Shortening is considered a very productive word-building process.

It is the
dropping oI the latter part oI a word so as to produce a new and shorter word oI the
same meaning. The strain oI modern liIe is obviously one oI the reasons Ior this
development. For example, almost all written material in hospital is written to be
read at a glance because consultants read them beIore they do their rounds, and
new nurses to acquaint with their patients. Similarly, the daily ward repots are read
by the oIIgoing nurse in charge to the oncoming staII.1
In English, shortenings may be present in written and spoken Iorms. Each oI them
has its own pattern, but as there is a constant exchange between both, it is
sometimes diIIicult to tell whether a given shortening was originated in one or in
the other.
An abbreviation is a shortened Iorm oI a word or phrase used Ior brevity especially
in writing in place oI the whole. Two possible types oI correlation should be noted
between the written and spoken Iorms:
1. II the abbreviation can be read as an ordinary English word, it will be read as
one.
For example,
UFO - UnidentiIied Flying Object
Polyps - Polymorphonuclear leuckocytes
MSU - Mid Stream Urine
2. The other group consists oI initial abbreviations with alphabetic reading
retained.
For example,
P.R - pupil reaction
B.P.- blood pressure
P- pulse
The term abbreviation may also be used Ior a shortened Iorm oI a written word
or phrase used in a text in place oI the whole Ior brevity. For example,
Cas.- casualty
Elix.- elixir
Caps.- capsule
Not much has been written about abbreviations in English Ior Foreign Language
Teaching and less in English Ior SpeciIic Purpose (ESP), even though in the
practice oI nursing, this word-building process has Iound a Iield oI development.
High Irequency use oI abbreviations like: ADL- Activities oI Daily Living
a.c.- (Latin: ante cibum) beIore meals
b.i.d.- (Latin: bis in die) twice a day
h.s.- (Latin: hora somni) at bed time
n.r.- (Latin: non repitatur) do not repeat
p.c.- (Latin: post cibum) aIter meals
p.r.n.- (Latin: pro re nata) as needed
q. h. (Latin: quaque hora) every hours
q.o.d. every other day
t.i.d.- (Latin: ter in die) three times a day
Ior instance, are not present in any oI the syllabus used at present in ESP courses
in English subject Ior nursing learners.2-4
Daily teaching has demonstrated that there is a handicap with the mastery oI
abbreviations. There is a lack oI knowledge, which constitutes a language barrier.
One oI the problems Ior learners is that there is no correspondence between the
English and the Spanish abbreviations as to initials. ThereIore, the learner cannot
make a transIer Irom their mother tongue to the target language. Another problem
is that teachers oI English tend to concentrate their teaching on oral practice,
whereas, writing has turned to be a neglected skill. ThereIore, there is no teaching,
and there
is no practical activity to use abbreviations. Moreover, abbreviations are not an
objective in the ESP syllabuses in Schools oI Medical Sciences in Cuba, even
though
there are around IiIty in the ESP textbooks used at present.2-4 Consequently,
specialists
need to study by themselves the majority oI abbreviations, in order to be able to use
them when working overseas in English speaking communities, because there is no
enough bibliography Ior teachers oI ESP to deepen in their use in the Iield oI
nursing.
This article sets out to provide practical activities in the teaching-learning process
oI abbreviations Ior nursing learners. These practical activities are task Iocused.
They can Iirst be done as a classroom activity and putting them into practice in
training-on-the-job activities such as ward rounds, grand rounds, and shiIt-
handover.






