Blend word

This article is about a type of word. For the method of teaching how to read, seesynthetic phonics.

"Portmanteau" redirects here. For other uses, seePortmanteau (disambiguation).

Bennifer— Ben Affleck (left) and Jennifer Lopez (right)

Inlinguistics,ablend—also known as ablend word,lexical blend,orportmanteau—is a word formed, usually intentionally, by combining the sounds and meanings of two or more words.English examples includesmog,coined by blendingsmokeandfog,as well asmotel,frommotor(motorist) andhotel.The component word fragments within blends are calledsplinters.

A blend is similar to acontraction,but contractions are formed, usually non-intentionally, from words whose sounds gradually drift together over time due to them commonly appearing together in sequence, such asdo notnaturally becomingdon't(phonologically,/duːnɒt/becoming/doʊnt/). A blend also differs from acompound,which fully preserves thestemsof the original words. The 1973Introduction to Modern English Word-Formationexplains that "In words such asmotel, boatelandLorry-Tel,hotelis represented by various shorter substitutes –‑otel, ‑tel,or‑el– which I shall call splinters. Words containing splinters I shall call blends ".Thus, at least one of the parts of a blend, strictly speaking, is not a completemorpheme,but instead a mere splinter or leftover word fragment. For instance,starfishis a compound, not a blend, ofstarandfish,as it includes both words in full. However, if it were called a "stish"or a"starsh",it would be a blend. Furthermore, when blends are formed by shortening establishedcompoundsor phrases, they can be consideredclipped compounds,such asromcomforromantic comedy.

Classification

Blends of two or more words may be classified from each of three viewpoints: morphotactic, morphonological, and morphosemantic.

Morphotactic classification

Blends may be classifiedmorphotacticallyinto two kinds:totalandpartial.

Total blends

In a total blend, each of the words creating the blend is reduced to a mere splinter.Some linguists limit blends to these (perhaps with additional conditions): for example,Ingo Plagconsiders "proper blends" to be total blends that semantically are coordinate, the remainder being "shortened compounds".

Commonly for English blends, the beginning of one word is followed by the end of another:

• breakfast+lunch⇒brunch 

Much less commonly in English, the beginning of one word may be followed by the beginning of another:

• teleprinter+exchange⇒telex 
• American+Indian⇒Amerind 

Some linguists do not regard beginning+beginning concatenations as blends, instead calling them complex clippings,clipping compoundsorclipped compounds.

Unusually in English, the end of one word may be followed by the end of another:

• Red Bull+margarita⇒bullgarita 
• Hello Kitty+delicious⇒kittylicious 

A splinter of one word may replace part of another, as in three coined byLewis Carrollin "Jabberwocky":

• chuckle+snort⇒chortle 
• slimy+lithe⇒slithy 

They are sometimes termedintercalativeblends; these words are among the original "portmanteaus" for which this meaning of the word was created.

Partial blends

In a partial blend, one entire word is concatenated with a splinter from another.Some linguists do not recognize these as blends.

An entire word may be followed by a splinter:

• dumb+confound⇒dumbfound 
• fan+magazine⇒fanzine 

A splinter may be followed by an entire word:

• Brad+Angelina⇒Brangelina 
• American+Indian⇒Amerindian 

An entire word may replace part of another:

• adorable+dork⇒adorkable 
• disgusting+gross⇒disgrossting 

These have also been calledsandwichwords,and classed amongintercalativeblends.

(When two words are combined in their entirety, the result is considered acompound wordrather than a blend. For example,bagpipeis a compound, not a blend, ofbagandpipe.)

Morphological classification

Morphologically, blends fall into two kinds:overlappingandnon-overlapping.

Overlapping blends

Overlapping blends are those for which the ingredients' consonants, vowels or even syllables overlap to some extent. The overlap can be of different kinds.These are also called haplologic blends.

There may be an overlap that is both phonological and orthographic, but with no other shortening:

• anecdote+dotage⇒anecdotage 
• pal+alimony⇒palimony 

The overlap may be both phonological and orthographic, and with some additional shortening to at least one of the ingredients:

• California+fornication⇒Californication 
• picture+dictionary⇒pictionary 

Such an overlap may be discontinuous:

• politician+pollution⇒pollutician 
• beef+buffalo⇒beefalo 

These are also termed imperfect blends.

