Neologisms originating from agro- and agri- business in Brazil:

lexicographic analyzes of Facebook data

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21680/1517-7874.2026v28n1ID39770

Abstract

This study aims to identify and analyze the variation of terms that circulate in Brazil about
agribusiness, focusing on the prefixes "agro-" and "agri-". The research contextualizes the term
"agribusiness" historically and socially in Brazil, based on the studies of Pompéia (2021), and uses
linguistic descriptions based on the real use of the language, both on social networks and in
lexicographic works, from the theoretical framework of Corpus Linguistics (CL). The
methodology adopted has a descriptive and analytical character. The data were collected through
search syntaxes in the CrowdTangle tool (Dienstbach; Cordeiro; Barboza, 2023) and processed
with the WordSmithTools software, widely used in Corpus Linguistics. The analysis revealed a
wide variation of lexical items related to agribusiness/agribusiness, highlighting terms formed
from "agro-", "agri-", and the isolated use of "agro" as an independent semantic unit. In addition,
the prefix "agro-" proved to be much more productive and popular than the prefix "agri-", both
in frequency of use and in linguistic creativity. The results indicated about one hundred new lexical
items, classified as neologisms due to their terminological innovation, Brazilianization of preexisting terms and the specific context of their emergence. Many of these terms still do not have
official definitions in dictionaries. It is concluded that this lexical variation reflects not only the
dynamics of language use, but also sociocultural and economic aspects linked to agribusiness,
highlighting the relevance of its inclusion in lexicographic and linguistic studies in Brazil.
Keywords: Social network analysis. Neologisms. Facebook. Search syntax.

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Author Biographies

Phd, Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV)

Professor with Phd and Master of Letters - in the area of ​​Linguistics - for UFPE. He completed his sanduíche training in Portugal, at the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP). Teaching experience at various levels of basic and higher education. Currently, she is a professor at the Escola de Comunicação Mídia e Informação da FGV (FGV ECMI), working in the area of ​​Portuguese and linguistics, especially in the analysis of social networks, in the observation of communicative phenomena and the production of meaning(s)/discourse(s) in digital environments.

Phd, FGV - Escola de Comunicação, Mídia e Informação

PhD and Master in Linguistic Studies from the Postgraduate Program in Linguistic Studies of the Institute of Letters and Linguistics of the Federal University of Uberlândia/UFU - PPGEL/ILEEL/UFU. Research line: Linguistic theory, description and analysis. Works as a linguist-researcher at FGV ECMI. Creator of Pommersche Korpora - a linguistic database of Pomeranian. Won the Brazilian School of Computational Linguistics award at ELC/EBRALC 2017 (first place in the master's research category). Co-author of the book Pomeranian writing - From a simplified standardization of writing to the rescue of Pomeranian German roots (BEILKE; KUHN-SILVA, 2020). Co-author of the book Projeto Pomerando II - Resgatando as origens Gerânicas do Pomerano (2017). She worked on the fieldwork for the Inventory of the Pomeranian Language in Brazil - coordinated by the Institute for Research and Development in Language Policy (IPOL), in partnership with the UNESCO Chair in Language Policies for Multilingualism. In 2019, she worked as a rapporteur for the UN. She worked on five editions of the Fundamentals of Corpus Linguistics course (UFU). She has a degree in Portuguese Language and Literature. She has a bachelor's degree and a degree in History from UFU. She completed the research project entitled Pommersche Korpora: a methodological proposal for the compilation of dialectal corpora. She researches Pomeranian in general and, more specifically, the Brazilian variety of Pomeranian. She has scientific articles and papers in the areas of Dialectology, Sociolinguistics, Geolinguistics, Lexicology, Corpus Linguistics, phraseologisms, etc. She is a member of the Corpus Linguistics Research and Study Group (GPELC) registered with the CNPq, certified by UFU and coordinated by Prof. Dr. Guilherme Fromm. She is a member of the Lexicon Research Group (Plex), registered with the CNPq, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Eliana Dias and Prof. Dr. Guilherme Fromm. She is a member of the GPS Research Group/Sociogeolinguistics Research Group, registered with the CNPq and coordinated by Prof. Dr. Adriana Cristina Cristianini/UFU and Prof. Dr. Irenilde Pereira dos Santos - USP. She is a guest member of GTLEX-UFMG - Lexicology, Lexicography and Terminology Working Group of ANPOLL. She is a member of GEL - linguistic studies group of Unicamp. She is a member of Abralin - Brazilian Association of Linguistics. She is a member of the Study Group for the Inclusion of Pomeranian Culture in the Curriculum of the Municipal Education Network of São Lourenço do Sul - GE-ICPOMMER/SLS. She is a consultant and partner of the Pomerando Project. She supports the project of translating the Gospel into Pomeranian, as is being developed in Canguçu/RS. She has a defended monograph, approved with maximum grade. Her first dissertation (TCC) was developed on the theme: The post-fall of the Berlin Wall: Images of memory and oblivion (1989-2004) / BERLIN NACH DEM FALL DER MAUER, BILDER DER ERINNERUNG UND DES VERGESSENS. She developed two research projects, over two years, called The fall of the Berlin Wall and contemporary Germany, images of memory and oblivion (1989-2004), sponsored by FAPEMIG. She worked at the Hope School of English and Computer Science. She worked at the private school of Children's Literacy Study and Play. She worked as an administrative assistant at the technical school of the government of the state of Minas Gerais - UTRAMIG. She worked as a researcher and linguist at FGV-ECMI.

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Published

06-02-2026

How to Cite

CORDEIRO, Maria; VELOSO KLEMENZ, Neubiana. Neologisms originating from agro- and agri- business in Brazil:: lexicographic analyzes of Facebook data. Revista do GELNE, [S. l.], v. 28, n. 1, p. e39770, 2026. DOI: 10.21680/1517-7874.2026v28n1ID39770. Disponível em: https://www.periodicos.ufrn.br/gelne/article/view/39770. Acesso em: 8 feb. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 28 No. 1 (2026)

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Artigos

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