Word-building processes involve not only qualitative but also
quantitative changes. Thus, derivation and compounding represent addition,
as aIIixes and Iree stems, respectively, are added to the underlying Iorm.
Shortening, on the other hand, may be represented as signiIicant subtraction,
in which part oI the original word or word group is taken away. Moreover,
every kind oI shortening diIIers Irom derivation, composition and
conversion in being not a new arrangement oI existing morphemes, but
oIten a source oI new ones.
The spoken and the written Iorms oI the English language have each
their own patterns oI shortening, but as there is a constant exchange
between both spheres, it is sometimes diIIicult to tell where a given
shortening really originated.
7.1 SHORTENING OF SPOKEN WORDS AND ITS CAUSES
As a type oI word-building shortening oI spoken words, also called
clipping or curtailment, is recorded in the English language as Iar back as
the 15th century.
1
It has grown more and more productive ever since. This
growth becomes especially marked in many European languages in the 20th
century, and it is a matter oI common knowledge that this development is
particularly intense in English.
Newly shortened words appear continuously; this is testiIied by
numerous neologisms, such as demo n Irom demonstration, frig or fridge n
Irom refrigerator, mike n Irom microphone, telly or TJ n Irom television
set, trank n Irom tranquilli:er, trannie n Irom transistor, vac n Irom
vacuum cleaner, etc.
Many authors are inclined to overemphasize the role oI "the strain oI
modern liIe" as the mainspring oI this development. This is, obviously, only
one oI the reasons, and the purely linguistic Iactors should not be
overlooked. Among the major Iorces are the demands oI rhythm, which are
more readily satisIied when the words are monosyllabic.
When dealing with words oI long duration, one will also note that a
high percentage oI English shortenings is involved into the process oI
1
To prove this an example Irom Shakespeare might be quoted: Would from a
paddock, from a bat, a gib / Such dear concernings hide) ("Hamlet", Act III, Sc. 4.)
Gib (contracted Irom Gilbert) a male cat`. Hamlet uses these derogatory epithets about
King Claudius.
loan word assimilation. Monosyllabism goes Iarther in English than in any
other European language, and that is why shortened words sound more like
native ones than their long prototypes. Curtailment may thereIore be
regarded as caused, partly at least, by analogical extension, i.e. modiIication
oI Iorm on the basis oI analogy with existing and widely used patterns.
Thus, the three homonyms resulting Irom abbreviation oI three diIIerent
words, van a large covered vehicle`, a railway carriage`, the short Ior
caravan, van the Iront oI an army`, the short Ior vanguard which in its turn
is a clipping oI the French word avant-garde, and van a lawn tennis term,
the short Ior advantage, all sound quite like English words. CI. ban n and v,
can, fan, man, ran (Past IndeIinite Tense oI run), tan and the obsolete van
wing` a variant oI fan.
Shortening oI spoken words or curtailment consists in the reduction oI a
word to one oI its parts (whether or not this part has previously been a
morpheme), as a result oI which the new Iorm acquires some linguistic
value oI its own.
The part retained does not change phonetically, hence the necessity oI
spelling changes in some oI the examples above (dub . . double, mike . .
microphone, trank . . tranquilli:er, etc.).
The change is not only quantitative: a curtailed word
1
is not merely a
word that has lost its initial, middle or Iinal part. Nor is it possible to treat
shortening as just using a part Ior the whole as Ch. Hockett
2
suggests,
because a shortened word is always in some way diIIerent Irom its
prototype in meaning and usage.
Shortening may be regarded as a type oI root creation because the
resulting new morphemes are capable oI being used as Iree Iorms and
combine with bound Iorms. They ran take Iunctional suIIixes: "Refs
Warning Works Magic" (the title oI a newspaper article about a Iootball
match where the reIeree called both teams together and lectured them on
rough play). CI. sing. bike, bod,
3
pl. bikes, bods, InI. to vac,
4
Part. I
vacking, Past IndeIinite tense and Part. II vacked. Most oI these by
conversion produce verbs: to phone, to vac, to vet, etc., in which the
semantic relationship with the prototype remains quite clear. They also
serve as basis Ior Iurther word-Iormation by derivation or composition:
fancy n (Irom fantasy), fancy v, fancier n, fanciful a, fancifully adv,
fancifulness n, fancy-ball n, fancy-dress n, fancy-work n, etc.; or fantasmo
supremely Iantastic` Irom fantastic-mo on the analogy with supremo a
chieI.
It is interesting in this connection to compare the morphemes tele-in
television and telecast. They are homonymous but not identical. Tele- in
television is derived Irom Gr tele Iar`, it is a combining Iorm used to coin
many special terms denoting instruments and processes
1
O. Jespersen also suggests the terms stump words, e l l i p t i c a 1
words or curtailments. R. Quirk calls them clippings.
2
See: Hockett Ch. A Course in Modern Linguistics. N.Y., 1958. P. 313.
3
Bod probably Irom body Iellow`.
4
Conversion Irom vac n clipped Irom vacuum cleaner.
which produce or record results at a distance, such as telecommunication,
telemechanics, telepathy, telephone, telescope and television itselI. Tele- in
telecast does not mean Iar`, it is a new development the shortened
variant oI television rendering a special new concept. This becomes obvious
Irom the Iollowing simple transIormations: television - vision at a
distance, tele(broad)cast a broadcast at a distance,
1
tele(broad)cast a
television broadcast. In this new capacity tele- enters combinations:
telefilm, telemedicine, teleprompter (an electronic device that slowly unrolls
the speaker`s text, in large print out oI sight oI the audience), teletext,
televiewer one who uses a television set`, Tel-star (Anglo-American
satellite system used as television relay station). E.g. It was broadcast via
Telstar. Note the capital letter and the absence oI article. Similarly para-
Irom parachute (Fr para- protecting` chute a Iall`) gives paraflare,
paradrop, paradropper, paratroops, paratrooper.
The correlation oI a curtailed word with its prototype is oI great
interest. Two possible developments should be noted:
1.The curtailed Iorm may be regarded as a variant or a synonym
diIIering Irom the Iull Iorm quantitatively, stylistically and sometimes
emotionally, the prototype being stylistically and emotionally neutral, e.g.
doc . . doctor, exam . : examination. Also in proper names: Becky . .
Rebecca, Frisco . . San Francisco, Japs . . the Japanese. The missing part
cap at all times be supplied by the listener, so that the connection between
the prototype and the short Iorm is not lost. The relationship between the
prototype and the curtailment belongs in this case to the present-day
vocabulary system and Iorms a relevant Ieature Ior synchronic analysis.
Much yet remains to be done in studying the complex relations between the
prototype and the clipping, as it is not clear when one should consider them
two separate synonymous words and when they are variants oI the same
word.
2.In the opposite extreme case the connection can be established only
