Neologisms and Lexicographic Planning in the Albanian Language
This paper aims to show that neologisms constitute one of the clearest indicators of language development and of its adaptation to social, technological, and cultural changes. In Albanian, the process of creating and spreading new lexical units is continuous, but the pace of contemporary developments, especially under the influence of digital technology and English, currently makes this process much faster and more complex. Under these conditions, the treatment of neologisms cannot be limited solely to their description as lexical phenomena but is directly connected to lexicographic planning and to the way normative resources reflect actual developments in the language. The theoretical analysis shows that the status of neologisms is determined not only by formal or semantic novelty, but also by the degree of their use, dissemination, and integration into the linguistic system. The theoretical models discussed in this paper explain institutionalization as a gradual process related to repeated use, the stabilization of form and meaning, as well as the acceptance of a unit by the linguistic community and by normative resources. In this sense, institutionalization is not merely a matter of lexicographic decisions, but the result of the interaction between actual usage and mechanisms of standardization. The observations conducted in the sqTenTen corpus show that corpus data can provide important indicators for evaluating the stabilization of neologisms and their variants. The example of the word digjitalizim demonstrates that high frequency of use, dissemination across different discourse domains, and the consolidation of a particular orthographic form may serve as important arguments for its lexicographic institutionalization. On the other hand, the analysis of the word profil shows that semantic changes may be just as important as the creation of entirely new lexical units, highlighting the need to update the meanings and their ordering in contemporary Albanian dictionaries. These cases illustrate the role of electronic corpora not only in identifying new lexical units, but also in evaluating their status in actual usage. The paper also highlights that, unlike many European languages, Albanian still lacks stable structures for the systematic monitoring of neologisms and for the empirical support of lexicographic decisions. For this reason, the development of national corpora, the creation of platforms for documenting new lexical units, and the use of natural language processing methods emerge as important steps toward a more systematic treatment of lexical developments. The experience of international projects shows that the combination of linguistic analysis and technology creates new opportunities for monitoring and evaluating neologisms even in languages with more limited resources, such as Albanian. Overall, the study emphasizes the need for lexicographic planning in Albanian to rely more strongly on empirical data and on the systematic observation of actual language use. Such an approach enables more sustainable documentation of lexical developments and creates conditions for a more well-founded inclusion of new lexical units in normative resources of Albanian.