Shortening is the process of substracting phonemes and / or morhemes from words

and word-groups without changing their lexico-grammatical meaning.

Abbreviation is a process of shortening the result of which is a word made up of the

initial letters or syllables of the components of a word-group or a compound word.

Graphical abbreviation is the result of shortening of a word or a word-group only in

written speech (for the economy of space and effort in writing), while orally the
corresponding full form is used:

days of the week and months, e.g. Sun., Tue., Feb., Oct., Dec.;

states in the USA, e.g. Alas., CA, TX;

forms of address, e.g. Mr., Mrs., Dr.;

scientific degrees, e.g. BA, BSc., MA, MSc., MBA, PhD.;

military ranks, e.g. Col.;

units of measurement, e.g. sec., ft, km.

Latin abbreviations, e.g. p.a., i.e., ibid., a.m., cp., viz.

internet abbreviations, e.g. BTW, FYI, TIA, AFAIK, TWIMC, MWA.

Lexical abbreviation is the result of shortening of a word or a word-group both in

written and oral speech.

-alphabetical abbreviation (initialism) is a shortening which is read as a

succession of the alphabetical readings of the constituent letters, e.g. BBC (British
Broadcasting Corporation), MTV (Music Television), EU (European Union), MP
(Member of Parliament), WHO (World Health Organisation), AIDS (Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome), GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) etc.;

-acronymic abbreviation (acronym) is a shortening which is read as a succession

of the sounds denoted by the constituent letters, i.e. as if they were an ordinary word,
e.g. UNESCO (United Nations Scientific, and Cultural Organisation), NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation), UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s
Emergency Fund) etc.;

-anacronym is an acronym which is longer perceived by speakers as a shortening:

very few people remember what each letter stands for, e.g. laser (light amplification
by stimulated emission of radiation), radar (radio detecting and ranging), scuba (self-
contained underwater breathing apparatus), yuppie (young urban professional).

-homoacronym is an acronym which coincides with an English word semantically

connected with the thing, person or phenomenon, e.g. PAWS (Public for Animal
Welfare Society), NOW (National Organisation for Women), ASH (Action on Smoking
and Health) etc.;
Clipping is the process of cutting off one or several syllables of a word.

apocope (back-clipping) is a final clipping, e.g. prof < professor, disco <
discotheque, ad < advertisement, coke < coca-cola;

aphaeresis (fore-clipping) is an initial clipping, e.g. phone < telephone, Bella <
Isabella, cello < violoncello;

syncope is a medial clipping, e.g. maths < mathematics, specs < spectacles; ma’m <
madam;

fore-and-aft clipping is an initial and final clipping, e.g. flu < influenza, fridge <
refrigerator, tec < detective, Liza < Elizabeth;

Blending (telescoping) is the process of merging parts of words into one new word,
e.g. Bollywood < Bombay + Hollywood, antiégé < anti + protégé, brunch < breakfast
+ lunch, Mathlete < Mathematics+ athlete.

A blend (a fusion, a telescoped word, a portmanteau word) is a word that combines

parts of two words and includes the letters or / and sounds they may have in
common as a connecting element.

Blending has been known since the 15th c. First blends were of comic or mysterious
nature as these were charades for readers or listeners to decode. Telescoped words
are found in the works by W. Shakespeare (trimpherate < triumph+ triumvirate), E.
Spencer (wrizzle < wrinkle + frizzle). The term portmanteau word was coined by
Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass in 1872 to explain some of the words he
made up in the nonsense poem Jabberwocky, e.g. galumph < gallop +
triumph, chortle < chuckle + snort.

Blending+semantic derivation

camouflanguage < camouflage + language “мова, перенасичена лінгвістичними та

мовленнєвими засобами, які допомагають мовцеві сховати справжній зміст
повідомлення”

Thematic groups of blends:

information technologies: teleputer < television + computer; webcam < web +

camera; netaholic < Internet + alcoholic;

economics: ecolonomics < ecology + economics; freeconomics < free +

economics; slowflation < slow + inflation;

geography: Eurabia < Europe + Arabia; Chindia < China + India; Calexico <
California + Mexico;

literature and art: dramedy < drama + comedy; fictomercial < fiction +
commercial; docusoap < documentary + soap-opera;
 linguistics: Spanglish < Spanish + English; Hindlish < Hindi + English; cryptolect <
cryptography + dialect; publilect < puberty + dialect;

Shortenings are abbreviations in which the beginning or end of the word has been dropped. In some
cases both the beginning and the end have been omitted. Examples include:

shorteni
original form
ng

cello violoncello

flu influenza

advertisemen
ad
t

blog weblog

rhino rhinoceros

telly television

bike bicycle

In some cases, the shortening involves a slight spelling change, as

with bike and telly.

These shortenings are now an accepted part of the language. In fact

some of the original, longer forms tend to be used only in formal or
technical writing. It would sound rather odd, for example, to
describe a person as suffering from influenza unless you were
writing in a scientific context.
 You do not need to use an apostrophe in shortenings to show
that letters have been omitted.

 You should only use a capital letter if the original form also starts with a capital letter, for
example:

Me
Mediterranean
d

Bri British
 t (person)

Ja
Jaguar
g

 You do not need to use a full stop unless the shortening is one created specifically for use in
writing, for example:

De
December
c.

Tue
Tuesday
.

etc
et cetera
.

Back to abbreviations.

You may also be interested in

Contractions
Initialisms
Acronyms

Let’s start with the most generic term:

Shortening – any form of a word that is “shrunk”.
e.g. don’t (do + not), YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association), UNESCO (the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), etc.

Contraction (= fusion) – another generic term – two words which are combined together and are
pronounced as one new word (typically functional words such as auxiliary verbs, articles, and
prepositions).
e.g. don’t (do + not), shouldn’t (should + not), wanna (want + to), au (Fr. à + le), etc.

Clipping – dropping (clipping) of a part of a word:

a) initial (= fore = apheresis) – the front part of the word is dropped
e.g. (tele)phone, (air)plane

b) medial (= syncope) – the middle part of the word is dropped

e.g. math(ematic)s, spec(ification)s
c) final (= back = apocope) – the hinder part of the word is dropped
e.g. info(rmation), gas(oline)

d) complex (= mixed) – two or more instances (one or more types) of clipping used together to form a
new word
e.g. (re)frige(rator) – initial and final clipping, sci(ence)-fi(ction) – final clipping used twice