etymologically. The denotative or lexico-grammatical meaning or both may
have changed so much that the clipping becomes a separate word.
Consequently a pair oI etymological doublets (see p. 259) comes into
being. CI. chap . . chapman a pedlar`; fan an enthusiastic devotee` : :
fanatic, fancy . . fantasy, miss . . mistress. A speaker who calls himselI a
Iootball Ian would probably be oIIended at being called a Ianatic. A Ianatic
is understood to have unreasonable and exaggerated belieIs and opinions
that make him socially dangerous, whereas a Ian is only a devotee oI a
speciIied amusement. The relationship between curtailed Iorms and
prototypes in this second group is irrelevant to the present-day vocabulary
system, and is a matter oI historic, i.e. diachronic study.
In both types the clipped Iorms (doc, exam, chap, fan, etc.) exist in the
language alongside their respective prototypes. The diIIerence, how-
ever, is that whereas words belonging to the Iirst group can be replaced by
their prototypes and show in this way a certain degree oI inter-
changeability, the doublets are never equivalent lexically as there are no
contexts where the prototype can replace the shortened word without a
change oI meaning.
The possibility oI substitution in case oI variants may be shown by the
Iollowing example oI a brieI newspaper note about the prescription oI
eyeglasses Ior racing horses in Chicago. It runs as Iollows: "Racehorses Are
Fitted with Specs". The substitution oI spectacles Ior specs would make the
headline a little less lively but not unacceptable.
This substitution, as a rule, can go only one way. It would be, Ior
instance, impossible to use mag Ior maga:ine in a passage oI literary
criticism. The speciIic stylistic character oI the clipped Iorm greatly limits
the possibilities oI usage.
The semantic status oI the group oI variants (or synonyms) and that oI
the group oI doublets is also diIIerent. Curtailed words oI the Iirst group
(variants) render one oI the possible meanings oI the prototype creating by
this very novelty a greater expressiveness, a colloquial or slangy shade and
oIten emotional colouring as well. The Iollowing extract will illustrate this
colouring: "Still, I suppose you want to find your room. I wonder where
theyve put you. Half a mo Ill come down and look on the board. You go
and make the coff, Con," she called back as she came downstairs, "I shant
be a fiff." Everything with her was an abbreviation. Striking a match by the
notice board, she searched for the number of my room. "Presuming the Ass
Mats remembered." "The who?" "Assistant Matron, old Fanny
Harriman..." (M. Dickens)
It is typical oI the curtailed words to render only one oI the secondary
meanings oI a polysemantic word. For instance the verb double may mean
to multiply by two`, to increase two-Iold`, to amount to twice as much`;
when used by musicians it means to add the same note in a higher or a
lower octave`. In a military context the meaning is to move in double time
or run`. As a nautical term it is synonymous to the expression to get round
headland`, etc. Dub, on the contrary, renders only one oI the speciIic
meanings to make another sound recording in a cinema Iilm in a
diIIerent language`.
The curtailed words belonging to this type are mostly monosemantic as,
Ior example, lab, exam, fan. Also they are oIten homonymous: compare van
and vac as treated above, also gym Ior gymnastics and gym Ior gymnasium,
or vet Ior veteran and veterinary.
Between the two groups oI well-deIined extreme cases, namely variants
or synonyms and doublets, there exist numerous intermediate cases, where
the classiIication is diIIicult. The appearance oI a more complex semantic
structure in a word is a step towards its acquiring greater independence and
thus becoming not a variant but a doublet oI the prototype.
The second extreme group, the etymological doublets, may develop
semantic structures oI their own. Very complex semantic cases like fancy
with its many meanings and high valency are nevertheless rare.
It has been speciIied in the deIinition oI the process that the clipped part
is not always a complete morpheme, so that the division is only occasionally
correlated with the division into immediate constituents. For instance, in
phone Ior telephone and photo Ior photograph the remaining parts are
complete morphemes occurring in other words. On the other hand in ec or
eco (Irom economics) or trannie (transistor) the morphological structure oI
the prototype is disregarded. All linguists agree that most oIten it is either
the Iirst or the stressed part oI the word that remains to represent the whole.
An interesting and convincing explanation Ior this is oIIered by M.M. Segal,
who quotes the results oI several experimental investigations dealing with
inIormativeness oI parts oI words. These experiments carried out by
psychologists have proved very deIinitely that the initial components oI
words are imprinted in the mind and memory more readily than the Iinal
parts. The signalling value oI the Iirst stressed syllable, especially when it is
at the same time the root syllable, is naturally much higher than that oI the
unstressed Iinal syllables with their reduced vowel sounds.
As a rule, but not necessarily, clipping Iollows the syllabic principle oI
word division, e. g. pep (sl.) vigour`, spirit` Irom pepper, or plane Irom
aeroplane. In other instances it may be quite an arbitrary part oI the
prototype, e. g. prep (school sl.) homework` Irom preparation.
Unlike conversion, shortening produces new words in the same part oI
speech. The bulk oI curtailed words is constituted by nouns. Verbs are
hardly ever shortened in present-day English. Rev Irom revolve and tab
Irom tabulate may be considered exceptions. Such clipped verbs as do occur
are in Iact converted nouns. Consequently the verbs to perm, to phone, to
taxi, to vac, to vet and many others are not curtailed words diachronically
but may be regarded as such by right oI structure, Irom the synchronic point
oI view. As to the verbs to pend, to mend, to tend and a Iew others, they
were actually coined as curtailed words but not at the present stage oI
language development.
Shortened adjectives are very Iew and mostly reveal a combined eIIect
oI shortening and suIIixation, e.g. comfy . . comfortable, dilly . : delightful,
imposs . . impossible, mi::y .. miserable, which occur in schoolgirl slang.
As an example oI a shortened interjection Shun' . . attention, the word
oI command may be mentioned.
Various classiIications oI shortened words have been or may be
oIIered. The generally accepted one is that based on the position oI the
clipped part. According to whether it is the Iinal, initial or middle part oI the
word that is cut oII we distinguish: 1) I i n a 1 clipping (or apocope), Irom
Greek apokoptein cut oII, 2) initial clipping (or a p h e s i s, i.e. a p h e r e s
i s), Irom Greek aphairesis a taking away` and 3) medial clipping (or
syncope), Irom Greek syncope a cutting up`.
1. Final clipping in which the beginning oI the prototype is retained is
practically the rule, and Iorms the bulk oI the class, e.g. ad, advert . .
advertisement, coke . . coca-cola, ed ; : editor, fab . . fabulous, gym
: : gymnastics or gymnasium, lab . . laboratory, mac . . mackintosh, ref . .
referee, vegs . . veggies or vegies, vegetables, and many others.
1

