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If I have two words - let's say "lamp" and "vampire" and I put all of their letters together to form a new fantasy word. e.g. "vapamlimper" does this process have a name?

I already considered terms like portmanteau or blend word but they don't quite hit the spot.

This is also not a pure neologism as there is an additional rule to it (must be all letters of two existing words).

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    Neologism: collinsdictionary.com/it/dizionario/inglese/neologism
    – user 66974
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 18:55
  • It's a neologism with a twist though because it is restricted to the letters of two existing words, maybe there is something more specific?
    – Oliver Bestwalter
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 19:04
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    This is a special type of anagram. I don't know if there's a common name for this kind of anagram. If not, I'd coin "multi-word anagram."
    – Juhasz
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 19:21
  • The thing is though that an anagram creates already existing words from other existing words and this one is creating a new word from two existing words so maybe a ... New-O-Duogram :)
    – Oliver Bestwalter
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 19:33

2 Answers 2

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The National Puzzlers' League maintains a guide to wordplay terminology that has a few terms that might be useful. Some of these terms are commonly used, and others were coined by NPL members.

  • transposal is any rearrangement of letters from a word or phrase to another word or phrase
  • anagram, as defined by NPL, is a transposal where one arrangement forms a clue or description of the second arrangement. NPL imposes some additional rules for good anagrams; these are at the link.
  • alternade would work, if your single word were formed by taking one letter at a time from each of the source words in order, e.g. HAT + ERS = HEARTS.
  • rebade is a variation of the alternade that is also a rebus
  • interlock is like an alternade, except the source words don't have to be the same length
  • transade would work, if your single word were formed by transposing each of your source words separately and then appending them together, e.g. ASH + REV = SHAVER.
  • alterposal is like an alternade where the source words are transposed first
  • transinterlock is like an interlock where one of the the source words is transposed first

Given these definitions, the example you have given, LAMP + VAMPIRE = VAPAMLIMPER, is merely a transposal, and since it is a protologism rather than a neologism, I would call it a transposal protologism or a protologistic transposal.

You could combine your source words using the more restrictive rules for one of the specific transposals to make things more interesting. For example, LAMP + VAMPIRE = VAMLAPIMPRE would be a protologistic interlock. LAMP + VAMPIRE = VAMMAPPIREL would be a protologistic transinterlock.

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    No-one but a puzzler is going to recognise those words, but +1 for relevant research.
    – AndyT
    Commented Jun 5, 2019 at 9:15
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You can call it a blend word

In linguistics, a blend word or a blend is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. These parts are sometimes, but not always, morphemes.

It's also similar to a portmanteau, except that with a portmanteau, the beginning is from one word and the end from the other, rather than mixed up.

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  • Thanks, I know about both of those and thought there might be something more specific?
    – Oliver Bestwalter
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 19:02
  • @OliverBestwalter If you considered those and rejected them, that should be in the question along with the reasons why you rejected them.
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 19:37
  • @Cascabel I hadn't rejected them as such, but I know about them and maybe they are good descriptions, but I am hoping for something more specific. I asked it the way I think is good enough and I am no expert on the topic. I just wanted to ask a simple question :)
    – Oliver Bestwalter
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 20:01
  • @OliverBestwalter Right now your question shows no basic research, and that is a reason to close hereabouts.
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 20:14
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    My +1 should answer that comment! @OliverBestwalter
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 20:53

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