Some observations on the composition by blending in contemporary French from Petit Robert

Abstract The objective of this article is to analyze the composition by amalgam in current French by focusing on the one hand on the notion of amalgam in linguistics and on the other hand on the use and the frequency of use of the chosen amalgams in the diatopic variation of French. The notion of amalgam and / or of portmanteau word does not seem obvious and the explanations or definitions offered by dictionaries as well as by works on lexicology are not unanimous and differ from one another. Before presenting the results of a more detailed research, we therefore find it essential to frame the contribution in a theoretical context dealing with the notion of amalgam, or even of portmanteau word, which allows us to better understand the whole problem.