2. Initial-clipped words retaining the Iinal part oI the prototype are less
numerous but much more Iirmly established as separate lexical units with a
meaning very diIIerent Irom that oI the prototype and stylistically neutral
doublets, e.g. cute a, n (Am) : : acute, fend v : : defend, mend v : : amend,
story n : : history, sport n : : disport, tend v : : attend. Cases like cello . :
violoncello and phone . . telephone where the curtailed words are stylistic
synonyms or even variants oI their respective pro totypes are very rare.
Neologisms are Iew, e.g. chute . . parachute. It is in this group that the
process oI assimilation oI loan words is especially Irequent.
Final and initial clipping may be combined and result in curtailed words
with the middle part oI the prototype retained. These are Iew and deIinitely
colloquial, e.g. flu . . influen:a, frig or fridge : : refrigerator, tec . .
detective. It is worthy oI note that what is retained is the stressed syllable oI
the prototype.
3. Curtailed words with the middle part oI the word leIt out are equally
Iew. They may be Iurther subdivided into two groups: (a) words with a
Iinal-clipped stem retaining the Iunctional morpheme: maths . .
mathematics, specs . . spectacles, (b) contractions due to a gradual process
oI elision under the inIluence oI rhythm and context. Thus, fancy . . fantasy,
ma`am : : madam may be regarded as accelerated Iorms.
It is also possible to approach shortened words on the basis oI the
structure characterizing the prototype. Then the two mutually exclusive
groups are cases correlated with words and those correlated with phrases.
The length oI the word giving rise to a shortening might result Irom its
being a derivative, a compound or a borrowing. The observation oI
language material, however, can Iurnish hardly any examples oI the second
type (compounds), all the word prototypes being derivatives, either native or
borrowed, as is shown by all the examples quoted in the above paragraphs.
The Iew exceptions are exempliIied by tarmac, a technical term Ior tar-
macadam (a road surIace oI crushed stone and tar originally named aIter the
inventor J.L. McAdam); also cabbie Ior cabman. But then -man in such
cases is most oIten a semi-aIIix, not a Iree Iorm, and, besides, the process oI
shortening is here combined with derivation as in nightie Ior nightdress or
teeny Ior teenager.
The group we have opposed to the curtailed Iorms oI words is based on
clipped phrases, chieIly set expressions. These diIIer considerably Irom
word clippings as they result Irom a combined eIIect oI curtailment, ellipsis
and substantivation.
Ellipsis is deIined as the omission oI a word or words considered
essential Ior grammatical completeness but not Ior the conveyance oI the
intended lexical meaning, as in the Iollowing example: the
1
There seem, however, to be diIIerent degrees oI colloquialism. Flu, Ior instance,
would be normal in newspaper and broadcasting, whereas fridge would only occur in
Iamiliar colloquial, and tec would be substandard.
related two types oI blends can be distinguished. One
may be termed additive, the second restrictive. Both
involve the sliding together not only oI sound but oI
meaning as well. Yet the semantic relations which are at
work are diIIerent. The Iirst, i.e. additive type, is
transIormable into a phrase consisting oI the respective
complete stems combined by the conjunction and, e.g.
smogsmoke and Iog a mixture oI smoke and Iog`. The
elements may be synonymous, belong to the same
semantic Iield or at least be members oI the same lexico-
grammatical class oI words: FrenchEnglish~Frenglish,
compare also the coinage sma:e smokeha:e. The word
Pakistan was made up oI elements taken Irom the names
oI the Iive western provinces: the initials oI the words
Punfab, Afghania, Kashmir and Singh, and the Iinal part
oI Baluchistan. Other examples are: brunchbreakfast
and lunch, transceiver transmitter and receiver, Niffles
Niagara Falls.
The restrictive type is transIormable into an
attributive phrase where the Iirst element serves as
modiIier oI the second: cine(matographic pano)
rama~cinerama. Other examples are: medicaremedical
care, posi-tronpositive electron, telecasttelevision
broadcast. An interesting variation oI the same type is
presented by cases oI superposition, Iormed by pairs oI
words having similar clusters oI sounds which seem to
provoke blending, e.g. motelmotorists hotel. the
element -ot- is present in both parts oI the prototype.
Further examples are: shamboosham bamboo (imitation
bamboo); atomaniacatom maniac, slanguageslang
language, spamspiced ham. Blends, although not very
numerous altogether, seem to be on the rise, especially in
terminology and also in trade advertisements.

