The project will be complete when a stranger, or person outside of my transmission circle, speaks back to me the neologism, which means it has become autonomous.