It can occur with three components:

• camisade+cannibalism+ballistics⇒camibalistics 
• meander+Neanderthal+tale⇒meandertale 

The phonological overlap need not also be orthographic:

• back+acronym⇒backronym 
• war+orgasm⇒wargasm 

If the phonological but non-orthographic overlap encompasses the whole of the shorter ingredient, as in

• sin+cinema⇒sinema 
• sham+champagne⇒shampagne 

then the effect depends on orthography alone. (They are also called orthographic blends.)

An orthographic overlap need not also be phonological:

• smoke+fog⇒smog 
• binary+digit⇒bit 

For some linguists, an overlap is a condition for a blend.

Non-overlapping blends

Non-overlapping blends (also called substitution blends) have no overlap, whether phonological or orthographic:

• California+Mexico⇒Calexico 
• beautiful+delicious⇒beaulicious 

Morphosemantic classification

Morphosemantically, blends fall into two kinds:attributiveandcoordinate.

Attributive blends

Attributive blends (also called syntactic or telescope blends) are those in which one of the ingredients is the head and the other is attributive. Aporta-lightis a portable light, not a 'light-emitting' or light portability;lightis the head. Asnobjectis a snobbery-satisfying object and not an objective or other kind of snob; object is the head.

As is also true for (conventional, non-blend) attributivecompounds(among whichbathroom,for example, is a kind of room, not a kind of bath), the attributive blends of English are mostlyhead-finaland mostlyendocentric.As an example of anexocentricattributive blend,Fruitopiamay metaphorically take the buyer to a fruity utopia (and not a utopian fruit); however, it is not a utopia but a drink.

Coordinate blends

Coordinate blends (also called associative or portmanteau blends) combine two words having equal status, and have two heads. Thusbrunchis neither a breakfasty lunch nor a lunchtime breakfast but instead some hybrid of breakfast and lunch;Oxbridgeis equally Oxford and Cambridge universities. This too parallels (conventional, non-blend) compounds: anactor–directoris equally an actor and a director.

Two kinds of coordinate blends are particularly conspicuous: those that combine (near‑) synonyms:

• gigantic+enormous⇒ginormous
• insinuation+innuendo⇒insinuendo

and those that combine (near‑) opposites:

• transmitter+receiver⇒transceiver
• friend+enemy⇒frenemy

Blending of two roots

Blending can also apply torootsrather than words, for instance inIsraeli Hebrew:

• רמז(√rmz'hint') +אור(or'light')⇒רמזור(ramzor'traffic light')
• מגדל(migdal'tower') +אור(or'light')⇒מגדלור(migdalor'lighthouse')
• Mishnaic Hebrew:דחפ(√dħp'push') +Biblical Hebrew:חפר(√ħpr'dig')⇒דחפור(dakhpór'bulldozer')
• Israeli שלטוטshiltút'zapping, surfing the channels, flipping through the channels' derives from
  • (i) (Hebrew>) Israeli שלטshalát'remote control', an ellipsis – likeEnglishremote(but using the noun instead) – of the (widely known) compound שלט רחוקshalát rakhók– cf. theAcademy of the Hebrew Language's שלט רחקshalát rákhak;and
  • (ii) (Hebrew>) Israeli שטוטshitút'wandering, vagrancy'. Israeli שלטוטshiltútwas introduced by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in [...] 1996. Synchronically, it might appear to result from reduplication of the final consonant ofshalát'remote control'.
• Another example of blending which has also been explained as mere reduplication is Israeli גחליליתgakhlilít'fire-fly, glow-fly,Lampyris'. This coinage byHayyim Nahman Bialikblends (Hebrew>) Israeli גחלתgakhélet'burning coal' with (Hebrew>) Israeli לילהláyla'night'. Compare this with the unblended חכליליתkhakhlilít'(black) redstart,Phœnicurus'(<Biblical Hebrew חכליל 'dull red, reddish'). Synchronically speaking though, most native Israeli-speakers feel thatgakhlilítincludes a reduplication of the third radical of גחל √għl. This is incidentally howErnest Kleinexplainsgakhlilít.Since he is attempting to provide etymology, his description might be misleading if one agrees that Hayyim Nahman Bialik had blending in mind. "

