Portmanteau

Portmanteau is a linguistic blend of words, in which parts of multiple words or their phones (sounds) are combined into a new word. A portmanteau word is similar to a contraction, but contractions are formed from words that would otherwise appear together in sequence, such as do and not to make don't, whereas a portmanteau word can be formed by combining parts of words that would not normally appear together.

The word "portmanteau" was first used in this context by Lewis Carroll in the book Through the Looking-Glass (1871), in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky, where "slithy" means "lithe and slimy" and "mimsy" is "flimsy and miserable". Humpty Dumpty explains the practice of combining words in various ways by telling Alice, "You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word."

Etymology

The term "portmanteau" originates from the French "porter" (to carry) and "manteau" (coat), which when combined refers to a type of luggage (portmanteau bag) that opens into two equal parts. This luggage was popular in the 19th century during the time of horse-drawn carriages.

Examples

Portmanteau words may be devised to describe a parallel between two distinct objects, such as a combination of "motor hotel" to form "motel", or to combine two existing words, such as "smoke" and "fog" to form "smog".

See also

• Blend word
• Compound (linguistics)
• Syntactic blending

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