[Ads-l] Question About Portmanteau Words

[Ben Zimmer]

On Mon, Jul 20, 2015 at 8:07 PM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
>
> For my column in the Yale Alumni Magazine, I am writing about portmanteau
> words. I have a nitpicky question:  Portmanteau words are usually said to be
> formed by combining parts of two other words.  I would be interested in any
> opinions as to whether a combination where one of the components is
> retained in full is generally considered to be a portmanteau word.  In other
> words, "smog" is a combination of two part-words (the "sm" from "smoke" +
> the "og" from "fog"), whereas "newscast" is a combination of a full word
> ("news") with a part-word (the "cast" from "broadcast").  Is a word formed
> like "newscast" generally considered to be a portmanteau word?

I would say that the "part" of either combined word in a blend or
portmanteau may in fact be the entire word. You might want to check
out John Algeo's "Blends, a Structural and Systemic View" (American
Speech 52:1/2, Spring 1977, pp. 47-64). Algeo lays out three
categories of lexical blending: blends with overlapping (and no other
shortening), blends with clipping (and no overlapping), and blends
with clipping and overlapping. I give examples in this Language Log
post:

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002780.html

It's also useful to think about Arnold's term "libfix" (a "liberated"
word part that yields new word-forming elements):

http://arnoldzwicky.org/2010/01/23/libfixes/

A blend component may become a libfix, attaching to many possible
bases, on its way to becoming a standard combining form. The "-cast"
element, though ultimately derived from "broadcast", has become
liberated from its source. So you could say "X-cast" words like
"newscast" are formed by libfixation rather than blending. More on
this topic (including a discussion of "-cast") from Neal Whitman:

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/kudomania/

--bgz

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