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Encyclopedia > Portmanteau word
For the bag, see portmanteau (suitcase). For other uses, see portmanteau (disambiguation).

A portmanteau word (sometimes just portmanteau) is used broadly to mean a blend of two (or more) words,[1][2][3] and narrowly in some linguistics fields to mean only a blend of two or more function words.[4] [5] [6] [7] A portmanteau (from 16th century French, plural portmanteaux) is a large travelling case made of leather. ... A portmanteau (plural: portmanteaux or portmanteaus) is a word that is formed by combining both sounds and meanings from two or more words. ... This article is about the creation of words by combining words. ... For the journal, see Linguistics (journal). ... Function words are words that have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning, but instead serve to express grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker. ...

Contents

Meaning

"Portmanteau word" is used to describe a linguistic blend, namely "a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings".[1] Broadly conceived, linguistics is the study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ... This article is about the creation of words by combining words. ...


Such a definition of "portmanteau word" overlaps with the grammatical term contraction, and linguists avoid using the former term in such cases. As an example: the words do + not become the contraction don't, a single word that represents the meaning of the combined words. For the rules of the English language, see English grammar. ... In traditional grammar, a contraction is the formation of a new word from two or more individual words. ...


A humorous synonym for "portmanteau word" is "frankenword", itself a portmanteau word, blending "Frankenstein" and "word".[8]


Origin

The usage of the word 'portmanteau' in this sense first appeared in Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass (1871),[1] in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky:[9] The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (IPA: ) (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll (), was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... Through the Looking Glass redirects here. ... This article is about the nursery rhyme. ... For other uses, see Jabberwocky (disambiguation). ...

  • "‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’... You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word"
  • "‘Mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’ (there's another portmanteau ... for you)".

Carroll uses the word again when discussing lexical selection: This article is about the creation of words by combining words. ...

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."[9].

Carroll suggests here a double metaphor: the original meaning of the word 'portmanteau' is a form of suitcase containing two separated hinged compartments; thus: two distinct words, packed as one. The word 'portmanteau' is itself a 'portmanteau word', deriving from the two French words porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak or mantle). This article is about metaphor in literature and rhetoric. ... A typical suitcase A suitcase is a narrow box-shaped bag, usually made of cloth or vinyl that more or less keeps its shape, has a handle at one end and is used mainly for transporting clothes and other possessions during trips. ...


Examples

Many protologisms are examples of blends, but many blends have become part of the lexicon.[9] In Punch in 1896, the word brunch (breakfast + lunch) was introduced as a "portmanteau word".[10] In 1964, the newly independent African republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar chose the portmanteau word Tanzania as its name. Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ... Brunch is a late morning meal between the typical time for breakfast and lunch, as a replacement for both meals, usually eaten when one rises too late to eat breakfast, or as a specially-planned meal. ... Flag of Deutsch-Ostafrika (1885-1919) Flag of Tanganyika (1919-1961) Flag of the Republic of Tanganyika 1962–64 Tanganyika is the name of an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes: Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, after which it was named. ... Map of Zanzibars main island Zanzibar is part of Tanzania Coordinates: , Country Tanzania Islands Unguja and Pemba Capital Zanzibar City Settled AD 1000 Government  - Type semi-autonomous part of Tanzania  - President Amani Abeid Karume Area  - Both Islands  637 sq mi (1,651 km²) Population (2004)  - Both Islands 1,070...


"Wikipedia" is itself an example of a portmanteau word because it combines the word "wiki" and "encyclopedia." Wikipedia (IPA: , or ( ) is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization. ...


Portmanteau words may be produced by conjoining proper names with common nouns, such as "Gerrymandering," which refers to the scheme of Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry for politically contrived redistricting: the districts created had the semblance of a salamander in outline. Two proper names can also be used in creating a portmanteau word in reference to the partnership between people, especially in a case where both persons are well known. Or sometimes to produce epithets such "Billary" (referring to former United States president Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton). Here, 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" and the effect is often derogatory, as linguist Benjamin Zimmer notes.[11]. Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      The Gerry-Mander first appeared in this cartoon-map in the Boston Gazette, 26 March 1812 Gerrymandering is a form of redistricting in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are manipulated for an electoral advantage. ... Elbridge Thomas Gerry (pronounced ) (July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814) was an American statesman and diplomat. ... For other uses, see Salamander (disambiguation). ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is the junior United States Senator from New York, and is a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election. ...


