What is the difference between blending and portmanteau?

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What is the difference between blending and portmanteau?

Blending and portmanteau are both processes in word formation, but they differ in their specific mechanisms and outcomes.

Blending refers to the creation of a new word by combining parts of two or more existing words. In this process, the initial parts of one word and the final parts of another word are fused together to form a new word. The resulting blend often retains some phonetic elements from both original words. For example, the word "brunch" is a blend of "breakfast" and "lunch," combining the initial part of "breakfast" and the final part of "lunch."

On the other hand, portmanteau is a type of blending that involves the merging of two or more words where some sounds or letters are omitted or altered. In portmanteau, the resulting word is a combination of the meanings and sounds of the original words, but it may not necessarily retain phonetic elements from both words. A well-known example of a portmanteau is the word "smog," which combines "smoke" and "fog" but does not retain any specific phonetic elements from either word.

In summary, blending involves combining parts of two or more words to create a new word, while portmanteau is a specific type of blending where sounds or letters are omitted or altered in the process. Both processes contribute to the expansion of vocabulary and the creation of new words in language.