Shortenings

Way of word building due to the contraction of a word stem (основа слова)

Shortening is explained by the fact that English words are to grate extend short monosyllabic or disyllabic.

Long words in English language are passive. Contracted words are formed by means of loosing the beginning of any part of word. They may be 4 cases:

1) the contraction of the end of the word (doc, exam)

2) the contraction of the initial part of the word (phone, plane)

3) the contraction beginning and end of the word (flu, fridge)

4) the contraction of the middle of the word (math, mart)

Contracted word may be produced by 2 ways of word building used simultaneously: shortening and suffixation.

We may come across such shortenings in children speech. For example: handkerchief – hankie, uncle – unkie. The correlation between contracted and original form may be different.

There are cases then original form completely disappeared and only contracted word remained (avanduarde – vanguard, extrange – strange, capitain – captain, taxi motor cab -> taxi-cab -> taxi, omnibus - bus). In many cases contracted word exist alone the original word sometimes having another meaning (amend -> mend, aspy -> spy, defence -> fence)

Contracted words may served as stylistic form of original. Usually used in non-official conversation (prof, dif, operation -> op, promenade -> prom)

There are such shortenings as baby-sitter -> sitter, chair-woman -> chair, public-house -> public. They are usually called ellipses. Ellipses may be thirdly contracted (public -> pub, pop-music -> pop, zoological garden -> zoo). Contracted words may undergo spelling changes.

Some shortenings can produce another part of speech (telephone – phone – phony: who makes obscene phone calls). Contracted words may produced by conversion (phone, taxi). They may acquire grammatical flexion, for example of plural (democrats – dems, liberal party - liberals)

During the first world war and after it there is custom to call countries, governmental, social, military, trade organizations and officials not by the full titles but by the initial letters (UN, USSR).

Such words have to possible types of orthoepic correlation between written and spoken forms.

1) If the abbreviated written form is read as though in ordinary English word and sounds as English words it’s called acronym, for example UNESCO (United Nationals Educational Scientific Cultural Organization), laser (light-wave amplification by simulated emission of radiation).

2) Initial abbreviations which are pronounced as a series of letters they are called Abbreviations (FBI, EEC, TV, TB (to back you loses))

There are shortenings which are produced as a result of contraction of only the first element in a disyllable word, and the 1st and 2nd element in a 3-syllable element (abomb – atomic bomb, hbomb – hydrogen bomb).

Graphical abbreviation symbols used to words: min. for minute, ft. for foot, gen – general, UK – United Kingdom, RKT – rocket, GVT – government.

Some Latin words may be graphical abbreviations: i.e. – that is, e.g. (exemply gracia) – for example, L (libra) – pound, Vs – versus. Due to the development of language some graphical abbreviations come to speech and became lexical abbreviation (MP, PM)

Words produced from graphical abbreviations can produce new words (MC – master of ceremony; to MCee – вести программу)

There are some homonyms which a rise due to shortening (sub – subject, subjective, submarine, subscription)

Дата добавления: 2014-01-03