Maria Szymańska is a researcher and a lecturer affiliated to the Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics, University of Lodz.

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ORCID: 0000-0002-3008-0211

I explore linguistic innovation as a social and cultural process, asking why particular expressions emerge, what meanings they acquire, and how they become meaningful to the communities that use them. I am interested in language not simply as a reflection of social change, but as one of the places where social change is actively made.

Gender has become a central concern in this work. My research on gendered neologisms and drag linguistics examines how language encodes and reinforces, but also exaggerates and challenges, ideas about masculinity and femininity.

Recent publications:

Szymańska, M. (2026). Gendered neologisms and social transformation. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009785785

Szymańska, M. (2026). Linguistic creativity on digital platforms: Exploring neologism motivation on social media. Language and Dialogue, 16(1), 30–48. https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00218.szy

Szymańska, M. (2025). Linguistics of drag: Drag queens and linguistic performance of “feminine” identity. In M. Edward & S. Farrier (Eds.), Drag vistas and visions: Drag in a changing scene (Vol. 3, pp. 157–170). Bloomsbury Publishing.