Portmanteau: Difference between revisions
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Subsequent to the [[Watergate Scandal]], it has become popular among journalists and politicians to attach the suffix "-gate" to other words to describe contemporary scandals, e.g. "Filegate" for the [[White House FBI files controversy]]. For a more expansive list, see, [[List of scandals with "-gate" suffix]]. |
Subsequent to the [[Watergate Scandal]], it has become popular among journalists and politicians to attach the suffix "-gate" to other words to describe contemporary scandals, e.g. "Filegate" for the [[White House FBI files controversy]]. For a more expansive list, see, [[List of scandals with "-gate" suffix]]. |
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In the Philippines, it has been a practice to use portmanteau words to refer to a locality: '''[[Camanava]]''' ('''Ca'''loocan, '''Ma'''labon, '''Na'''votas, and '''Va'''lenzuela); '''[[Calabarzon]]''' ('''Ca'''vite, '''La'''guna, '''Ba'''tangas, '''R'''izal, Que'''zon'''); and '''[[Mimaropa]]''' ('''Mi'''ndoro, '''Ma'''rinduque, '''Ro'''mblon, '''Pa'''lawan). There is also a group of heroes called '''[[Gomburza]]''' ('''Go'''mez, '''Bu'''rgos, '''Za'''mora) |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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{{wiktionarypar|portmanteau word}} |
{{wiktionarypar|portmanteau word}} |
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* [[Syllabic abbreviation]] |
* [[Syllabic abbreviation]] |
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* [[Compound words]] |
* [[Compound words]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 09:21, 27 March 2008
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 which fuses two function words.
Meaning
"Portmanteau word" may particularly refer to a blend, which is "a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings".[1]
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: in French, the words à + les (tr: to the) become the contraction aux (IPA: [o]), a single indivisible word which contains both meanings.
Origin
The usage originates in Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass (1871), in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky[2]:
- "‘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:
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."[2].
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).
Examples
Many protologisms are examples of blends, but many blends have become part of the lexicon[2]. In Punch in 1896, the word brunch (breakfast + lunch) was introduced as a "portmanteau word".[3] In 1964, the newly-independent African republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar chose the portmanteau Tanzania as its name.
Portmanteaux are also 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. Portmanteaux involving proper names are sometimes used to produce epithets such as "Scalito" (referring to Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia). 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[4]. In popular journalism it is a current practice to blend the proper names of celebrity couples, e.g. "Bennifer" to describe the relationship between the actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.
Subsequent to the Watergate Scandal, it has become popular among journalists and politicians to attach the suffix "-gate" to other words to describe contemporary scandals, e.g. "Filegate" for the White House FBI files controversy. For a more expansive list, see, List of scandals with "-gate" suffix.
See also
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary
- ^ 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
- ^ Punch, 1 August 1896, 58/2
- ^ http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002610.html Language Log: A Perilous Portmanteau?
External Links
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