"There are two possible etymological analyses for Israeli Hebrew כספרkaspár'bank clerk, teller'. The first is that it consists of (Hebrew>) Israeli כסףkésef'money' and the (International/Hebrew>) Israeliagentivesuffixר--ár.The second is that it is a quasi-portmanteau wordwhich blends כסףkésef'money' and (Hebrew>) Israeli ספר √spr 'count'. Israeli Hebrew כספרkaspárstarted as a brand name but soon entered the common language. Even if the second analysis is the correct one, the final syllable ר--árapparently facilitated nativization since it was regarded as the Hebrew suffix ר--år(probably ofPersianpedigree), which usually refers to craftsmen and professionals, for instance as inMendele Mocher Sforim's coinage סמרטוטרsmartutár'rag-dealer'. "

Lexical selection

Blending may occur with an error inlexical selection,the process by which a speaker uses his semantic knowledge to choose words. Lewis Carroll's explanation, which gave rise to the use of 'portmanteau' for such combinations, was:

Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious." Make up your mind that you will say both words... you will say "frumious."

The errors are based on similarity of meanings, rather thanphonologicalsimilarities, and the morphemes or phonemes stay in the same position within the syllable.

Use

Some languages, likeJapanese,encourage the shortening and merging of borrowed foreign words (as ingairaigo), because they are long or difficult to pronounce in the target language. For example,karaoke,a combination of the Japanese wordkara(meaningempty) and the clipped formokeof the English loanword "orchestra" (J.ōkesutora,オーケストラ), is a Japanese blend that has entered the English language. TheVietnamese languagealso encourages blend words formed fromSino-Vietnamese vocabulary.For example, the termViệt Cộngis derived from the first syllables of "Việt Nam" (Vietnam) and "Cộng sản" (communist).

Many corporatebrand names,trademarks, and initiatives, as well as names of corporations and organizations themselves, are blends. For example,Wiktionary,one ofWikipedia's sister projects, is a blend ofwikianddictionary.

Origin of the termportmanteau

The wordportmanteauwas introduced in this sense byLewis Carrollin the bookThrough the Looking-Glass(1871),whereHumpty Dumptyexplains to Alice the coinage of unusual words used in "Jabberwocky".Slithymeans "slimy and lithe" andmimsymeans "miserable and flimsy". Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the practice of combining words in various ways, comparing it to the then-commontype of luggage,which opens into two equal parts:

You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.

In his introduction to his 1876 poemThe Hunting of the Snark,Carroll again usesportmanteauwhen discussing lexical selection:

Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious". Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first… if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say "frumious".

In then-contemporary English, a portmanteau was asuitcasethat opened into two equal sections. According to theOED Online,a portmanteau is a "case or bag for carrying clothing and other belongings when travelling; (originally) one of a form suitable for carrying on horseback; (now esp.) one in the form of a stiff leather case hinged at the back to open into two equal parts".According toThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language(AHD), the etymology of the word is the Frenchporte-manteau,fromporter,"to carry", andmanteau,"cloak" (from Old Frenchmantel,from Latinmantellum).According to theOED Online,the etymology of the word is the "officer who carries the mantle of a person in a high position (1507 in Middle French), case or bag for carrying clothing (1547), clothes rack (1640)".In modern French, aporte-manteauis aclothes valet,a coat-tree or similar article of furniture for hanging up jackets, hats, umbrellas and the like.

An occasional synonym for "portmanteau word" isfrankenword,anautological wordexemplifying the phenomenon it describes, blending "Frankenstein"and" word ".

Examples in English

For a more comprehensive list, seeList of portmanteaus.

The originalGerrymanderpictured in an 1812 cartoon. The word is a portmanteau of Massachusetts GovernorElbridge Gerry'sname withsalamander.

Manyneologismsare examples of blends, but many blends have become part of the lexicon.InPunchin 1896, the wordbrunch(breakfast + lunch) was introduced as a "portmanteau word".In 1964, the newly independent African republic ofTanganyikaandZanzibarchose the portmanteau wordTanzaniaas its name. SimilarlyEurasiais a portmanteau of Europe and Asia.

Some city names are portmanteaus of the border regions they straddle:Texarkanaspreads across the Texas-Arkansas-Louisiana border, whileCalexicoandMexicaliare respectively the American and Mexican sides of a singleconurbation.A scientific example is aliger,which is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger (atigonis a similar cross in which the male is a tiger).

