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.

5) 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.

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