Bohemica Olomucensia 2025, 17(2):64-87 | DOI: 10.5507/bo.2025.017

How Much Do You Gain and Lose in Blending?

Adam Bajza
Department of German Studies
Faculty of Arts
University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava
Nám. J. Herdu 2
917 01 Trnava

Tento článek se zaměřuje především na teoretické otázky související s jazykovou ekonomií s ohledem na lexikální křížení. Předkládáme pojetí křížených slov a jejich struktury se zaměřením na angličtinu a slovenštinu. Výsledkem našich pozorování je odlišné vnímání strukturních typů, které tvoří základ pro tvorbu křížených slov. Dosud stanovené strukturní typy nelze považovat za jednoznačné. Jazyková realita poukazuje na to, že již nejsou uspokojivé, neboť křížená slova jsou značně nepředvídatelná. Proto se zaměříme na několik aspektů zabývajících se jazykovou ekonomií a tím, jak mohou být křížená slova tvořená nejen pozitivně, ale i negativně. Jinými slovy, zaměříme se na ta křížená slova, která jsou naprosto srozumitelná, stejně jako ta, která jsou poměrně obtížně dešifrovatelná v závislosti na tom, jestli jsou použitá výchozí slova zachována, nebo vynechána. Je třeba zdůraznit, že není možné jednoznačně určit, zda jsou křížená slova strukturně dobře utvořená, či nikoli. Záleží zejména na dalších aspektech, jako je záměr, stylistická kritéria, komunikační vlastnosti atd.

Keywords: jazyková ekonomie; křížená slova; efektivita; zachování výchozích slov; rozpoznatelnost

This article focuses primarily on theoretical issues related to linguistic economy with regard to lexical blending. We present the concept of blended words and their structure with a focus on English and Slovak. The result of our observations is a different perception of the structural types that form the basis for the creation of blended words. The structural types established so far cannot be considered unambiguous. Linguistic reality shows that they are no longer satisfactory, as crosswords are highly unpredictable. Therefore, we will focus on several aspects of linguistic economy and how crosswords can be formed not only positively but also negatively. In other words, we will focus on those crosswords that are completely understandable, as well as those that are relatively difficult to decipher, depending on whether the source words are retained or omitted. It should be emphasized that it is not possible to determine unequivocally whether crosswords are structurally well formed or not. It depends mainly on other aspects, such as intention, stylistic criteria, communicative properties, etc.

Keywords: linguistic economy; crosswords; efficiency; preservation of source words; recognizability

Received: March 31, 2025; Revised: October 12, 2025; Accepted: November 17, 2025; Published: February 15, 2026  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Bajza, A. (2025). How Much Do You Gain and Lose in Blending? Bohemica Olomucensia, 17(2), 64-87. doi: 10.5507/bo.2025.017
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)

