Abbreviations and acronyms in the english language abbreviation as a linguistic phenomenon

3. TYPES OF ABBREVIATIONS IN MODERN ENGLISH

Classifications of lexical abbreviations in English are numerous. Let's take a look at some of them.

L. I. Sapogova considers the following types of abbreviations:
1) syntactic :
a ) semantic - syntactic (public - public house, Liberals -Liberal party);
b ) morphological - syntactic (sitters - baby-sitter, char - char woman);
2) phonomorphological (doc - doctor, mike - microphone, pub - public house, noncom - noncommissioned officer);
3) phonographic (Dr - doctor, Sgt - sergeant, sec - second, IG-Inspector-General, NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization);
4) mixed (a-bomb - atom-bomb, scific - scientific fiction, Eurasia - Europa and Asia).
Authors A Grammar of Contemporary English books classify cuts on three Types : Clipping, Blends, Acronyms. The Clipping section covers:
a) reduction of the first part of the word ( phone - telephone );
b) reduction of the end of the word, which is more common than the reduction of the beginning ( exam - examination );
c) an abbreviation both at the beginning and at the end of the word, which is rare ( flu - influenza , fridge - refrigerator ).
IN "Blends" section are included words of type bit - binary+digit , breathalyser - breath+analyser .
The Acronyms section covers:
a) acronyms that are pronounced as single letters:
1 ) letters representing full words ( C. O. D. - cash on delivery, EEC - European Economic Community, FBI - Federal Bureau of Infestigation , MIT - Massachusettes Institute of Technology, UN - the United Nations) ;
2) letters representing elements of a compound word or simply parts of a word (TV - television , GHQ - General Headquarters , TV - Tuberculosis );
b) acronyms that are pronounced like a word (for example, NATO) and are often used by people who may not know what each letter stands for. For example : UNESCO = the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization; laser - light-wave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.
Note also that along with typed abbreviations, there may also be those that do not belong to any of the above types, for example: three -D - three-dimensional , Brum - Birmingham .
It seems that the syntactic abbreviations outlined in the classification of L. I. Sapogova stand apart from other phenomena related to word abbreviations, since in cases like baby-sitter - sitter , charwoman - char , the stems of words do not undergo changes, and the complex a word that is close in structure and meaning to a phrase loses one of its stems, which can rather be attributed to an ellipse. This is also recognized by the author of this classification, considering that the result of such an act is an elliptical word. Such cases can be considered as abbreviations if a part of the word is abbreviated simultaneously with the ellipse, for example, public house - pub , popular song - pop , permanent wave - perm .
Dubenets E.M. distinguishes two main types of abbreviations: graphic abbreviations and lexical abbreviations.
Graphic abbreviations are the result of abbreviation of words and phrases only in written speech, while in oral speech the corresponding full forms are used. They are used to save space and enhance the writing.
The oldest group of graphic abbreviations in English is of Latin origin. In Russian, this type of abbreviation is not typical. Here the contraction occurs when the Latin words are written, while orally the corresponding English equivalents are pronounced in full: eg . - for example ( Latin exampli gratia ), am . - in the morning ( ante meridiem ), No- number ( numero ), pa . -a year ( per annum ), d - penny ( dinarius ), lb - pound ( libra ), ie . - that is ( idest ). In some cases, initial letters are pronounced, such as am . [ ei'em ] . _ pm . [ pi :' em ] etc. In such cases, they can be considered as lexical initial abbreviations.
Some graphic abbreviations of Latin origin have different English equivalents in different contexts, such as pm . can be pronounced as in the afternoon ( post meridiem ) and after death ( post mortem ).
There are also graphic abbreviations for words and phrases and corresponding English equivalents in full form. There are several such semantic groups of them:
a) days of the week, e.g. Mon - Monday , Tue - Tuesday etc ;
b) the names of the months, for example, Apr - April , Aug -August , Sep - September etc ;
c) names of counties in Great Britain, for example, Yorks - Yorkshire , Berks - Berkshire, etc.;
d) names of states in the USA, for example, Ala - Alabama , Alas - Alaska , Calif -California, etc.;
e) address, for example, Mr, Mrs , Ms [ miz ], Dr etc ;
f) military ranks, such as capt - captain , col - colonel , sgt - sergeant , etc .;
g) scientific degrees, for example. BA - Bachelor of Arts, DM - Doctor of Medicine. (Sometimes in scientific degrees there are abbreviations of Latin origin, for example. MB - Medicinae Baccalaurus );
h) units of time, length, weight, for example f./ ft - foot / feet , sec . - second , in . - inch , mg . - milligram , etc.
The reading of some graphic abbreviations depends on the context, for example m. can be read as: male , married , masculine , metre , mile , million , minute ; lp . can be read as long-playing , low pressure .
Initial abbreviations stand between graphic and lexical abbreviations.
In some cases, the translation of initial abbreviations is possible only with the use of special dictionaries. Initial abbreviations are pronounced differently. Very often they are pronounced as in their language of origin, for example. ANZUS ( Australia , New Zealand , United States ) are pronounced in Russian as ANZUS; SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation) Talks ) is used in Russian as a phonetic borrowing (COJIT) and is now used as (OCB - Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty). This type of initial abbreviations borrowed from other languages (UFO - UFO, SP-JV) is preferred.
There are three types of initial abbreviations in English:
a) initial abbreviations With alphabetic reading , such as UK (United Kingdom), B UP (British United Press), CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), PWA (a person with AIDS) and t . d ;
b) initial abbreviations that _ are read How words such as UNESCO (United Nations Economic, Scientific, Cultural Organization), OPEC (Oil Producing European Countries), HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and t . d .:
c) initial abbreviations that match English words in their sound form. Such initial abbreviations called acronyms , for example . CLASS (Computer-based Laboratory for Automated School System), NOW (National Organization of Women), AIDS (Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome) and t . d .
