"Blending" redirects here. For alpha blending see Alpha compositing. For other uses see Blend (disambiguation).

In linguistics a blend is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. These parts are sometimes but not always morphemes. Contents 1 Linguistics 1.1 Formation 1.1.1 Blending of two roots 1.1.2 Lexical selection 2 Use 3 See also 4 References Linguistics

Blends deal with the action of abridging and then combining various lexemes to form a new word. However the process of defining which words are true blends and which are not is more complicated. The difficulty comes in determining which parts of a new word are "recoverable" (its root can be distinguished).1

There are many types of blends based on how they are formed. Algeo a linguist proposed dividing blends into three groups1 : Phonemic Overlap: a syllable or part of a syllable is shared between two words Clipping: the shortening of two words and then compounding them Phonemic Overlap and Clipping: shortening of two words to a shared syllable and then compounding

However classification of types of blends is not standard among all linguists. Formation

Most blends are formed by one of the following methods: The beginning of one word is added to the end of the other (see portmanteau). For example brunch is a blend of breakfast and lunch. simultaneous (5) + broadcast (2) simulcast (3 exception) smoke (1) + fog (1) smog (1) spoon (1) + fork (1) spork (1) The beginnings of two words are combined. For example cyborg is a blend of cybernetic and organism. Two words are blended around a common sequence of sounds. For example the word Californication from a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is a blend of California and fornication and the word motel is a blend of motor and hotel Multiple sounds from two component words are blended while mostly preserving the sounds' order. Poet Lewis Carroll was well known for these kinds of blends. An example of this is the word slithy a blend of lithe and slimy. This method is difficult to achieve and is considered a sign of Carroll's verbal wit.citation needed

When two words are combined in their entirety the result is considered a compound word rather than a blend. For example bagpipe is a compound not a blend of bag and pipe. Blending of two roots

Blending can also apply to roots rather than words for instance in Israeli Hebrew. "Israeli dakhpr bulldozer hybridizes (Mishnaic Hebrew>>)Israeli dp push and (Biblical Hebrew>>)Israeli pr dig... Israeli shiltt zapping surfing the channels flipping through the channels derives from (i) (Hebrew>)Israeli shalt remote control an ellipsis like English remote (but using the noun instead) of the (widely known) compound shalt rakhk cf. the Academy of the Hebrew Languages shalt rkhak; and (ii) (Hebrew>)Israeli shitt wandering vagrancy. Israeli shiltt was introduced by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in ... 1996. Synchronically it might appear to result from reduplication of the final consonant of shalt remote control. Another example of blending which has also been explained as mere reduplication is Israeli gakhlilt fire-fly glow-fly Lampyris. This coinage by Hayyim Nahman Bialik blends (Hebrew>)Israeli gakhlet burning coal with (Hebrew>)Israeli lyla night. Compare this with the unblended khakhlilt (black) redstart Phnicurus (<<Biblical Hebrew dull red reddish). Synchronically speaking though most native Israeli-speakers feel that gakhlilt includes a reduplication of the third radical of gl. This is incidentally how Ernest Klein2 explains gakhlilt. Since he is attempting to provide etymology his description might be misleading if one agrees that Hayyim Nahman Bialik had blending in mind."3

"There are two possible etymological analyses for Israeli Hebrew kaspr bank clerk teller. The first is that it consists of (Hebrew>)Israeli ksef money and the (International/Hebrew>)Israeli agentive suffix - -r. The second is that it is a quasi-portmanteau word which blends ksef money and (Hebrew>)Israeli spr count. Israeli Hebrew kaspr started as a brand name but soon entered the common language. Even if the second analysis is the correct one the final syllable - -r apparently facilitated nativization since it was regarded as the Hebrew suffix - -r (probably of Persian pedigree) which usually refers to craftsmen and professionals for instance as in Mendele Mocher Sforims coinage smartutr rag-dealer."4 Lexical selection Main article: portmanteau

Blending may occur with an error in lexical selection the process by which a speaker uses his semantic knowledge to choose words. Lewis Carroll's explanation which gave rise to the use of 'portmanteau' for such combinations was: 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."5 The errors are based on similarity of meanings rather than phonological similarities and the morphemes or phonemes stay in the same position within the syllable6. Use This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011) Some languages like Japanese encourage the shortening and merging of borrowed foreign words (as in gairaigo) because they are long or difficult to pronounce in the target language. For example karaoke a combination of the Japanese word kara (meaning empty) and the clipped form oke of the English loanword "orchestra" (J. kesutora ) is a Japanese blend that has entered the English language. Many corporate brand names trademarks and initiatives as well as names of corporations and organizations themselves are blends. For example Wiktionary one of Wikipedia's sister projects is a blend of wiki and dictionary. Also Nabisco is a blend of the initial syllables of National Biscuit Company. See also Look up blend in Wiktionary the free dictionary. Acronym and initialism Amalgamation (names) Clipping (morphology) Compound (linguistics) Conceptual blending Contraction (grammar) Phono-semantic matching Portmanteau word Syllabic abbreviation Wiktionary Category:English blends References a b Gries Stefan Th. (2004). "Shouldn't it be breakfunch A quantitative analysis of blend structure in English". Linguistics 42 (3): 639667. http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/faculty/stgries/research/BlendsLinguistics.pdf. Retrieved 2011-03-24.  Klein Ernest (1987). A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language. Jerusalem: Carta.  See p. 97. Zuckermann Ghil'ad (2003). Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-1723-X.  See p. 66. Zuckermann 2003 p. 67. Carroll Lewis (2009). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-955829-2.  Fromkin Victoria; Rodman R. and Hyams N. (2007). An Introduction to Language (Eighth ed.). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 1-4130-1773-8.