    • References

    1. ALGEO, John. 1993. Fifty Years Among the New Words: A Dictionary of neologisms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    2. ALGEO, John. 1977. "Blends, a Structural and Systemic View." American Speech 52(1/2), pp. 47-64. Go to original source...
    3. ALGEO, John. 2010. The Origins and Development of the English Languages. Boston: Wadsworth.
    4. ARNOLD, I., V. 1986. A Lexicology of Modern English: Textbook. Moscow: Moscow Vysšaja Škola.
    5. BAJZA, Adam. 2024a. "Blending from Cross-Linguistic English-Slovak Perspective." In LOQUERE 5. Eds. Adam Bajza, Tomáš Gašpar, Alexandra Hudáková, Tamara Mujkošová, Kristián Valachovič a Laura Vasiliauskaité. Trnava: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave, pp. 216-227.
    6. BAJZA, Adam. 2024b. "Insights into the principles of forming blends in comparison with other word-formation processes." In Varia 32: Zborník príspevkov z 32. kolokvia mladých jazykovedcov. Eds. Soňa Rešovská, Stanislava Spáčilová a Miroslava Kyseľová. Prešov: Prešovská univerzita v Prešove, pp. 13-20.
    7. BALTEIRO, Isabel. 2013. "Blending in English Charactoons." English Studies 94(8), pp. 883-907. Go to original source...
    8. BARRENA JURADO, Alejandro. 2019. "A study of the 'wordgasm': the nature of blends' splinters." Lexis 14, pp. 1-49. Go to original source...
    9. BAUER, Laurie. 1983. English Word-Formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Go to original source...
    10. BAUER, Laurie. 2012. "Core and periphery." In Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Lexical Blending. Eds. Vincent Renner, François Maniez a Pierre Arnaud. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, pp. 11-22. Go to original source...
    11. BORKOVÁ, Lýdia. 2018. "Slovak Blends in Changing Times." In Cudzie jazyky v premenách času VIII. Recenzovaný zborník príspevkov z medzinárodnej vedeckej konferencie. Ed. Roman Kvapil. Bratislava: Ekonóm, pp. 40-54.
    12. BÖHMEROVÁ, Adela. 2009. "Cross-Linguistic Word-Formative Interference Influence of English on Neologisms in Slovak." In Culture Language and Literature Across Border Regions. Eds. Pavol Štekauer, Slavka Tomaščíková a Władysław Witalisz. Krosno: Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa, pp. 145-156.
    13. BÖHMEROVÁ, Adela. 2010. Blending As Lexical Amalgamation and Its Onomatological and Lexicographical Status in English and in Slovak. Bratislava: ŠEVT.
    14. BÖHMEROVÁ, Adela. 2014. "Recent Word-Formative Tendencies in English and Their Cross-Linguistic Impact." In Contemporary Issues on Linguistics and Language. LILA '14 Linguistics and Language Conference Proceedings. Istanbul: Dakam, pp. 63-75.
    15. BÖHMEROVÁ, Adela. 2015a. "Udomácnení hostia? Nahliadnutie do prítomnosti anglicizmov a dynamiky ich vplyvu na jazykové roviny súčasnej slovenčiny." In Človek a jeho jazyk 3. Ed. Mária Šimková. Bratislava: VEDA, pp. 302-313.
    16. BÖHMEROVÁ, Adela. 2015b. "Words - Or Not Yet?." Hradec Králové Journal of Anglophone Studies 2(1), pp. 68-79.
    17. BÖHMEROVÁ, Adela. 2016. "K systémovým a lingvokultúrnym aspektom anglickej slovotvorby v porovnaní so slovenčinou." In Lingvokultúrna determinácia lexiky v anglofónnom a slovenskom kontexte. Eds. Adela Böhmerová a Jozef Lonek. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského Bratislava, pp. 17-60.
    18. CARROLL, Lewis. 1872. Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. London: Macmillan and Co.
    19. COOK, Paul. 2012. "Using social media to find English lexical blends." In Proceedings of the 15th EURALEX International Congress. Eds. Ruth Vatvedt Fjeld a Julie Matilde Torjusen. Oslo: Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo, pp. 846-854.
    20. CRYSTAL, David. 2008. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Go to original source...
    21. DOLNÍK, Juraj. 2002. "Ohrozujú anglicizmy slovenčinu?" In Studia Academica Slovaca. 31. Prednášky XXXVIII. letnej školy slovenského jazyka a kultúry. Ed. Jozef Mlacek. Bratislava: Stimul - Centrum informatiky a vzdelávania FF UK, pp. 31-41.
    22. DUDÍK, Ľuboš. 2017. "Changing Vocabulary in a Changing Culture: A Study of Contemporary Culture-related Vocabulary." In Challenges of Anglophone Language(s) Literatures and Cultures. Eds. Alena Kačmárová a Bavjola Shatro. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars of Publishing, pp. 21-32.
    23. DUDOK, Miroslav. 2012. "Aktualizácia cudzích slov v medzijazykovej komunikácii." In Jazykoveda v pohybe. Ed. Alena Bohunická. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského Bratislava, pp. 264-273.
    24. ENTLOVÁ, Gabriela a MALÁ, Eva. 2020. "The occurrence of anglicisms in the Czech and Slovak lexicons." XLinguea 13(2), pp. 140-148. Go to original source...
    25. FANDRYCH, Ingrid. 2008. "Submorphemic elements in the formation of acronyms, blends and clippings." Lexis 2, pp. 103-121. Go to original source...
