Innovative Word Formation and Pluralization Processes in Arabic: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This study addresses a gap in the literature by conducting a self systematic review of innovative word formation and pluralization processes in Arabic, especially those shaped by hybridization, borrowing, and social media. It synthesizes thirteen studies published by the author between 2020 and 2025, covering innovative morphological processes, such as aspectual and temporal markers in Colloquial Arabic, innovative blends, clipping of borrowings, derived verbs from loanwords; derivation from acronyms; hybrid compounds, lexical hybrids with foreign affixes, innovative forms with borrowed affixes; rule based and idiosyncratic loanword plural forms, gemination and degemination before the feminine sound plural suffix; feminine sound plurals ending in /ya:t/, /yya:t/, and /h+a:t/; and pluralization of borrowed social media terminology. The studies were categorized into 3 clusters: (i) innovative derivation (seven studies) which includes: derivation from loanwords; lexical shortening and blending, hybrid compounds and colloquial morphological innovation; (ii) Innovative plural formation (five studies) which includes: loanword plural patterns, feminine sound plural variants, and new plural forms common on social media. (iii) Cross linguistic plural translation challenges (one study). Together, these studies reveal that innovation in Arabic word formation is not random or chaotic. Rather, it operates within a flexible but rule governed morphological system that accommodates both native structures and foreign inputs while preserving internal coherence. These converging findings reveal that innovation in Arabic morphology is shaped by a dynamic interaction between internal system constraints and contact induced pressures. Native morphological templates continue to function as the dominant organizing principles, even when the lexical input is foreign. Borrowed items are typically naturalized through predictable processes such as feminine sound pluralization, gemination adjustments before the suffix, and analogical extension of native patterns to foreign bases. Simultaneously, the studies show that sociolinguistic aspects (digital communication, social media, political discourse, and youth slang) serve as incubators for rapid morphological experimentation, producing blends, clipped forms, borrowed affixes and hybrid compounds that circulate widely before they stabilize or disappear. This interplay between structural regularity and sociolinguistic creativity suggests that Arabic morphology is both resilient in the face of borrowing and innovation and is actively generative, capable of absorbing new lexical material while preserving the integrity of its core morphological architecture.