Abstract: Neologisms culled from quebec newspapers and magazines on reported sociopolitical writing can be profitably analysed using the theory of polyphony, showing howneological creation, exploiting different ways of forming new terms, is part and parcel of the development of quebec society. the neologisms studied here will be measured against language policy in quebec. can self-regulation be attested in the socio-political sphere? What can be said of words used as instruments of power in society? the new terms used (e.g. péquiste, bloquiste, adéquiste, plquiste) show in the first instance a lessening of political ideology in favour of the naming of supporters of various quebec political parties and secondly (e.g. PPP and réingénierie) the principles of inter-domain circularity and the self-regulatory power of socio-political words. this article is intended as an exploratory study investigating the combined potential of polyphony and socioterminology. it is hoped that this will stimulate the debate and further studies on the polyphonic nature of discourse as a social practice.
