Table 4.7 Examples of Verb Blends
[N V]V [V N]V
[V V]V blamestorm blame x
brainstorm procrapstinate
procrastinate x crap commuticate commute x
communicate drunksit drunk x
babysit smilence smile x
silence hiccurp hiccup x burp
electrocute electro x execute
diworsify diversify x worse
intertwingle intertwine x intermingle
screencap screen x capture
pronunciate pronounce x enunciate
skyjack sky x hijack
refudiate refute x repudiate
webvertise web x advertise
twiddle twist x fiddle mupload mobile
x upload thrillax thrill x relax
telecast television x broadcast
fertigate fertilize x irrigate
tennistify tennis x mystify
splatter splash x spatter wordnap word x
kidnap trampede trample x
stampede
4. Adverb Blends
The last position belongs to adverb blends. Adverb blends do not have a range of variations. The result shows that there is only one possibility of adverb
blends in its formation, namely the combination of two adverbs Adv + Adv. As
shown in Table 4.8, adverb blends are only feasible when they are formed of two adverbs. For example, the blend absotively is the combination of adverb
absolutely and positively. The other examples are smore some x more, mayhaps maybe x perhaps, positutely positively x absolutely, mosdef
most x definitely, bactually but x actually, and irregardless
irrespective x regardless.
Table 4.8 Adverb Blends
[Adv Adv] Adv smore some x more
absotively absolutely x positively mayhaps maybe x perhaps
positutely positively x absolutely mosdef most x definitely
bactually but x actually irregardless irrespective x regardless
Another result shows that there is no restriction on the position of elements in blends. It can be seen in the following examples. For example, blends
cheapuccino, amtrac, and frogurt which are considered as nouns are right-headed. In cheapuccino cheap x cappuccino, the head is cappuccino and cheap is the
modifier. Treated as the head of blend, cappuccino is put in the right and cheap is put in the left since cheap modifies cappuccino. The same logical way occurs in
amtrac amphibious x tractor and frogurt frozen x yogurt. In amtrac, tractor is right-headed and amphibious is in the left. Yogurt in frogurt is put in the right,
while frozen is put in the left. However, other examples show that noun blends are not always right-headed, such as in mantastic man x fantastic and foodoholic
food x alcoholic. In mantastic and foodoholic, the heads are put in the left, while adjectives are put in the right.
C. Phonological Characteristics of the Elements Retained in English Blends
It has been mentioned that blending belongs to the prosodic morphology Plag, 2003: 116. Prosodic morphology deals with the interaction between
morphology and prosodic features in composing the structure of complex words. The study of blending is not only limited to the area of morphology but also the
area of phonology. The simple reason is that blends do not merely combine two or more elements as in word-formation process. Rather, it has to be adjusted for the
sake of pronunciation. Moreover, if the elements of blends are separated, it is not only part or element of words but also the syllable and stress assignment are
examined. It is obvious that blending also deals with syllable constituents such as onset, nucleus, coda, or rhyme and also stress assignment which are known as
prosodic properties Plag, 2003: 123. Therefore, it is needed to treat blending as a prosodic morphology which discusses the interaction between morphology word-
formation process and phonology prosodic properties. Basically, phonological descriptions deal with what so called segments the
vowel and consonant. Blends are seen as having the same characteristic as words. Thus, they consist of more than a single segment forming a complex word
suprasegmental. For the sake of articulation of suprasegments, phonological features such as syllable size and stress assignment are joined together in the
analysis so-called prosodic analysis. It is said that prosodic features are suprasegmental. In this regard, they are
not confined to any one segment, but they occur in some higher level of a word. Stress, which is the property of syllable, is one of the prosodic features. When a
syllable is stressed, the emphasis and focus are given to that syllable. Furthermore, people can easily determine whether the word is a noun or a verb by
focusing on where the syllable is stressed in a word. The phonological characteristic which can be observed in the analysis of
blends is the stress assignment. The following sections are the discussion of the stress assignment in both contiguous and noncontiguous blends.
