“Hai bippato?”Da obliterare a bippare: nascita di un neologismo

Every year approximately one thousand new words and expressions are added to the Italian language, following the three fundamental processes that determine lexical additions: the combining of elements already present in our language; the attribution of new meanings to words and expressions already present; the integration of loan words from other languages. In this article we will analyse the factors involved in the creation of one of these new lexical elements: the word bippare in its meaning of ‘validate a ticket (bus, tram etc.) by swiping it across a machine that makes a beeping sound’. We will then examine the progressive adoption and diffusion of this term in the vocabulary of Turin speakers, with the aim of identifying the complex linguistic and extralinguistic dynamics that can affect the acceptance and stabilising of a neologism in the language used by a speech community.