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For other uses, see Portmanteau (disambiguation).

A portmanteau (plural: portmanteaus or portmanteaux) is a term in linguistics that refers to a word or morpheme that fuses two or more grammatical functions. A folk usage of portmanteau refers to a word that is formed by combining both sounds and meanings from two or more words (e.g. 'animatronics' from 'animation' and 'electronics'). In linguistics, these false portmanteaux are called blends. Typically, Portmanteau words are neologisms.

Etymology

This word was coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, in which it is likened to the old French word "portemanteau" for a type of travelling case or suitcase. In the book, Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice words from Jabberwocky, saying, "Well, slithy means lithe and slimy... You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word." Carroll often used such words to humorous effect in his work.

In modern French, a "portemanteau" (from "manteau" (coat) and the verb "porter", to carry) is a coat rack: it gathers at a single location the different coats of different people, hence the linguistic idea of fusing different words into one.

"Portmanteau word" was the original phrase used to describe such words (as listed in dictionaries published as late as the early 1990s), but this has since been abbreviated to simply "portmanteau" as the term (and the type of words it describes) gained popularity. "Portmanteau" is rarely used for its original meaning in current English, that type of travelling case having fallen into disuse. In Queensland, Australia, it is shortened to 'Port', and used as slang for a schoolbag.

Portmanteau morphemes

A portmanteau morpheme is a morpheme that fuses two grammatical categories (see Fusional language). The classical example of such a morpheme in English is the verbal suffix -s. This particular suffix carries (i.e., ports) at least four distinct inflectional meanings and imparts each of these onto the verb's meaning:

Singular (number)
Third-person (person)
Present (tense)
Indicative (mood)

Spanish verb suffixes are also exceptionally fusional, with very many portmanteaux in the Spanish inflectional system.

Portmanteau words

A portmanteau word is a word that fuses two function words. This use overlaps a bit with the folk term contraction, but linguists tend to avoid using the latter. Example: In French, à (to) + les (the) becomes aux (IPA: [o]), a single indivisible word that contains both meanings.

Folk usage

Outside linguistics, the words that are called blends are popularly labeled portmanteaux. The term portmanteau is used in a different, yet still not clearly defined sense, to refer to a blending of the parts of two or more words (generally the first part of one word and the ending of a second word) to combine their meanings into a single neologism.

External links

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 This word was coined by [[Lewis Carroll]] in ''[[Through the Looking-Glass|Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There]]'', in which it is likened to the [[French (language)|old French]] word "portemanteau" for a type of [[portmanteau (travelling case)|travelling case]] or [[suitcase]]. In the book, [[Humpty Dumpty]] explains to Alice words from ''[[Jabberwocky]]'', saying, "Well, ''slithy'' means ''lithe'' '''and''' ''slimy''... You see it's like a '''portmanteau'''&mdash;there are two meanings packed up into one word."  Carroll often used such words to humorous effect in his work.
-In modern French, a "porte-manteau" (from "manteau" (coat) and the verb "porter", to carry) is a coat rack: it gathers at a single location the different coats of different people, hence the linguistic idea of fusing different words into one.
+In modern French, a "portemanteau" (from "manteau" (coat) and the verb "porter", to carry) is a coat rack: it gathers at a single location the different coats of different people, hence the linguistic idea of fusing different words into one.
 "Portmanteau word" was the original phrase used to describe such words (as listed in dictionaries published as late as the early [[1990s]]), but this has since been abbreviated to simply "portmanteau" as the term (and the type of words it describes) gained popularity. "Portmanteau" is rarely used for its original meaning in current English, that type of travelling case having fallen into disuse.  In [[Queensland]], [[Australia]], it is shortened to 'Port', and used as slang for a schoolbag.