In some linguistics fields, and also to an extent in common usage, a portmanteau word (sometimes just portmanteau) is a term used to describe a word that fuses two or more function words. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields
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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". In Linguistics, a blend is a word formed from parts of two other words [1]
Such a definition of "portmanteau word" overlaps with the grammatical term contraction, and linguists avoid using the former term in such cases. Grammar is the field of Linguistics that covers the Rules governing the use of any given natural language. In Traditional grammar, a contraction is the formation of a new Word from one or more individual words As an example: the words do + not become the contraction don't, a single word that represents the meaning of the combined words.
A humorous synonym for "portmanteau word" is "frankenword", itself a portmanteau word, blending "Frankenstein" and "word". [2]
Origin
The usage of the word 'portmanteau' in this sense first appeared in Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass (1871)[3], in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky:[4]
- "‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (ˈdɒdsən (27 January 1832 &ndash 14 January 1898 better known by the Pen name Lewis Carroll (/ˈkærəl/ was an English Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There ( 1871) is a work of Children's literature by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson Humpty Dumpty is a character in a Nursery rhyme typically portrayed as an egg. " Jabberwocky " is a Poem of Nonsense verse written by Lewis Carroll, originally featured as a part of his novel Through the Looking-Glass . . 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:
Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. In Linguistics, a blend is a word formed from parts of two other words For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious. " Make up your mind that you will say both words . . . you will say "frumious. "[4].
Carroll suggests here a double metaphor: the original meaning of the word 'portmanteau' is a form of suitcase (which supports the idea that meanings can be 'packed' into it), and the word 'portmanteau' is itself a 'portmanteau word', deriving from the two French words porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak or mantle). Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects suitcase is a somewhat flat rectangular-shaped Bag with rounded corners either hard plastic or soft or made of cloth Vinyl or leather that more or less keeps its
Examples
Many protologisms are examples of blends, but many blends have become part of the lexicon. A neologism (from Greek neo = "new" + logos = "word" is a word that although devised relatively recently in a specific time period has been [4] In Punch in 1896, the word brunch (breakfast + lunch) was introduced as a "portmanteau word". Punch was a British weekly Magazine of Humour and Satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002 Brunch or bruncheon is a combination of breakfast and lunch The term is a Portmanteau of '''br'''eakfast and l'''unch'''(eon. [5] In 1964, the newly independent African republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar chose the portmanteau word Tanzania as its name. 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 Zanzibar ( is part of the East African republic of Tanzania. It consists of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya
"Wikipedia" is itself an example of a portmanteau word because it combines the word "wiki" and "encyclopedia. ***************************************************************************************** * * "
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. Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage Elbridge Thomas Gerry (ˈgɛri (July 17 1744 November 23 1814 was an American statesman and diplomat Salamander (orig from Persian: sām, "fire" and andarūn, "within" is the common name for a group of approximately 500 Species 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). William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26 1947 is the junior United States Senator from 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. Benjamin Zimmer is an American Linguist and Lexicographer. He is Editor of American Dictionaries at Oxford University Press and Research Associate Institute [6].
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. The Watergate scandals were a series of Political scandals during the presidency of Richard Nixon that resulted in the Indictment of several of Nixon's g. "Filegate" for the White House FBI files controversy. The White House FBI files controversy of the Clinton Administration, often referred to in the press as Filegate, arose in June 1996 around improper access in 1993 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. Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions Chocoholic, for example, means a person who is addicted to chocolate. Chocoholism is a Portmanteau of " Chocolate " and " Alcoholism," referring to an Addiction to chocolate
Portmanteau words can 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. Spanglish espanglish, espaninglish, el Spanish broken, ingléspañol, ingleñol
See also
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary
- ^ 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. For the HTML tag see HTML element. An abbreviation (from Latin brevis "short" In Linguistics, a compound is a Lexeme (less precisely a Word) that consists of more than one stem. The Suffix -gate derives from the Watergate scandal of the United States in the early 1970s which resulted in the resignation of U A neologism (from Greek neo = "new" + logos = "word" is a word that although devised relatively recently in a specific time period has been The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English Victor Frankenstein is a Fictional character, the Protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Mary Shelley ( Née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a Novel written by the British author Mary Shelley
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Portmanteau definition 4b, giving Carroll as first user, second usage appearing in 1882 in the Cornhill Magazine
- ^ a b c Fromkin, V. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English Cornhill Magazine was a Victorian Magazine and Literary journal named after Cornhill Street in London. , Rodman, R. , and Hyams, N. (2007) An Introduction to Language, Eighth Edition. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 1-4130-1773-8
- ^ Punch, 1 August 1896, 58/2
- ^ http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002610.html Language Log: A Perilous Portmanteau?
Dictionary
portmanteau word
-noun
- (linguistics) A word formed which combines the meaning of two words (or, rarely, more than two words) by combining the words, usually, but not always, by adjoining the first part of one word and the last part of the other, the adjoining parts often having a common vowel; for example, smog, formed from smoke and fog.
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