3) Shortening

This way of word-building has existed in the English language since the 13-th century and achieved a high degree of productivity nowadays, especially in American English. Shortened words are a considerable quantitative gain and as such are useful and practical. The tendency towards shortness is a universal development and has linguistic value of its own in various languages [See: Antrushina, 1999; Arnold, 1959; Rayevska, 1979].

There exist two main ways of shortening: contraction (or clipping) and abbreviation (or initial shortening).

A) Contraction (or clipping).

Contraction is the way of making a new word by means of clipping a full word (or, in other words, making a new word from a syllable of the original word).

One should distinguish between 4 types of contraction.

1) Final clipping (back-clipping), or apocope, i.e. clipping, or omission, of the final part of the word, e.g.: doc (<doctor), lab (<laboratory), mag (<magazine), prefab (<prefabricated), prep (<preparation), veg (<vegetable), prop (<proposition), croc (<crocodile), vac (<vacation), ad (<advertisement), cap (< captain), tick (<ticket), math (<mathematics), ed (<editor), uni (<university), op (<operation), fab (<fabulous), vamp (<vampire), perm (<permanent), vet (<veteran), Nick (<Nickolas), Ed (<Edward), Phil (<Philip), Al (<Albert), etc.

Back-clippings аге most numerous in Modern English and are characterized by the growing frequency. The original may be a simple word (as, grad – from graduate), a derivative (as, prep – from preparation), a compound (as, foots – from footlights „огни рампы, рампа” (театр.)), а combination of words (as, pub – from public house „пивная, кабак, трактир”) [Kashcheyeva, 1974:124].

2) Initial clipping (or fore-clipping), or apheresis [ ], i.e. clipping or omission of the fore part of the word, e.g. phone (<telephone), plane (<aeroplane), story (<history), van (<caravan), drome (<airdrome), fence (<defence), plot (<complot), squire (<esquire), bus (<omnibus), mid (<amid), cycle (<bicycle), Bert (<Albert), Bess (<Elizabeth), Becky (<Rebecca), Dora (<Theodora), Fred (Alfred), etc.

It has to be mentioned that in many cases of apheresis the shortened word differs from its source only stylistically (e.g. telephone – phone, omnibus – bus, tobacco – baccy (neutral – slang), etc. Sometimes, however, the shortened word is somewhat modified in meaning, or even altered: e.g. acute – sharp, as in acute pain, and cute – 1) pretty, 2) clever; espy [ ] – see at a distance and spy – watch secretly, act as a spy on; to disport – play, amuse oneself and to sport –1) to play; 2) to have or wear for proud display (выставлять напоказ, щеголять); 3) to go in for sports; history – 1) branch of knowledge, 2) orderly description of past events; 3) train of events connected with a person or thing; and story – 1) account of past events; 2) account of imaginary events; 3) (journalism) any descriptive article in a newspaper; etc. Fore-clippings are less numerous in Modern English.

3. Medial clipping, or syncope [ ] , i.e. omission of the middle part of the word, e.g. maths (<mathematics), fancy (<fantasy), curtsy, curtsey [ ] – gesture of respect made by women or girls – реверанс (<courtesy [ ] – courteous behaviour; politeness), through – from end to end; to the very end (<thorough – complete in every way; detailed), binocs (<binoculars [ ]), mart (<market), e’en [ ] (<even), ma’am [ ] (<madam), e’er [ ] (<ever), ne’er [ ] (<never). As we see from these examples, syncope mostly brings about (осуществлять, вызывать) vocabulary enlargement, not variety. It also played its role in the historical development of borrowed words (e.g. O. Fr. cheminee, capitain, Mod. Eng. chimney, captain). It should be mentioned that syncopized words used to be popular with poets (e.g. e’en, e’er, ne’er for even, ever, never because of purely rhythmical considerations). Modern poetry seldom resorts to syncope.

3. Mixed clipping, where the fore and the final pats of the word are clipped, e.g. tec (<detective), flu (<influenza), fridge (<refrigerator), stach (<moustache), Liz (<Elizabeth), etc. Here we can see a combination of two shortening devices: apheresis and apocope.

Clipped (or contracted) words do not differ from full words in functioning; they take the plural number and that of the possessive case and make any part of a sentence. New words may be derived from the stems of clipped words by conversion (to jeep, to demob, to taxi, to perm) or by affixation, chiefly by adding the suffix -y, -ie, deriving diminutives and pet-names (as, hanky – from handkerchief, nighty (nightie) – from nightgown, unkie – from unkle, baccy – from tobacco, granny – from grandmother, undies – from underwear – белье, tellie – from television, Aussies – from Australians).

It has to be stressed that clipped words do not always coincide in meaning with the original word, for instance: doc and doctor have – the meaning „one who practices medicine”, but doctor is also „the highest degree given by a university to a scholar or scientist” and „a person who has received such a degree” whereas doc is not used in these meanings.

Among clippings there are homonyms, so that one and the same sound and graphical complex may represent different words, as vac (vacation), vac (vacuum cleaner); prep (preparation), prep (preparatory school), prep (prepare).

Clippings usually have synonyms in literary English, the latter being the corresponding full words. But they are not interchangeable, as they are words of different styles of speech. Clippings are highly colloquial; in most cases they belong to slang. The moment the longer word loses its colloquial or slangy characters and becomes a literary word, for instance, the word taxi is the contraction of the taxicab –такси, which, in its turn, goes back to taximetercab; both words went out of use, and the word taxi lost its stylistic colouring.

Clipping brings new words in the same part of speech. Most lexical units of this sort are nouns, e.g. pram (<perambulator), varsity (<university), tails (<tailcoat – фрак), etc. Clipped adjectives and verbs are infrequent in Modern English, e.g. imposs (impossible), pi [ ] (<pivus [ ] – набожный, религиозный), rev (<to revolve), tab (<tabulate), prep (<to prepare).

