Variable base-word positioning in English blends

In this paper, we explore the conditions that result in variable base-word positioning in English blends, where the same base words have variable order, yielding two blends, i.e. blend doublets. In non-synonymous doublets, such as (egg × prégnant >) éggnant 'pregnant with egg' and prégegg 'egg that counts down pregnancy', the main factor is that in endocentric blends, the base word that contributes the semantic head is right-aligned. In synonymous blend doublets, such as plúmpricot ~ ápriplum 'plum-apricot hybrid' (< plum × ápricot), variable base-word positioning results from at least four factors interacting: (i) segmental faithfulness - maximizing segmental similarity; (ii) Pānini's law - positioning the short base word before the long one; (iii) monosyllabic integrity - keeping the monosyllabic base word in the same syllable; and (iv) syntagmatic faithfulness - matching the linear order of the base words to their order in a would-be syntactic constituent.