Many company or brand names are portmanteaus, includingMicrosoft,a portmanteau ofmicrocomputerandsoftware;the cheeseCambozolacombines a similar rind toCamembertwith the same mould used to makeGorgonzola;passenger rail companyAmtrak,a portmanteau ofAmericaandtrack;Velcro,a portmanteau of the Frenchvelours(velvet) andcrochet(hook);Verizon,a portmanteau ofveritas(Latin for truth) andhorizon;Viacom,a portmanteau of Video and Audio communications, andComEd(a Chicago-area electric utility company), a portmanteau ofCommonwealthandEdison.

Jeoportmanteau!is a recurring category on the American televisionquiz showJeopardy!The category's name is itself a portmanteau of the wordsJeopardyandportmanteau.Responses in the category are portmanteaus constructed by fitting two words together.

Portmanteau words may be produced by joiningproper nounswith common nouns, such as "gerrymandering",which refers to the scheme of Massachusetts GovernorElbridge Gerryfor politically contrived redistricting; the perimeter of one of the districts thereby created resembled a very curvysalamanderin outline. The term gerrymander has itself contributed to portmanteau termsbjelkemanderandplaymander.

Oxbridgeis a common portmanteau for the UK's two oldest universities, those ofOxfordandCambridge.In 2016, Britain's plannedexit from the European Unionbecame known as "Brexit".

Aspork

The wordrefudiatewas famously used bySarah Palinwhen she misspoke, conflating the wordsrefuteandrepudiate.Though the word was agaffe,it was recognized as theNew Oxford American Dictionary's "Word of the Year" in 2010.

The business lexicon includes words like "advertainment"(advertising as entertainment),"advertorial"(a blurred distinction between advertising and editorial),"infotainment"(information about entertainment or itself intended to entertain by its manner of presentation), and"infomercial"(informational commercial).

Company and product names may also use portmanteau words: examples includeTimex(a portmanteau ofTime[referring toTime magazine] andKleenex),Renault'sTwingo(a combination oftwist,swingandtango),andGarmin(portmanteau of company founders' first namesGary BurrellandMin Kao). "Desilu Productions"was a Los Angeles–based company jointly owned by actor coupleDesi ArnazandLucille Ball.Miramaxis the combination of the first names of the parents of theWeinstein brothers.

Name-meshing

Main article:Name blending

Two proper names can also be used in creating a portmanteau word in reference to the partnership between people, especially in cases where both persons are well-known, or sometimes to produceepithetssuch as "Billary" (referring to former United States presidentBill Clintonand his wife, former United States Secretary of StateHillary Clinton). In this example of recent American political history, the purpose for blending is not so much to combine the meanings of the source words but "to suggest a resemblance of one named person to the other"; the effect is often derogatory, as linguistBenjamin Zimmerstates.For instance,Putleris used by critics ofVladimir Putin,merging his name withAdolf Hitler.By contrast, the public, including the media, use portmanteaus to refer to their favorite pairings as a way to "...giv[e] people an essence of who they are within the same name."This is particularly seen in cases of fictional and real-life "supercouples".An early known example,Bennifer,referred to film starsBen AffleckandJennifer Lopez.Other examples includeBrangelina(Brad PittandAngelina Jolie) andTomKat(Tom CruiseandKatie Holmes).On Wednesday, 28 June 2017,The New York Timescrosswordincluded the quip, "How I wishNatalie PortmandatedJacques Cousteau,so I could call them 'Portmanteau'".

Holidays are another example, as inThanksgivukkah,a portmanteau neologism given to the convergence of the American holiday ofThanksgivingand the first day of theJewish holidayofHanukkahon Thursday, 28 November 2013.Chrismukkahis another pop-culture portmanteau neologism popularized by the TV dramaThe O.C.,merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas and Judaism's Hanukkah.

This T-shirt combines the names of two places,WisconsinandCompton, California,to form "Wiscompton".

In theDisneyfilmBig Hero 6,the film is situated in a fictitious city called "San Fransokyo", which is a portmanteau of two real locations,San FranciscoandTokyo.

