ABSTRACT
In word formation, synchronic or diachronic crossing or combining of two expressions into a single new one. Blends may develop from an unconscious or unintentional misspeaking ( speech error), e.g. in the blend of innuendo and insinuation to insinuendo, or through stylistic intent. In the latter case, a distinction may be drawn between (a) haplological blends ( hapology) in which the last part of the first word and the first part of the second word are identical (networkhorse, californicate) or in which sound and syllable elements overlap (tragicomic, guestimate); (b) neologisms involving word splitting (=true blends) (motel, eurocrat, telethon); (c) analogous formations in which a base word is replaced by a similar sounding lexeme (vidiot<video+idiot); (d) orthographic variants that are recognized as blends only from their spelling (Ronald Raygun). Blends, in comparison with more usual compounds. tend to be formed spontaneously through the close association of two words and do not themselves usually serve as models for further compounds. Because most blends can only usually be understood in context, only a very few of them (e.g. the linguistic term Franglais), are adopted into everyday language. On syntactic blends, see Paul (1880) and Bolinger (1961).
