I learned a new word-related thing today, so I’m sharing it!
A portmanteau (
i/pɔːrtˈmæntoʊ/, /ˌpɔːrtmænˈtoʊ/; plural portmanteaus or portmanteaux /–ˈtoʊz/) or portmanteau word is a linguistic blend of words,[1] in which parts of multiple words or their phones (sounds) are combined into a new word,[1][2][3] as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog,[2][4] or motel, from motor and hotel.[5] In linguistics, a portmanteau is defined as a single morph that represents two or more morphemes.[6][7][8][9]
The definition overlaps with the grammatical term 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 is formed by combining two or more existing words that all relate to a singular concept which the portmanteau describes. A portmanteau also differs from a compound, which does not involve the truncation of parts of the stems of the blended words. For instance, starfish is a compound, not a portmanteau, of star and fish; whereas a hypothetical portmanteau of star and fish might be stish.
–Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau)
One of the things I love about language is that there is always more to learn!
Happy Friday!
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