CC BY
70DOI: 10.18522/2070-1403-2021-84-1-111-116
ФИЛОЛОГИЯ
(специальность: 10.02.19)
УДК 81
Gulnara F. Khakimova, Leysan R. Katieva
Bashkir State University. Ufa, Russian Federation katievaleisan@yandex.ru
BLENDING AS ONE OF THE WAYS OF WORD-FORMATION
[Г.Ф. Хакимова, Л.Р. Катиева Блендинг как один из способов словообразования]
It is discussed the process of forming new words by blending and the typology of this method of word formation. Blend is a method of word formation that became widespread in English only in the XX century, although, according to some scientists, it appeared long before the XIX century. This method consists of merging two words into one. The resulting formation includes the lexical meanings of both words from which it was originated. Usually a new unit of speech (actually, the blend itself) consists of the initial part of one word - "donor" and the final part of another. Thanks to this method of word formation, a huge number of new and very capacious words have appeared in the language, which we can now meet in the field of politics, advertising, mass media, as well as in everyday speech.
Key words: English language, lexicology, ways of word-formation, word-formation, blending, blends, splinter, typologies of blending, classes of blending, dvandva blend.
Everything in the world is changing. The language is not exception: some words have become archaic and they are not used in everyday speech now, but we find a lot of new ones commonly used in daily life. So, our vocabulary is changing, too. The formation of new words occurs because people need to express new concepts, and that is the result of the development of science, technology, and culture. There are many ways to form words in English, for example, conversion ((to) picture (verb) - picture (noun), close (verb) - close (adjective), fox (verb) - fox (noun)), composition (father + in + law = father-in-law, grand + mother = grandmother), watch + man = watchman), shortening (telephone - phone), affixation (sub + group= subgroup) and finally blending (documentary + drama = docudrama). The last of the types considered - blending - is one of the most actual today. Word formation using blending is a fairly common
method of word formation, which has its own characteristics. Blending is a process involving the merging of two or more fragments of words into a new unit of language. There is definition on Cambridge English Corpus [5]: "to mix or combine together", what helps us to imagine a blender that is designed for chopping food, preparing mixes, purees, and drinks. So, we see that it means the method of merging parts of words into one new word.
Linguists have different interpretations of the word-formation process what we are analyzing and units of this word-formation type, which are called blends. In modern linguistics is used a number of names as a way for denoting of blending as a way of the formation of new words. The term "blending", according to A. Anar-son, means a combination of two or more forms, in which one word has been reduced. The contraction can be done by simply omitting part of a word, or it can be the result of overlapping sounds or letters [1, 120]. Gries gives the following definition of this term: "blending implies the creation of new tokens by combining parts of two other words; and at least one of them has been cut" [2, 543]. C. Hock-ett defines "blending" as a variety, a subtype of analogy; the result of this process can be either reiteration of what was said or heard earlier, or innovation [3, 134].
Scientists have different opinions about the nature of blending, some consider it an independent way of word-formation, others attribute it to an abbreviation or peripheral way of word-formation. Many linguists distinguish typologies of blending. A. Lehrer gives one of the most complete classifications of blend structural subtypes. It organizes blends into 5 main types:
1. the simplest type of blends - first there is a full word, then splinter: winter-tainment = winter + entertainment.
2. blends starting with splinter: narcoma = narcotic + coma; cinemenace = cinema + menace.
3. blends consisting of two splinters. Two options are possible here:
a) the end part of one word follows the start part of another word: psycher-gy = physic + energy; cheriodical = cheery + periodical.
b) both splinters are the beginning of words: biopic = biographical + picture; sitcom = situation + comedy.
4. this type of blend contains the composition of one or more morphemes, often entire syllables: ocacolonization = Coca Cola + colonization; cashmira-cle = cashmere + miracle; cattitude = cat + attitude.
5. a less common type of blend implies a discontinuous element. The word or "truncated element" is a required part of the word as an infix: chortle = chuckle + snort; enshocklopedia = encyclopedia + shock [4, 116].
Also the typology of blends in the study by A. Enarson is presented in sufficient detail and clearly. She divides the blends into several classes. The first class includes:
1. blends with partial reiteration. In this example, you can clearly see that the final part of the first word is "superimposed" on the first part of the second word: slanguage = slang + language.
2. blends with full truncation - the first word remains and the final part of the second word is used: foodoholic = food + alcoholic; fanzine = fan + magazine.
3. truncation at the border of the morpheme. Blends formed by usual truncation are often shorthand: Oxbridge = Oxford + Cambridge.
4. some blends are formed through both truncation and reiteration. This type is characterized by a large number of examples. Here are a few of them: Cali-fornication = Californi+ fornicate; suspose = suspect + suppose; Hungarican = Hungarian + American [1, 120].
The second class is characterized by systematic categories:
1. syntagmatic blends are those blends that represent a combination of words that appear next to each other in the speech chain: Chicagoralla = Chicago + gorilla; Radarange = radar + range.
2. associative - blends created by words that are connected in the mind of a native speaker. These words contain morphemes and affixes or sounds common to the original words: bonk = bump + conk; swellegant = swell + elegant; needcessity = need + necessity [1, 120].
According to the third classification, A. Anarson notes that if blends belong to the paradigmatic class, but are not synonyms, then they are called "dvandva blend". This term is borrowed from Sanskrit grammar. The word "smog", derived from the words "smoke" and "fog", is an example of such a blend [1, 120]. Synonymous words and dvandva blends are the same, as words can replace each other: bumped, conked, bonked. Those blends whose source words are associated with each other, but are not interchangeable, are called mixed: foodoholic = food + holic.