In English abbreviations, the last letters can be either consonants ( math , chimp ) or vowels ( divi , demo ). While in Russian abbreviations, the last letters should be only consonants (deputy, head).
English abbreviations may undergo spelling and phonographic changes ( mike - microphone , telly - television ).
Individual abbreviations may show the ability for further word formation: telephone - phone - phony - a person who makes obscene phone calls .
Abbreviations can act as components of compound words, for example, labware - laboratory ware .
Abbreviated words can take grammatical inflections, for example, plural: dems - democrats .
Interesting cases of reduction with simultaneous transposition of the word into another lexical and grammatical category: pheno - user of phenobarbital ( drug ). Here pheno is the face and phenobarbital is the substance.
Although, as noted, abbreviations are acceptable in all English language genres, they nevertheless appear more often at the colloquial level and, often, at the level of slang , whose dictionaries are replete with a wide variety of abbreviations. I would especially like to note the computer jargon. Abbreviation in computer jargon is represented by various types: truncation of the final part of the word: semi from semicolons , jock from jockey , quest from question ; truncation of the initial part of the word Net from Internet. But the most popular type of abbreviation is, perhaps, the literal abbreviation of any phrases and even sentences. For example , letter reduction sentences : DIAFYO – Did I Ask For Your Opinion?; GMAB - Give Me A Break GMTA - Great Minds Think Alike; HAND - Have A Nice Day; LMK-Let Me Know OV – Opinions Vary; PMFJI Pardon Me For Jumping In RIP - Rest In Peace; RTM – Read The Manual and others _
One of the varieties of remotivation is the playful “disclosure” of abbreviations that are homonymous with existing ones, i.e., acronyms, for example, HAND - Have a nice day . Examples acronyms are : WOMBAT ( Wombat ) – Waste Of Money, Brain And Time
Another great source of English abbreviations are newspaper headlines. The prevalence of abbreviations in newspaper headlines is apparently due to several reasons: space saving, the desire to influence the reader with the unusual and expressiveness of the headline, the desire to interest and sometimes intrigue the reader. Interestingly, very often the word used in the title in an abbreviated form is given in the text in full. For example , heading reads : Lift ads ban - ex-Minister. IN text under this heading find : The Government should lift its ban on advertising in the Morning Star, former Minister told a meeting. Another example from the same newspaper, headline: Muggeridge backs anti-porn demo . IN Text : Cliff Richard ... and Malcolm Muggeridge are among the backers of what promises to be the biggest-ever demonstration against pornography.
The headlines of newspaper articles sometimes take on a very cryptic look due to abbreviations. For example : Do-it-yourself in trad and mod hits Moscow. The article deals with the fact that Muscovites have become popular with various traditional and modern (latest) devices for various amateur crafts.
In some cases, the authors consider it necessary to decipher the abbreviations they use, for example: " an echo of President Nixon's 1954 election phrase " consymp " ( communist sympathiser )".
One more aspect of English lexical abbreviations should be noted. Abbreviations created by ad are very common in the press and scientific publications. hoc and have no meaning outside the given text. For example let's bring next excerpt from newspapers : "At the new Rotunda Gallery opposite Finchley Road Tube, there's a small and delightful exhibition of paintings by two women, Sheila Dorrel and Stella Dollinger. The two SDs are very different and they combine very well.”
When analyzing abbreviations, a very important question arises: does the abbreviation create a new word or only a phonetic-spelling variant of an already existing word? This question, obviously, cannot be answered, relating to all types of reductions and extending to each given case. For example, acronyms like EEC (European Economic Community) obviously cannot be considered as new words, different from their prototypes. As for such truncation abbreviations as doc - doctor , math - mathematics , the very differentiation of their usage depending on functional styles allows us to speak about the creation of a stylistic version of the word.
Finally, there is one more circumstance that arises as a result of the prevalence of abbreviations, namely, the formation of homonyms. It is quite natural that the very probability of homonymous coincidences is much greater for smaller units than for larger ones. We note in passing that it is the large number of short monosyllabic words in English that largely explains the prevalence of homonymy in this language. Indeed, longer words can match in one part and differ in another part, while shorter ones are more likely to match completely, hence the numerous homonyms, such as can - I can and can - preserve .
Homonyms that arise on the basis of abbreviations can be represented in the form of two fundamentally different groups - one group consists of abbreviations that coincide with already existing full words, for example, CAR - Canadian Association of Radiologists , C.A.T.— Civil Air Transport. Especially many of these homonyms arise due to truncations like camp - campaign , art - artillery , as a result of which camp - an abbreviation for campaign and the full word camp - camp, or art - an abbreviation for artillery and the full word art - art - coincide.
Another group of homonyms are polysemantic abbreviations. When reducing various polysyllabic words, their first parts may coincide, forming abbreviated homonyms, for example : sub - subaltern , sub - subeditor , sub - subject , sub - subjunctive , sub - sublimation , sub - submarine , sub - subscription , etc.
Homonymous abbreviations are even more numerous, arising from the fact that various names consisting of several words with matching letters form homonyms, for example: RTC - Railway Transport Corps, RTC - Recruit Training Centre, RTC- Reserve Training Corps, R. T. C—Royal Tanks Corps. If the homonyms of the first group (such as art - artillery and art - art) practically cannot disrupt communications, since they are usually used in various contexts, situations, etc., then the homonyms of the second group can introduce some confusion into the acts of communication .