St. Ullmann Iollows M. Breal in emphasising the social
causes Ior these. ProIessional and other communities with a
specialised sphere oI common interests are the ideal setting Ior
ellipsis. Open on Ior open fire on, and put to sea Ior put ship to
sea are oI wartime and navy origin, and bill Ior bill of
exchange comes Irom business circles; in a newspaper oIIice
daily paper and weekly paper were quite naturally shortened to
daily and weekly.
1
It is clear Irom the above examples that
unlike other types oI shortening, ellipsis always results in a
change oI lexico-grammatical meaning, and thereIore the new
word belongs to a diIIerent part oI speech. Various other
processes are oIten interwoven with ellipsis. For instance:
finals Ior final examinations is a case oI ellipsis combined with
substantivation oI the Iirst element, whereas prelims Ior
preliminary examinations results Irom ellipsis, substantivation
and clipping. Other examples oI the same complex type are
perm . . permanent wave, pop : : popular music,
2
prom . :
promenade concert, i.e. a concert at which at least part oI the
audience is not seated and can walk about`; pub . : public
house an inn or tavern`; taxi : : taxicab, itselI Iormed Irom
taximeter-cab. Inside this group a subgroup with preIixed
derivatives as Iirst elements oI prototype phrases can be
distinguished, e. g. coed a girl student at a coeducational
institution`, prefab a preIabricated house or structure` (to
prefabricate means to manuIacture component parts oI
buildings prior to their assembly on a site`).
Curtailed words arise in various types oI colloquial speech
and have Ior the most part a pronounced stylistic colouring as
long as their connection with the prototype is alive, so that
they remain synonyms. E. g.: They present the tops in pops.
When the connection with the prototype is lost, the curtailed
word may become stylistically neutral, e. g. brig, cab, cello,
pram. Stylistically coloured shortened words may belong to
any variety oI colloquial style. They are especially numerous
in various branches oI slang: school slang, service slang, sport
slang, newspaper slang, etc. Familiar colloquial style gives
such examples as bobby, cabbie, mac, maxi, mini, movies.
Nursery words are oIten clipped: gran, granny, hanky Irom
handkerchief, ma Irom mama, nightie Irom nightdress, pinnie
Irom pinafore. Stylistic peculiarity oIten goes hand in hand
with emotional colouring as is revealed in the above
diminutives. School and college slang, on the other hand,
reveal some sort oI reckless iI not ironical attitude to the things
named: caf Irom cafeteria selI-service restaurant`, digs Irom
diggings lodgings`, ec, eco Irom economics, home ecs, lab,
maths, prelims, prep, prof, trig, undergrad, vac, varsity.
Service slang is very rich in clipped words, some oI them
penetrate the Iamiliar colloquial style. A Iew examples are:
demob v Irom demobilise, civvy n Irom civilian, op n Irom
operator, non-com n Irom non-combatant, corp n Irom
corporal, sarge n from sergeant.
The only type oI clippings that belong to bookish style are
the poetical contractions such as een, eer, neer, oer.
7.2 BLENDING
It has already been mentioned that curtailed words Irom
compounds are Iew; cases oI curtailment combined with
composition set oII against phrasal prototypes are slightly
more numerous, e. g. ad-lib v to speak without notes or
preparation` Irom the Latin phrase ad libitum meaning at
pleasure`; subchaser n Irom submarine chaser. A curious
derivational compound with a clipping Ior one oI its stems is
the word teen-ager (see p. 35). The jocular and ironical name
Lib-Labs (Liberal Labour MP`s, i.e. a particular group)
illustrates clipping, composition and ellipsis and imitation oI
reduplication all in one word.
Among these Iormations there is a speciIic group that has
attracted special attention oI several authors and was even
given several diIIerent names: blends, blendings, Iusions or
portmanteau words. The last term is due to Lewis Carroll, the
author oI 'Alice in Wonderland and 'Through the Looking
Glass. One oI the most linguistically conscious writers, he
made a special technique oI using blends coined by himselI,
such as chortle v chucklesnort, mimsy amiserableflimsy,
galumph vgalloptriumph, slithy a slimylithe.
1
Humpty
Dumpty explaining these words to Alice says 'You see it`s like
a portmanteau there are two meanings packed up into one
word. The process oI Iormation is also called telescoping,
because the words seem to slide into one another like sections
oI a telescope. Blends may be deIined as Iormations that
combine two words and include the letters or sounds they have
in common as a connecting element.
Compare also snob which may have been originally an
abbreviation Ior sine nobilitate, written aIter a name in the
registry oI Iashionable English schools to indicate that the
bearer oI the name did not belong to nobility. One oI the most
recent examples is bit, the Iundamental unit oI inIormation,
which is short Ior binary digit. Other examples are: the already
mentioned paratroops and the words bloodalyser and
breathalyser Ior apparatuses making blood and breath tests,
slimnastics (blend oI slim and gymnastics).
The analysis into immediate constituents is helpIul in so Iar
as it permits the deIinition oI a blend as a word with the Iirst
constituent represented by a stem whose Iinal part may be
missing, and the second constituent by a stem oI which the
initial part is missing. The second constituent when used in a
series oI similar blends may turn into a suIIix. A new suIIix -
on is, Ior instance, well under way in such terms as nylon,
rayon,-silon, Iormed Irom the Iinal element oI cotton.
Depending upon the prototype phrases with which they can
be



