Portmanteau Characters in Chinese.

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  • Author(s): BRANNER, DAVID PRAGER
  • Source:
    Journal of the American Oriental Society. Jan-Mar2011, Vol. 131 Issue 1, p73-82. 10p.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      PORTMANTEAU words; CHINESE characters; COMPARATIVE grammar; SYLLABLE (Grammar); SEMANTICS; PHONOLOGY
    • Abstract:
      The article reviews several portmanteaux characters and considers their place in Chinese grammatology. It examines the grammatical motivation of portmanteau by comparing portmanteau graphs with ligatures or single-graph renderings of multi-syllable words. Several examples of portmanteaux characters are cited and a summary of the diverse semantic and phonological associations of the seven portmanteau graphs in modern use is presented.