Classification of Blended Words: Thematic Aspect

Abstract

The article deals with the classification of contaminated lexical units, also known as telescope words or blends. This issue has been raised in the works of some Russian and foreign linguists. However, it has not been studied systematically. As far
 as we know, researchers give their consideration to certain aspects of this problem, although they have achieved certain success. We have set the goal of summarizing
 available approaches and examples, mainly in English, but also in Russian, to create a complete and consistent classification of words formed by means of fusion.
 The second part of the paper presents a classification of blends in connection with different fields of activity, since each of them is created to designate a new object or phenomenon that combines elements of two or more words that are already
 known. We can distinguish several areas, in particular «science and technology», within which, in turn, we have designated three groups: «natural science terms and
 terminoids» correlating with various scientific disciplines (chemistry, biology, physics, etc.), «technical terms», including names of devices, «names of hybrids of living
 beings», both real and fictional. Within the «everyday life» area, the «food» groups are presented, including names of drinks, serving items, etc., «clothing», as well as
 shoes and accessories, «home» and «recreation and entertainment». Moreover, we
 have identified a number of separate groups: «politics», «economics», «art», «lin-guistics», etc. Each large group can be divided into subgroups.
 Most of the blends, as we have already noted in the first part of the article, are represented by nouns, therefore, they form the basis of each thematic group of words. However, it is possible to distinguish two groups formed almost exclusively
 by adjectives: «description of a person», including both appearance and character, and «signs of an object or phenomenon». In the end, the article draws general con-
 clusions on both parts of our research.