1
Most oI the coinages reIerred to occur in the poem called
'Jabberwocky": 'O frabfous day' Calloch' Callay'` He chortled in his foy.

141

correlated two types oI blends can be distinguished. One may
be termed additive, the second restrictive. Both involve the
sliding together not only oI sound but oI meaning as well. Yet
the semantic relations which are at work are diIIerent. The
Iirst, i.e. additive type, is transIormable into a phrase
consisting oI the respective complete stems combined by the
conjunction and, e. g. smogsmoke and fog a mixture oI
smoke and Iog`. The elements may be synonymous, belong to
the same semantic Iield or at least be members oI the same
lexico-grammatical class oI words: FrenchEnglish~
Frenglish, compare also the coinage sma:e smokeha:e. The
word Pakistan was made up oI elements taken Irom the names
oI the Iive western provinces: the initials oI the words Panfab,
Afghania, Kashmir and Singh, and the Iinal part oI
Baluchistan. Other examples are: brunchbreakfast and
lunch, transceiver transmitter and receiver,
NifflesNiagara Falls.
The restrictive type is transIormable into an attributive
phrase where the Iirst element serves as modiIier oI the second:
cine(matographic pano) rama~cinerama. Other examples are:
medicaremedical care, positronpositive electron,
telecasttelevision broadcast. An interesting variation oI the
same type is presented by cases oI superposition, Iormed by
pairs oI words having similar clusters oI sounds which seem to
provoke blending, e. g. motelmotorists hotel. the element -
ot- is present in both parts oI the prototype. Further examples
are: shamboosham bamboo (imitation bamboo);
atomaniacatom maniac, slanguageslang language,
spamspiced ham. Blends, although not very numerous
altogether, seem to be on the rise, especially in terminology
and also in trade advertisements.

7.3 GRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS. ACRONYMS
Because oI the ever closer connection between the oral and
the written Iorms oI the language it is sometimes diIIicult to
diIIerentiate clippings Iormed in oral speech Irom graphical
abbreviations. The more so as the latter oIten pass into oral
speech and become widely used in conversation.
During World War I and aIter it the custom became very
popular not only in English-speaking countries, but in other
parts oI the world as well, to call countries, governmental,
social, military, industrial and trade organisations and oIIicials
not only by their Iull titles but by initial abbreviations derived
Irom writing. Later the trend became even more pronounced,
e. g. the USSR, the U.N., the U.N.O., MP. The tendency today
is to omit Iullstops between the letters: GPO (General Post
Office). Some abbreviations nevertheless appear in both Iorms:
EPA and E.P.A. (Environment Protection Agency). Such
words Iormed Irom the initial letter or letters oI each oI the
successive parts oI a phrasal term have two possible types oI
orthoepic correlation between written and spoken Iorms.
1. II the abbreviated written Iorm lends itselI to be read as
though it were an ordinary English word and sounds like an
English word, it will be read like one. The words thus Iormed
are called acronyms
(Irom Gr acros- end

onym name`). This way oI Iorming

new words is becoming more and more popular in almost all
Iields oI human activity, and especially in political and
technical vocabulary: U.N.O., also UNO |'ju:nou| United
Nations Organisation, NATO the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation, SALTStrategic Arms Limitation Talks. The
last example shows that acronyms are oIten homonymous to
ordinary words; sometimes intentionally chosen so as to create
certain associations. Thus, Ior example, the National
Organisation for Women is called NOW. Typical oI acronymic
coinages in technical terminology are JATO, laser, maser and
radar. JATO or fato means fet-assisted take-off, laser stands
Ior light amplification by stimulated emission radiation, maser
Ior micro-wave amplification and stimulated emission
radiation, radar Ior radio detection and ranging, it denotes
a system Ior ascertaining direction and ranging oI aircraIt,
ships, coasts and other objects by means oI electro-magnetic
waves which they reIlect. Acronyms became so popular that
their number justiIied the publication oI special dictionaries,
such as D.D. Spencer`s 'Computer Acronym Handbook
(1974). We shall mention only one example Irom computer
terminology the rather ironic GIGO Ior garbage in,
garbage out in reIerence to unreliable data Ied into the
computer that produces worthless output.
Acronyms present a special interest because they exempliIy
the working oI the lexical adaptive system. In meeting the
needs oI communication and IulIilling the laws oI inIormation
theory requiring a maximum signal in the minimum time the
lexical system undergoes modiIication in its basic structure:
namely it Iorms new elements not by combining existing
morphemes and proceeding Irom sound Iorms to their graphic
representation but the other way round coining new words
Irom the initial letters oI phrasal terms originating in texts.
2. The other subgroup consists oI initial abbreviation with
the alphabetical reading retained, i.e. pronounced as a series oI
letters. They also retain correlation with prototypes. The
examples are well-known: B.B.C. [bi.bi.si.] the British
Broadcasting Corporation, G.I. |'di: ai| Ior Government
Issue, a widely spread metonymical name Ior American
soldiers on the items oI whose uniIorms these letters are
stamped. The last abbreviation was originally an Americanism
but has been Iirmly established in British English as well. M.P.
|'em'pi:| is mostly used as an initial abbreviation Ior Member of
Parliament, also military police, whereas P.M. stands Ior
Prime Minister.
Abbreviations are Ireely used in colloquial speech as seen
Irom the Iollowing extract, in which CP. Snow describes the
House oI Commons gossip: They were swapping promises to
speak for one another. one was bragging how two senior
Ministers were 'in the bag` to speak for him. Roger was safe,
someone said, hed give a hand. 'What has the P.M. got in
mind for Roger when we come back?` The Iamiliar colloquial
quality oI the context is very deIinitely marked by the set
expressions: in the bag, give a hand, get in mind, etc.
Other examples oI initial abbreviations with the
alphabetical reading retained are: S.O.S. |'es'ou'es|Save Our
Souls, a wireless code-signal oI extreme distress, also
Iiguratively, any despairing cry Ior help; T.J. or TJ I'tir'vi:|
television, Y.C.L. |'wai`sir'el| the Young Communist League.