    26. FILIPOVIĆ, Rudolf. 1996. "English as a word donor to other languages of Europe." In English Language in Europe. Ed. Reinhard Hartmann. Oxford: Intellect, pp. 37-46.
    27. GRIES, Stefan Thomas. 2004. "Isn't that Fantabulous? How Similarity Motivates Intentional Morphological Blends in English." In Language, Culture, and Mind. Eds. Michel Achard a Suzanne Kemmer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 415-428.
    28. HANKS, Patrick. 2013. Lexical Analysis: Norms and Exploitations. Cambridge: MIT Press. Go to original source...
    29. Jeremić Danilović, Jelena a Josijević, Jelena. 2019. "To blends so as to brand: a study of trademarks and brand names." Lexis 14, pp. 1-16. Go to original source...
    30. Jesenská, Petra. 2014. "Early 21st Century Neologisms in English." Hradec Králové Journal of Anglophone Studies 1(2), pp. 85-92.
    31. Jesenská, Petra. 2016. "Analysis of Neological Anglicisms used in Slovak from Aspects of Orthography and Frequency in the Slovak National Corpus." European Journal of Social and Human Sciences 12(4), pp. 152-159.
    32. Kumorová, Zdenka. 2015. Základy teórie spisovného jazyka a jazykovej kultúry. Trnava: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave.
    33. Kvetko, Pavol. 2015. English Lexicology: In Theory and Practice. Trnava: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave.
    34. Lančarič, Daniel a Hroteková, Michaela. 2023. "Neológia a neografia v angličtine." In Neologizmy a neologizácia v lingvistickej reflexii. Ed. Martin Ološtiak. Prešov: Prešovská univerzita v Prešove, pp. 471-494.
    35. Lehrer, Adrienne. 1996. "Identifying and interpreting blends: An experimental approach." Cognitive Linguistics 7(4), pp. 359-390. Go to original source...
    36. Lehrer, Adrienne. 2003. "Understanding trendy neologisms." Rivista di Linguistica 15(2), pp. 369-382.
    37. Lehrer, Adrienne. 2007. "Blendalicious." In Lexical Creativity, Texts and Contexts. Ed. Judith Munat. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co., pp. 115-133. Go to original source...
    38. Lipka, Leonhard. 2002. An Outline of English Lexicology: Lexical Structure, Word Semantics, and Word-Formation. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag GmbH & Co. KG.
    39. Liptáková, Ľudmila. 2000. Okazionalizmy v hovorenej slovenčine. Prešov: Náuka.
    40. López Rúa, Paula. 2012. "Beyond all reasonable transgression: Lexical blending in alternative music." In Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Lexical Blending. Eds. Vincent Renner, François Maniez a Pierre Arnaud. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, pp. 23-34. Go to original source...
    41. Marchand, Hans. 1960. The Categories and Types of Present-day English Word-Formation: A synchronic-diachronic approach. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
    42. Mathesius, Vilém. 1975. A Functional Analysis of Present Day English on a General Linguistic Basis. Praha: Academia. Go to original source...
    43. Mattiello, Elisa. 2019. "A corpus-based analysis of new English blends." Lexis 14, pp. 80-125.
    44. Mattiello, Elisa. 2022. "Blend recognisability in English as a Foreign Language: An experiment." Lingue e Linguaggi 54, pp. 31-51.
    45. Miller, Gery. 2014. English Lexicogenesis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Go to original source...
    46. Ološtiak, Martin. 2015. "Výskum slovenskej slovotvorby v poslednom štvrťstoročí: II. časť." Slovenská reč 80(1-2), pp. 20-36.
    47. Orgoňová, Oľga a Bohunická, Alena. 2011. Lexikológia slovenčiny: Učebné texty a cvičenia. Bratislava: Stimul.
    48. Pound, Louise. 1914. Blends, their relation to English word formation. Heidelberg: Carl Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung.
    49. Renner, Vincent, Maniez, François a Arnaud, Pierre. 2012. "Introduction: A bird's-eye view of lexical blending." In Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives onLexical Blending. Eds. Vincent Renner, François Maniez a Pierre Arnaud. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, pp. 1-9. Go to original source...
    50. Renner, Vincent. 2015. "Lexical Blending as Wordplay." In Wordplay and Metalinguistic / Metadiscursive Reflection. Eds. Angelika Zirker a Esme Winter-Froemel. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, pp. 119-133. Go to original source...
    51. Renwick, Adam a Renner, Vincent. 2019. "New lexical blends in The Simpsons: a formal analysis of English nonce formations and their French translations." Lexis 14, pp. 272-296. Go to original source...
    52. Smith, Chris. 2014. "The phonesthetics of blends: A lexicographic study of cognitive blends in the OED." ExELL 2(1), pp. 12-45. Go to original source...
    53. Soudek, Lev. 1967. Structure of Substandard Words in British and American English. Bratislava: SAV.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content