Portmanteau Word/morph (linguistics)
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 or more morphemes in one morph. E.g. in the Latin word animalis the ending -is is a portmanteau morph because it is used for two morphemes: the singularity and the genitive case. In English two separate morphs are used (of an animal).
The term may also be extended to include contractions. Examples of such combinations include:
Language | Combination | Portmanteau |
---|---|---|
Portuguese | de o | do |
a aquele | àquele | |
de ela | dela | |
em um | num | |
French | à le | au |
à les | aux | |
de le | du | |
de les | des | |
en les | ès | |
German | in das | ins |
in dem | im | |
zu dem | zum | |
zu der | zur | |
Irish | de an | den |
do an | don | |
Spanish | a el | al |
de el | del | |
Italian | a il | al |
a la | alla | |
a lo | allo | |
a l' | all' | |
a i | ai | |
a gli | agli | |
a le | alle | |
di il | del | |
di la | della | |
di lo | dello | |
di l' | dell' | |
di i | dei | |
di gli | degli | |
di le | delle | |
da il | dal | |
da la | dalla | |
da lo | dallo | |
da l' | dall' | |
da i | dai | |
da gli | dagli | |
da le | dalle | |
Cornish | a an | a'n |
Welsh | i ein | i'n |
o ein | o'n | |
West Frisian | bist do | bisto |
yn de | yn 'e |
This usage has been referred to as "portmanteau morph."
While in Portuguese, French, and Spanish the use of the short forms is obligatory, German and Cornish speakers may freely choose the form they use.
Read more about this topic: Portmanteau
Famous quotes containing the word word:
“What drivel it all is!... A string of words called religion. Another string of words called philosophy. Half a dozen other strings called political ideals. And all the words either ambiguous or meaningless. And people getting so excited about them theyll murder their neighbours for using a word they dont happen to like. A word that probably doesnt mean as much as a good belch. Just a noise without even the excuse of gas on the stomach.”
—Aldous Huxley (18941963)