Is 'sqeagle' a portmanteau word?

Question

I found this really weird photograph somewhere on the net which has been given the name 'sqeagle'. I've
posted it on my Yahoo photos page so that you can take a quick look - it's really funny:
http://tinyurl.com/3ucob
Assuming that sqeagle is a blend of 'squirrel' + 'eagle', does it qualify as a portmanteau word? A portmanteau word, I thought, was a word formed by joining together the beginning and the end of two other words, eg: 'brunch', not the beginning of one word and the beginning of another.

So, if 'sqeagle' is not a portmanteau word, what is it?

Christopher ('CJ')
(Change 3032 to 77 for e-mail)

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I found this really weird photograph somewhere on the net which has been given the name 'sqeagle'. I've posted it on my Yahoo photos page so that you can take a quick look - it's really funny: [/nq]
It brings to mind the jackalope, a critter with the body of a jack rabbit and the horns of a small antelope. At one time you could buy mounted jackalopes at curio shops that catered to the tourist trade. For all I know, you still can. In fact, there are some pictures crumby pictures of a variety of jackalopes for sale at
http://www.jackalopejunction.com/Jackalopes for.html . That Web site is copyright 1999-2002, fairly recent.
Here's an excerpt from a piece about the jackalope at http://www.jackalope.org/jackalope.htm :
The carcass of a pronghorned jackalope found near
Orpha several weeks ago has fostered a harmonious investigation among several federal agencies, a local research foundation, the Douglas Chamber of
Commerce, and several 'environmental groups.
[nq:1]Assuming that sqeagle is a blend of 'squirrel' + 'eagle',[/nq]
I find "sqeagle" to be an unsatisfactory combination: It would be more clearly pronounceable if it were "squeagle".

I believe "squeagle" is a young eagle, just as "squigeon" is a young pigeon, and "squab" (also "squird") is a generic term for the young of any bird species (cf. "squarrow", "squobin", "squeagull", "squuffin" {('skwUf@n)}.)
[nq:1]does it qualify as a portmanteau word? A portmanteau word, I thought, was a word formed by joining together the beginning and the end of two other words, eg: 'brunch', not the beginning of one word and the beginning of another.[/nq]
First off, "portmanteau" may be more British than American. The word "blend" may be preferred by American linguists.

A blend is a word that combines the beginning of one word and the end of a second word. I see no reason why the whole word can't be considered the end of the word, so
"sq(u)eagle" is a proper blend, by me.
A dictionary gives "guesstimate" as one example of a blend, and it's one I've heard quite a few times. It seems clearly to be a blend of the whole of "guess" and the ending of "estimate". That is the converse of your example, but it seems to say that one half may be the whole and the other a part, thereby by implication condoning "sq(u)eagle" as a blend.
I see that "portmanteau" is etymologically a "carry cloak", which is in a way akin to "suitcase". From that etymology it isn't obvious why a blend should be called a portmanteau word. But I seem to remember that six or eight years ago, when portmanteau words were being discussed here, Mark Israel told us of a place on the Web where we could see a picture of a portmanteau. It was a garment container of the sort that has two halves that were held together by hinges on one side, both halves having space for clothing and stuff. From this sort of portmanteau it was quite evident why a blend could be called a portmanteau word.
At it says, in part
Interestingly, portmanteau itself is a blend word, originating from the French portemanteau , a
compound formed from porter (to carry) and
manteau (cloak).
This provides further justification for using a whole word for one part of a blend.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]A dictionary gives "guesstimate" as one example of a blend, and it's one I've heard quite a few times. It seems clearly to be a blend of the whole of "guess" and the ending of "estimate".[/nq]
But, come to think of it, it seems just as clearly to be parsable as a blend of the beginning of "guess" ("gues") and the ending of "estimate" ("stimate").

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I find "sqeagle" to be an unsatisfactory combination: It would be more clearly pronounceable if it were "squeagle".[/nq]
Agreed, Bob. I have changed the name of the photo on the web site accordingly.
[nq:1]First off, "portmanteau" may be more British than American. The word "blend" may be preferred by American linguists.[/nq]
Perhaps so, Bob. I'd be interested to know what other AUEers think about this. The AHD at:
http://www.bartleby.com/61/91/P0459100.html
..seems to allow 'portmanteau word' without any indication one way or the other.