3. The term abbreviation may be also used Ior a shortened
Iorm oI a written word or phrase used in a text in place oI the
whole Ior economy oI space and eIIort. Abbreviation is
achieved by omission oI letters Irom one or more parts oI the
whole, as Ior instance abbr Ior abbreviation, bldg Ior
building, govt Ior government, wd Ior word, do: or d: Ior
do:en, ltd Ior limited, B.A. Ior Bachelor of Arts, N.Y. for New
York State. Sometimes the part or parts retained show some
alteration, thus, o: denotes ounce and Xmas denotes
Christmas. Doubling oI initial letters shows plural Iorms as
Ior instance pplp.p. Ior pages, ll Ior lines or cc Ior chapters.
These are in Iact not separate words but only graphic signs or
symbols representing them. Consequently no orthoepic
correlation exists in such cases and the unabbreviated word is
pronounced: ll |lainz|, pp |'peI8Iz|.
A speciIic type oI abbreviations having no parallel in
Russian is represented by Latin abbreviations which
sometimes are not read as Latin words but substituted by
their English equivalents. A Iew oI the most important cases
are listed below: ad lib (Lat ad libitum) at pleasure, a.m.
(Lat ante meridiem) in the morning, cf. (Lat conferre)
compare, cp. (Lat comparare) compare, e.g. (Lat
exempli gratia)
for example, ib(id) (Lat ibidem) in the same place, i.e.
(Lat id est)
that is, loc.cit. (Lat locus citato) in the passage cited,
ob. (Lat obiit) he (she) died, q.v. (Lat quod vide) which
see, p.m. (Lat post meridiem) in the afternoon, vi: (Lat
videlicet) namely, sometimes read vi:. Actual letters are
also read in the Iollowing cases: a.m. |'ei'em|, e.g., i.e., q.v.,
p.m.
An interesting Ieature oI present-day English is the use oI
initial abbreviations Ior Iamous persons` names and
surnames. Thus, George Bernard Shaw is oIten alluded to as
G.B.S. |'di:'bi:'es|, Herbert George Wells as H.G. The usage
is clear Irom the Iollowing example: 'Oh, yes ... where was
I? 'With H.G.s Martians,` I told him (Wyndham).
Journalistic abbreviations are oIten occasioned by a desire
to economise head-line space, as seen Irom the Iollowing
example 'CND Calls Lobby to Stop MLF ("Daily Worker").
This means that a mass lobby oI Parliament against the
NATO multilateral nuclear Iorce (MLF) is being called by
the Campaign Ior Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
These regular developments are in some cases combined
with occasional jocular or accidental distortions. The
National Economic Development Council is Iacetiously
termed Neddy. Elementary education is colloquially reIerred
to as the three Rs reading, (w)riting and rithmetic. Some
kind oI witty Iolk etymology is at play when the abbreviation
C.B. Ior construction battalions in the navy is respelt into sea
bees. The two well-known Americanisms feep and okay may
be mentioned in this connection. Jeep meaning a small
military motor vehicle` comes Irom g.p. |'di:'pi:| (the initials
oI general purpose). Okay, OK may be an illiterate
misinterpretation oI the initials in all correct. Various other
historic anecdotes have been also oIIered by way oI
explanation oI the latter.

It must be emphasised that initial abbreviation, no less than
other types oI shortening, retains the valency, i.e. the
combining possibilities oI the prototypes. The diIIerence in
distribution is conditioned only by a change oI meaning
(lexical or more rarely lexico-grammatical). Abbreviations
receive the plural and Possessive case inIlections: G.I.s,
M.P.s, P.O.W.s (Irom prisoner of war), also the verb
paradigm: okays, okayed, okaying. E. g. A hotels no life for
you... Why dont you come and P.G. with me? (A. Wilson)
Here P.G. is an abbreviation Ior paying guest. Like all nouns
they can be used attributively: BBC television, TJ program,
UN vote.
A speciIically English word pattern almost absent in the
Russian language must be described in connection with initial
abbreviations in which the Iirst element is a letter and the
second a complete word. The examples are: A-bomb Ior
atomic bomb, J-sign a sign made by holding the hand up
with the Iirst two Iingers spread with the palm Iacing Iorward
in the shape oI a V used Ior expressing victory or the hope Ior
it. A like sign made with the back oI the hand Iacing Iorward
expressed dislike and is considered very rude. The example is
interesting, because it shows the connection between the
lexical system and paralinguistic means oI communication,
that is gestures, mimics and prosodic means (Irom para
beyond`).
There is no uniIormity in semantic relationships between
the elements: Z-bar is a metallic bar with a cross section
shaped like the letter Z, while Z-hour is an abbreviation oI
:ero-hour meaning the time set Ior the beginning oI the
attack`, U is standing Ior upper classes in such combinations
as U-pronunciation, U-language. CI.: U-boat a submarine`.
Non-U is its opposite. So Non-U speakers are those whose
speech habits show that they do not belong to the upper
classes.
It will have been noted that all kinds oI shortening are very
productive in present-day English. They are especially
numerous in colloquial speech, both Iamiliar colloquial and
proIessional slang. They display great combining activity and
Iorm bases Ior Iurther word-Iormation and inIlection.




