The Distribution of the Neology (Old Words with New Meanings) of the Verb “Shuā” (“刷”) and Its Outward Spread

With the advancement of technology and the development of new media, contemporary Chinese vocabulary is rich and colorful. One of its manifestations is the emergence of neologies (new meanings for old words) and the resulting large number of new vocabulary, which are frequently used and rapidly spread. This paper takes the verb “Shuā” (“刷”) as the research object, and based on BCC corpus, Zhongqing online corpus, and microblog corpus, explores the distribution of new meanings, core semantic elements, additional colors of “Shuā” (“刷”) and the cognitive mechanisms of semantic change, searches its overseas use through Chinese news corpus such as Xingzhou.com, Lianhe Zaobao, and Australia News, and summarizes the causes of the emergence and wide spread of new meanings. The study reveals that the verb “Shuā” (“刷”) has acquired seven new items. These novel senses are used far more frequently than the original one, with the item (6) showing the highest token frequency. The prototype remains ‘to clean or smear with a brush’. The item (6) combines both manner and purpose and is the only one to carry a derogatory connotation; the rest remain neutral. Metonymy and metaphor serve as the principal mechanisms driving this polysemous expansion. Externally, the new senses have achieved an 85.71% diffusion rate, spreading rapidly across registers. Their emergence results from the interplay of intra- and extra-linguistic factors: internally, pressures of linguistic economy and heavy reliance on context; externally, the convergent impetus of technological innovation, psychological preferences, and broader social dynamics.