Other languages

Modern Hebrew

Modern Hebrewabounds with blending. Along with CD, or simplyדיסק(disk), Hebrew has the blendתקליטור(taklitór), which consists ofתקליט(taklít'phonograph record') andאור(or'light'). Other blends in Hebrew include the following:

• ערפיח(arpíakh'smog'), fromערפל(arafél'fog') andפיח(píakh'soot')
• מדרחוב(midrakhov'pedestrian-only street'), fromמדרכה(midrakhá'sidewalk') andרחוב(rekhóv'street')
• מחזמר(makhazémer'musical'), fromמחזה(makhazé'theatre play') andזמר(zémer'singing [gerund]')
• מגדלור(migdalór'lighthouse'), fromמגדל(migdál'tower') andאור(or'light')
• קרנף(karnáf'rhinoceros'), fromקרן(kéren'horn') andאף(af'nose')
• רמזור(ramzór'traffic light'), fromרמז(rémez'indication') andאור(or'light')
• חוטיני(khutíni'thong bikini'), fromחוט(khut'string') andביקיני(bikíni'bikini')

Sometimes the root of the second word is truncated, giving rise to a blend that resembles anacrostic:

• תפוז(tapúz'orange [fruit]'), fromתפוח(tapúakh'apple') andזהב(zaháv'gold')
• תפוד(tapúd'potato'), fromתפוח(tapúakh'apple') andאדמה(adamá'soil, earth'), but the fullתפוח אדמה(tapúakh adamá'apple of the soil, apple of the earth') is more common

Irish

A few portmanteaus are in use in modern Irish, for example:

• Brexitis referred to asBreatimeacht(fromBreatain'Britain' andimeacht'leave') orSasamach(fromSasana'England' andamach'out')
• The resignation ofTánaiste(deputy prime minister)Frances Fitzgeraldwas referred to asSlánaiste(fromslán'goodbye' andTánaiste)
• Naíonra,an Irish-languagepreschool(fromnaíonán'infants' andgasra'band')
• The Irish translation ofA Game of Thronesrefers toWinterfellcastle asGheimhsceirde(fromgheimhridh'winter' andsceird'exposed to winds')
• Jailtacht(from EnglishjailandGaeltacht'Irish-speaking region'): the community of Irish-speakingrepublicanprisoners.

Icelandic

There is a tradition oflinguistic purism in Icelandic,andneologismsare frequently created from pre-existing words. For example,tölva'computer' is a portmanteau oftala'digit, number' andvölva'oracle, seeress'.

Indonesian

Main article:Indonesian language § Acronyms and portmanteau

InIndonesian,portmanteaus andacronymsare very common in both formal and informal usage.

A common use of a portmanteau in the Indonesian language is to refer to locations and areas of the country. For example,Jabodetabekis a portmanteau that refers to theJakarta metropolitan areaorGreater Jakarta,which includes the regions of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi).

Malaysian

In the Malaysian national language of Bahasa Melayu, the wordjadongwas constructed out of three Malay words for evil (jahat), stupid (bodoh) and arrogant (sombong) to be used on the worst kinds of community and religious leaders who mislead naive, submissive and powerless folk under their thrall.

Japanese

Main article:Japanese abbreviated and contracted words

A very common type of portmanteau in Japanese forms one word from the beginnings of two others (that is, from twoback-clippings).The portion of each input word retained is usually twomorae,which is tantamount to onekanjiin most words written in kanji.

The inputs to the process can be native words,Sino-Japanese words,gairaigo(later borrowings), or combinations thereof. A Sino-Japanese example is the name đông đại(Tōdai)for theUniversity of Tokyo,in fullĐôngKinhĐạiHọc(Tōkyōdaigaku).With borrowings, typical results are words such as パソコン(pasokon),meaning personal computer (PC), which despite being formed of English elements does not exist in English; it is auniquely Japanesecontraction of the Englishpersonal computer(パーソナル・コンピュータ,pāsonarukonpyūta).Another example,Pokémon(ポケモン),is a contracted form of the English wordspocket(ポケット,poketto)andmonsters(モンスター,monsutā).A famous example of a blend with mixed sources iskaraoke(カラオケ,karaoke),blending the Japanese word forempty(Không,kara)and the Greek wordorchestra(オーケストラ,ōkesutora).The Japanese fad of egg-shaped keychain pet toys from the 1990s, Tamagotchi, is a portmanteau combining the two Japanese words tamago (たまご 'egg'), and uotchi (ウオッチ 'watch'). The portmanteau can also be seen as a combination of tamago (たまご 'egg'), and tomodachi ( hữu だち 'friend').