Portmanteaus can also be created by attaching a prefix or suffix from one word to give that association to other words. Subsequent to the Watergate Scandal, it became popular to attach the suffix "-gate" to other words to describe contemporary scandals, e.g. "Filegate" for the White House FBI files controversy. Likewise, the suffix "-holism" or "-holic", taken from the word "Alcoholism" or "alcoholic", can be added to a noun, creating a word that describes an addiction to that noun. Chocoholic, for example, means a person who is addicted to chocolate. Watergate redirects here. ... The White House FBI files controversy of the Clinton Administration, often referred to in the press as Filegate,[1] arose in June 1996 around improper access in 1993 and 1994 to Federal Bureau of Investigation security-clearance documents. ... Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ... A Chocoholic is some who is or claims to be addicted to chocolate. ...


Portmanteau words can be used to describe bilingual speakers who use words from both languages while speaking. For instance a person would be considered speaking "Spanglish" if they are using both Spanish and English words at the same time. For the James L. Brooks motion picture, see Spanglish (film). ...


Portmanteau morph

In linguistics, the term blend is used to refer to general combination of words, and the term “portmanteau” is reserved for the narrow sense of combining two function words. Examples of such combination include French “a le” → au, and “de le” → du. This usage has been referred to as 'portmanteau morph'.[12] This article is about the creation of words by combining words. ... Function words are words that have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning, but instead serve to express grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker. ...


See also

Look up portmanteau word in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Look up Category:Portmanteaus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ... A syllabic abbreviation is an abbreviation formed from (usually) initial syllables of several words, such as Interpol = International + police. ... A compound is a word (lexeme) that consists of more than one free morpheme. ... The suffix -gate derives from the Watergate scandal of the United States in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon. ... A neologism is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (or coined), often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ...

References

  1. ^ a b c Oxford English Dictionary, Portmanteau definition 4b, giving Carroll as first user, second usage appearing in 1882 in the Cornhill Magazine
  2. ^ portmanteau. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved on 2008-06-21.
  3. ^ portmanteau word. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition (2000). Retrieved on 2008-06-21.
  4. ^ What is a portmanteau morph?. LinguaLinks Library (2003).
  5. ^ Thomas, David (1983), An invitation to grammar, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Bangkok: Mahidol University, p. 9 
  6. ^ Crystal, David (1985), A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics (2nd ed.), New York: Basil Blackwell, pp. 237 
  7. ^ Hartmann, R.R.K. & Stork, F.C. (1972), Dictionary of language and linguistics, London: Applied Science, pp. 180 
  8. ^ Victor Frankenstein being the creator of the monster in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, the monster being constructed from parts from several bodies.
  9. ^ a b c Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., and Hyams, N. (2007) An Introduction to Language, Eighth Edition. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 1-4130-1773-8
  10. ^ Punch, 1 August 1896, 58/2
  11. ^ http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002610.html Language Log: A Perilous Portmanteau?
  12. ^ What is a portmanteau morph?. LinguaLinks Library (2003).
The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of... The Cornhill Magazine was a Victorian magazine and literary journal named after Cornhill a street in London. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Victor Frankenstein is the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. ... Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (née Godwin) (30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English romantic/gothic novelist and the author of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. ... This article is about the 1818 novel. ... Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ... is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ...

  Results from FactBites:
 
Logophilia - Favorite Words (1860 words)
Other portmanteau words are chortle (a blend of "chuckle" and "snort"; this is another Jabberwockian word), brunch ("breakfast" and "lunch"), telex ("teleprinter" and "exchange"), and contrail ("condensation" and "trail").
Words are formed in many different ways (see reduplicate, below), but one of the most fascinating to me is the tendency to create words that reflect the sound an object makes.
From the Latin word faeculentus, from faec-, feces.
Portmanteau - LoveToKnow 1911 (140 words)
The typical portmanteau o; the present day has two compartments which, fastened at the back by hinges, close together like a book.
In French the word was also applied to a bracket or set of pegs on which to hang clothes.
Dodgson ("Lewis Carroll") in Through the Looking Glass (" The Song of the Jabberwock") used the expression "portmanteau word" of an invented word composed of two words run together and supposed to convey humorously the combined meaning: thus "slithy" conveys slimy and lithe; "mimsy," flimsy and miserable.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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