Christopher ('CJ')
(Change 3032 to 77 for e-mail)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]In fact, there are some pictures crumby pictures of a variety of jackalopes for sale at[/nq]
I have always thought that the word is spelled "crummy", but I see that yours is given as an "also" spelling in M-W Online. I learned something ...
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Assuming that sqeagle is a blend of 'squirrel' + 'eagle', does it qualify as a portmanteau word?[/nq]
It'd look better with the "u" after the "q": squeagle. Portmanteau word? I think so, yes.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I found this really weird photograph somewhere on the net which has been given the name 'sqeagle'. I've posted it ... beginning of one word and the beginning of another. So, if 'sqeagle' is not a portmanteau word, what is it?[/nq]
A sure-enough portmanteau, I reckon. But why no 'u'?

Mike.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]At it says, in part Interestingly, portmanteau itself is a blend word, originating from the French portemanteau , a compound formed from porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak). This provides further justification for using a whole word for one part of a blend.[/nq]
Seems to me that "portemanteau" uses a whole word for both parts of the blend, and thus is no more a portmanteau than "suitcase" is. The "-r" in "porter" is a suffix.
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]At http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/portmant.htm it says, in part Interestingly, portmanteau itself is ... using a whole word for one part of a blend.[/nq]
[nq:1]Seems to me that "portemanteau" uses a whole word for both parts of the blend, and thus is no more a portmanteau than "suitcase" is. The "-r" in "porter" is a suffix.[/nq]
My remark pertained to the French word portemanteau , which my source assured me was formed from the French words porter and manteau . I assumed the author at the URL was implying that porte was an abbreviation of porter , which it may very well be. However, I can also imagine the porte is an appropriate form in the conjugation of the verb porter .
Anyway, I'm not sure even "suitcase" is not a portmanteau word. If the component parts are the beginning and ending of the two words, that satisfies the definition of "portmanteau word". A word itself is a special case of the beginning of that word, and it's also a special case of the ending of that word.
By the way, consider again the word "guesstimate". Phonetically speaking, it may be considered made up of the (g) of "guess" tacked onto the full word "estimate", but that doesn't work orthographically speaking, because it doesn't give you two "s"s.
If you assume that "guesstimate" is made from the full word "guess" and the "timate" from "estimate", that works both phonetically and orthographically.
But if you assume that "guesstimate" uses "gues" from "guess" and "stimate" from "estimate", then you have a portmanteau word that uses neither of its component words in full.
On another hand, The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary shows "guesstimate" with "Also guest-". With the latter spelling, my discussion above would still have the same sorts of possibilities, but would have variations in their details.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Seems to me that "portemanteau" uses a whole word for ... than "suitcase" is. The "-r" in "porter" is a suffix.[/nq]
[nq:1]My remark pertained to the French word portemanteau , which my source assured me was formed from the French ... Anyway, I'm not sure even "suitcase" is not a portmanteau word. By the way, consider again the word "guesstimate". [/nq]
I think it's important to look more at function than at form here. The two examples OED1 quotes from Humpty-Dumpty are 'slithy' and 'mimsy'. These are certainly blend-words, but differ in function from 'suitcase' and 'portemanteau' in that a thing may be at once slimy and lithe, or miserable and flimsy; a thing cannot be at the same time both suit and case, or porte and manteau.
On this horse's-mouth test 'guesstimate' is a portmanteau word: after all, we accept 'slithy', which lacks only the e of 'lithe', and to the ear has no part of 'lithe' missing.
(On porte in combination, we are more readily able to form 'x-holder' or 'case', where Fr needs the verb-form for simplicity as it's often more reluctant to omit a preposition. We can say 'x-case' or 'x-holder' etc where French would demand * case for x or * holder of x ; so French has many porte-xes .)
Mike.

Is 'sqeagle' a portmanteau word?

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