Definition:
In literature, this device refers to the practice of joining together two or more words in order to create an entirely new word. This is often done in order to create a name or word for something by combining the individual characteristics of 2 or more other words.
Example:
1. The word “smog” is a portmanteau that was built combining “fog” and “smoke” and “smog” has the properties of both fog and smoke.
2. Liger= Lion + Tiger= A hybrid of the two feline species, possessing characteristics of both.
Brexit is the portmanteau of my life
Brexit means Brexit
George Orwell’s 1984
Would Newspeak count as this?
This is like chortle- chuckle + snort by Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll coined the term “Portmanteau”
When Humpty Dumpty is reciting the Jabberwocky for Alice, he describes the nonsense words as packing words together into one, like a portmanteau (suitcase). 🙂