blending (n.)

A process found in the analysis of GRAMMATICAL and LEXICAL CONSTRUCTIONS, in which two ELEMENTS which do not normally co-occur, according to the RULES of the language, come together within a single LINGUISTIC UNIT (a blend). In GRAMMAR, the process is illustrated by such syntactic blends as It’s his job is the problem, a combination of the SENTENCES It’s his job and His job is the problem. In LEXIS, ‘blending’ is a common source of new WORDS through ABBREVIATION (though not all become standard), e.g. brunch, Interpol and Eurovision. The term is also used by some PSYCHOLINGUISTS for a type of TONGUE-SLIP involving the FUSION of two target words, e.g. swurse for swear + curse.

A theory within COGNITIVE SEMANTICS that seeks to explain how extended ANALOGIES and complex novel METAPHORS are constructed and interpreted; also called conceptual bleeding or conceptual integration.