Similar formations will be found in other languages. Cf. German: das Auto (Automobil), der Bus (Autobus), der Zoo (Zoologicher Garten); French: prof (professeur), compo (composition), fac (faculty), recre (recreation), corri (corridor); Russian: агитпункт, колхоз, совхоз, комсомол.

Abbreviation (initial shortening)

Abbreviation is the way of making a new word from the initial letters of a word group, e.g. U.N.O.[ ] from the United Nations Organization, B.B.C. [ ] from the British Broadcasting Corporation. Abbreviations or initial shortenings are found not only among formal words, such as the ones above, but also among colloquialisms and slang. So, g.f. is a shortened word made from the compound girl­friend. The word, though seems to be somewhat ambiguous as the following conversation between two undergraduates clearly shows:

– Who’s the letter from?

– My g.f.

– Didn’t know you had girl-friends. A nice girl?

– Idiot! It’s from my grandfather!

It is commonly believed that the preference for shortenings can be explained by their brevity and is due to the ever-increasing tempo of modern life. Yet, in the conversation given above the use of an ambiguous abbreviation does not in the list contribute to the brevity of the communication: on the contrary, it takes the speakers some time to clarify the misunderstanding. Confusion and ambiguousness are quite natural consequences of the modern overabundance of shortened words, and initial shortenings are often especially enigmatic and misleading [Antrushina; 1999: 115-116].

According to D.I. Kveselevich abbreviations (or initial shortenings) are subdivided into 5 groups:

1) Acronyms which are read in accordance with the rules of orthoepy [ ] as though they were ordinary words, e.g. UNO [ ], UNESCO [ ], NATO [ ], radar [ ] (<radio detecting and ranging – радиолокатор), ANZAC [ ] (<Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), WOMAN [ ] (<World Organization of Mothers of All Nations), STEM [ ] (<scanning transmission electron microscope), etc.

2) Alphabetic abbreviations in which letters get their full alphabetic pronunciation and a full stress, e.g. USA, BBC, M.P. (<member of Parliament), G.I. (<Government Issue – государственная продукция (букв.) meaning „American soldiers”); TV, IOY (<I owe you), GPO (<general post-office), FBI (<Federal Bureau of Investigation), P.S. (<post scriptum), TU (<Trade Union), R.A.F. (<Royal Air Force), TUC (<Trade Union Congress), etc. Alphabetic abbreviations are sometimes used for famous persons’ names, e.g. F.D.R. > (<Franklin Delano Roosevelt), G.B.S. (<George Bernard Show), B.B. (<Brigitte Bardot), etc.

3) Compound abbreviations (or semi-shortenings) in which the first component is a letter (or letters) and the second component is a complete word, e.g. A-bomb (<atomic bomb), H-bomb (< hydrogen bomb), V-day (<Victory day), Z-hour (<zero hour), L-driver (learner-driver), ID card (identity card), H-bag (handbag), T-shirt (tennis-shirt), X-card (Christmas card), etc.

One or both components of compound abbreviations may be clipped, e.g. Interpol (International Police), hi-fi (<high fidelity – высокая точность), sci-fi (<science fiction), mid-August, etc.

4. Graphical abbreviations which are used in texts for economy of space. Graphical abbreviations are signs or symbols that stand for the full words or combinations of words only in written speech. The commonest form is an initial letter or letters that stand for a word or combination of words. But with a view to prevent ambiguity one or two other letters may be added. For instance, p. (page), s. (see), b.b. (ball-bearing), Mr. (mister), Mrs. (missis), MS (manuscript), fig. (figure). In oral speech graphical abbreviations have the pronunciation of full words, e.g. m.(mile), ft. (<foot/feet), v (verb), ltd. (limited), usu. (<usually), Capt. (<Captain), etc. To indicate a plural or a superlative letters are often doubled, as: pp. (<pages), qq. (<questions), etc.

4. Latin abbreviations which are graphical abbreviations of Latin words and word combinations, for instance: e.g. (exampli gratia), etc. (et cetera), viz. (videlicet), i.e. (id est), ff. (folios). In oral speech they are replaced by their English equivalents, for example, and so on, namely, that is, the following pages respectively. Some of Latin abbreviations are pronounced as separate letters, e.g. a.m., p.m.

It should be stressed that the meaning of the initial shortening is that of the corresponding word-group. In speech initial shortenings function like nouns; they take the plural suffix, as MPs (<Members of Parliament), and the suffix of the possessive case, as MP’s, POW’s (prisoners of war), etc.

Initial shortenings can be polysemantic, e.g. the abbreviation M.P. has at least 3 meanings: 1) member of Parliament; 2) Metropolitan Police; 3) Military Police; the abbreviation M.D. has three meanings as well: 1) Doctor of Medicine; 2) medical department; 3) months after day – (через столько-то) месяцев от сего числа; the abbreviation M.O. has two meanings: 1) mail order; 2) Medical Officer; LP has three meanings: 1) Labour Party; 2) long-playing (record); 3) low pressure; ID has three meanings: 1) identification; 2) inside dimensions; 3) Intelligence Department and so on.

New words may be derived from initial words by means of adding affixes, as YCL-er, ex-PM, ex-POW; MP’ess, or adding the semi-suffix -man, as Gl-man. As soon as the corresponding word-combination goes out of use the initial word takes its place and becomes fully established in the language and its spelling is in small letters, as radar [ ] – radio detecting and ranging, laser [ ] – light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation; maser [ ] – microwave amplification (усиление) by stimulated emission of radiation [Kashcheyeva, 1974:126].

On the whole it must be observed in the end that shortening is gaining in importance daily.