Blends exist in many spheres of human life: in everyday life, technical terminology, names of organizations, companies, brands, but most often they are found in fiction and trade. Having studied them, we have collected a card-index of blends:
• AAAsking = AAA ( highestratings) + asking - a request from the company to assign it the highest degree of reliability, the so-called "three A" rating.
• Abracurldabra = abra-cadabra + curl - hair curler.
• Abusak = abuse + Muzak - constant and annoying use of popular music in stores.
• Adultrike = adult + tricycle - the name of a tricycle.
• Africanimal = Africa + animal - any animal that lives in Africa.
• Alphametic = alphabet + arithmetic - a math problem represented as letters, not numbers.
• Americards = American + cards - Christmas greeting cards.
• Ameringlish = American + English - American version of the English language.
• Amoration = amour + adoration - deep love for something.
• Anticipatering = anticipate + catering - timely supply of the population with goods and services.
• Applemon = apple + lemon is a hybrid of apple and lemon.
• Babblecture = babble + lecture is a long, tedious, meaningless lecture.
• Banevolent = benevolent + malevolent - pretending to be good, but in reality evil (about a person).
• Beefaroni = beef + macaroni - name of the dish: pasta with meat.
• Bisquick = biscuit + quick - quick baked cookies.
• Blupper = breakfast + lunch + supper - a meal once a day combining breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• Boodocracy = boob + democracy - power of stupid people.
• Cassignle = cassette + single - audio cassette with one or two songs recorded.
• Cerail = cereal + serial - cornflakes that are eaten while watching the series.
• Cinderelative = Cinderella + relative - a relative who lives in the house as Cinderella.
• Cinemaddict = cinema + addict - someone who loves going to cinemas.
• Cinemammoth = cinema + mammoth is a very expensive film.
• Coffezilla = coffee + Godzilla - very strong coffee.
• Combots = computer + robots + combat - a computer games manufacturer.
• Constabulary = constant + vocabulary - active vocabulary of students.
• Dawning = dawn + awning - meeting the dawn in a tent while traveling.
• Diabesity = diabetes + obesity - obesity as a consequence of diabetes.
• Diagonalley = diagonally + alley - a street that only wizards walk (from the Harry Potter series).
• DisTRACKt = distract + track - to distract attention during a telephone conversation so that the police can locate the criminal.
• Dole-drums = dole + doldrums - depression as a result of lack of work.
• Doughtel = dough + hotel - an expensive hotel.
• Draining = drain + raining - long and tiring rain.
• Dwancery = dine + wine + dancery - an evening with a hearty lunch, wine consumption and dancing.
• Ecotage = ecological + sabotage - aggressive actions.
• Eggcessories = egg + accessories is a maker of Easter egg decorations.
• Fabulash = fabulous + lash - mascara.
• Falter = fall + winter - autumn turning into winter.
• Fel-icity = felicity + city - a city where living makes a person happy.
• Fewteen = few + fifteen - a number from 12 to 15.
• Fillyrics = fillin + lyrics - poetry of low quality, taking up a lot of space, but meaningless.
• fLUCKtuation = luck + flucktuation - price volatility in the market as an advantageous position for some private entrepreneurs.
• Forgettitude = forget + attitude - a life position in which a person tends to forget unpleasant incidents.
• Forgotograph = forgot + photograph - a photograph that has been forgotten.
• Franglais = French + Anglais is a mixture of French and English.
• Free-for-oil = free-for-oil + free-for-all - strikes due to changes in oil policy.
• Gamblous = gamble + hazardous - inclined to adventures, risk, gambling.
• Glamorous = gams + glamorous - has beautiful legs.
• Garlion = garlic + onion - a hybrid of garlic and onion.
• Genrelization = genre + realization - methods and means by which a particular artistic genre is realized.
• Glamazone = glamor + amazon + amazing - a beautiful and strong woman.
• Habitrail = habit + trail is a manufacturer of pet food and accessories.
• Hackvisit = hack + activist - a person who is overly active.
• Hallephant = hall + elephant - a large, overweight, clumsy person with whom it is difficult to disperse in the corridor.
• Himmer = him + her - an effeminate man.
• Huminal = human + animal is a scientist who seeks to develop a means of communication between animals and humans.
• Bleen = bleu + green - aqua.
• Femaleader = female + leader - female leader.
• Godness = goddess + goodness - a good goddess.
Thus, blending is not only the freshest product cooked in a blender, but also a way to form the well-known words "Forex" (FOReign EXchange - "foreign exchange"), "motel", "smog" and more. Thanks to this method of word formation, a huge number of new and very capacious words have appeared in the language, which we can now find in the field of politics, advertising, the media, as well as in everyday speech. Blending, being one of the methods of word formation, has universal general linguistic characteristics that manifest themselves at various linguistic levels, as well as national characteristics that reflect the consciousness and perception of reality by the bearers of a particular linguistic culture.
R E F E R E N C E S
1. Enarson A. New blends in the English Language Hostterminen, 2006. 120 p.
2. Gries St. Th. Cognitive determinants of subtractive word-formation: a corpus-based perspective // Cognitive Linguistics №17. 2006. P. 535-588.
3. Hockett Ch. Course in Modern English. Language Learning. Miley Online Library, 1968. 134 pp.
4. Lehrer A. Lexical Creativity, Texts and Contexts. University of Pisa, 2007. 116 pp.
5. https://www.cambridge.org/gb/cambridgeenglish/better-learning-insights/corpus
_20 октября 2020 г.