Sometitlesalso are portmanteaus, such asHetalia(ヘタリア). It came fromHetare (ヘタレ 'idiot') and Italia(イタリア, 'Italy'). Another example isServamp, which came from the English wordsServant (サーヴァント) andVampire (ヴァンパイア).

Portuguese

InBrazilian Portuguese,portmanteaus are usually slang, including:

• Cantriz,fromcantora'female singer' andatriz'actress', which defines women that both sing and act.
• Aborrescente,fromaborrecer'annoy' andadolescente'teenager', which is a pejorative term for teenagers.
• Pescotapa,frompescoço'neck' andtapa'slap', which defines a slap on the back of the neck.

InEuropean Portuguese,portmanteaus are also used. Some of them include:

• Telemóvel'mobile phone' comes fromtelefone'telephone' andmóvel'mobile'.
• Cantautor'singer-songwriter' comes fromcantor'singer' andautor'songwriter'.

Spanish

Although traditionally uncommon in Spanish, portmanteaus are increasingly finding their way into the language, mainly for marketing and commercial purposes. Examples inMexican Spanishincludecafebreríafrom combiningcafetería'coffee shop' andlibrería'bookstore', orteletón'telethon' from combiningtelevisiónandmaratón.Portmanteaus are also frequently used to make commercial brands, such as "chocolleta" from "chocolate" + "galleta". They are also often used to create business company names, especially for small, family-owned businesses, where owners' names are combined to create a unique name (such as Rocar, from "Roberto" + "Carlos", or Mafer, from "María" + "Fernanda" ). These usages help to create distinguishable trademarks. It is a common occurrence for people with two names to combine them into a single nickname, like Juanca for Juan Carlos, Or Marilú for María de Lourdes.

Other examples:

• Cantautor'singer-songwriter', fromcantante'singer' andautor'songwriter'.
• MecatrónicaandOfimáticatwoNeologismsthat are blends ofmecánica'mechanical' withelectrónica'electronics', andoficina'office' withinformática'informatics' respectively.
• Espanglish,interlanguage that combines words from both Spanish (Español) and English.
• Metrobús,blend ofmetro'subway' andautobús.
• Autopista,blend ofautomóvil'car' andpista'road, tracks'.
• Company names and brands with portmanteaus are common in Spanish. Some examples of Spanish portmanteaus for Mexican companies include: The Mexican flag carrierAeroméxico,(Aerovías de México), Banorte (Bank and North),Cemex(Cement and Mexico),Jumex(Jugos Mexicanos or Mexican Juice),Mabe(from founders Egon MAbardi and Francisco BErrondo),Pemex(Petróleos Mexicanos or Mexican Oil),Softtek(portmanteau and stylization of Software and technology), andTelmex(Teléfonos de Mexico).Gamesa(Galletera Mexicana, S.A. or Mexican Biscuit Company, Inc.) andFamsa(fabricantes Muebleros, S.A.) are examples of portmanteaus of four words, including the "S.A." (Sociedad Anónima).
• Many more portmanteaus in Spanish come fromAnglicisms,which are words borrowed from English, likemódem,transistor, códec, email, internetoremoticon.

A somewhat popular example in Spain is the wordgallifante,a portmanteau ofgallo y elefante'cockerel and elephant'. It was the prize on the Spanish version of the children TV showChild's Play(Spanish:Juego de niños) that ran on the public television channelLa 1ofTelevisión Española(TVE) from 1988 to 1992.

Portmanteau morph

Inlinguistics,a blend is an amalgamation or fusion of independentlexemes,while aportmanteauorportmanteau morphis a singlemorphthat is analyzed as representing two (or more) underlyingmorphemes.For example, in the Latin wordanimalis,the ending-isis a portmanteau morph because it is an unanalysable combination of two morphemes: a morpheme for the singular number and one for the genitive case. In English, two separate morphs are used:of ananimal.Other examples include French:à le⇒au[o]andde le⇒du[dy].

See also

• Abbreviation
• Acronym and initialism
• Clipping (morphology)
• Conceptual blending
• Amalgamation (names)
• Hybrid word
• List of geographic portmanteaus
• List of portmanteaus
• Phonestheme
• Phono-semantic matching
• Portmanteau sentence
• Syllabic abbreviation
• Wiktionary category:English blends

External links

• Media related toPortmanteauat Wikimedia Commons