Abstract:
The fact that lexical blending cau ses shorlening is often taken as evidence that this morphological process is subtTactive. This paper argues that the classification of lexical blending within subu"active morphology is accurate for syntagmatie blends, but inaccurate for associative blends because, while the shortening of the form er is the product of deletion, that of the lalter is the result of extensive overlapping. Through the use of fa ithful and unfaithful multiple-correspondence relationships, it is demonstrated that associative blending consists of supe rimposing one word upon another one. Although the output word is shorter than the sum of the input words, no part of the input is left completely unrepresented in the output.