H. B. Hecr cnpeer
arcr a: Ve. -rn ]a.
crp. . 3-e ., epepa. . M.:
Bc. ., 1986. 134-145c., . Ha ar.
.










Shortening (Contraction)
This comparatively new way oI word-building has achieved a
high degree oI productivity nowadays, especially in American
English.
Shortenings (or contracted/curtailed words) are produced in two
diIIerent ways. The Iirst is to make a new word Irom a syllable (rarer,
two) oI the original word. The latter may lose its beginning (as in
phone made Irom telephone, fence Irom defence), its ending (as in
hols Irom holidays, vac Irom vacation, props Irom properties, ad
Irom advertisement) or both the beginning and ending (as in flu Irom
influen:a, fridge Irom refrigerator).
The second way oI shortening is to make a new word Irom the
initial letters oI a word group: U.N.O. |'ju:neu| Irom the United
Nations Organisation, B.B.C. Irom the British Broadcasting
Corporation, M.P. Irom Member of Parliament. This type is called
initial shortenings. They are Iound not only among Iormal words,
such as the ones above, but also among colloquialisms and slang. So,
g. f. is a shortened word made Irom the compound girl-friend. The
word, though, seems to be somewhat ambiguous as the Iollowing
conversation between two undergraduates clearly shows:
Who's the letter Irom?
My g. I.
Didn't know you had girl-Iriends. A nice girl?
Idiot! It's Irom my grandIather!
It is commonly believed that the preIerence Ior shortenings can be
explained by their brevity and is due to the ever-increasing tempo oI
modern liIe. Yet, in the conversation given above the use oI an
ambiguous contraction does not in the least contribute to the brevity
oI the communication: on the contrary, it takes the speakers some
time to clariIy the misunderstand-
ing. ConIusion and ambiguousness are quite natural consequences oI the modern overabundance oI shortened
words, and initial shortenings are oIten especially enigmatic and misleading.
Both types oI shortenings are characteristic oI inIormal speech in general and oI uncultivated speech
particularly. The history oI the American okay seems to be rather typical. Originally this initial shortening was spelt
O.K. and was supposed to stand Ior all correct. The purely oral manner in which sounds were recorded Ior letters
resulted in O.K. whereas it should have been AC. or aysee. Indeed, the ways oI words are Iull oI surprises.
Here are some more examples oI inIormal shortenings. Movie (Irom moving-picture), gent (Irom gentleman),
specs (Irom spectacles), circs (Irom circumstances, e. g. under the circs), I. O. Y. (a written acknowledgement oI
debt, made Irom I owe you), lib (Irom liberty, as in May I take the lib of saying something to you?), cert (Irom
certainty, as in This enterprise is a cert if you have a bit of capital), metrop (Irom metropoly, e. g. Paris is a gay
metrop), exhibish (Irom exhibition), posish (from position).
Undergraduates' inIormal speech abounds in words oI the type: exam, lab, prof, vac, hol, co-ed (a girl student at
a coeducational school or college).

Arpya I. F., A]aacena O. B., Mpna H. H. Hecr arcr a: Ve.
ce cryern. M.: p]a, 1999. 115-116c.

Abbreviations of words
Abbreviation oI words consists in clipping a part oI a word. As a result we get a new lexical unit where either the
lexical meaning or the style is diIIerent Iorm the Iull Iorm oI the word. In such cases as Iantasy and Iancy,
Ience and deIence we have diIIerent lexical meanings. In such cases as laboratory and lab, we have
diIIerent styles.

Abbreviation does not change the part-oI-speech meaning, as we have it in the case oI conversion or aIIixation, it
produces words belonging to the same part oI speech as the primary word, e.g. proI is a noun and proIessor is also a
noun. Mostly nouns undergo abbreviation, but we can also meet abbreviation oI verbs, such as to rev Irom to
revolve, to tab Irom to tabulate etc. But mostly abbreviated Iorms oI verbs are Iormed by means oI conversion Irom
abbreviated nouns, e.g. to taxi, to vac etc. Adjectives can be abbreviated but they are mostly used in school slang
and are combined with suIIixation, e.g. comIy, dilly, mizzy etc. As a rule pronouns, numerals, interjections.
conjunctions are not abbreviated. The exceptions are: IiI (IiIteen), teen-ager, in one`s teens (apheresis Irom numerals
Irom 13 to 19).
Lexical abbreviations are classiIied according to the part oI the word which is clipped. Mostly the end oI the
word is clipped, because the beginning oI the word in most cases is the root and expresses the lexical meaning oI the
word. This type oI abbreviation is called apocope. Here we can mention a group oI words ending in o, such as
disco (dicotheque), expo (exposition), intro (introduction) and many others. On the analogy with these words there
developed in Modern English a number oI words where o is added as a kind oI a suIIix to the shortened Iorm oI
the word, e.g. combo (combination) - e crpa aca, AIro (AIrican) -peca a]paa
etc. In other cases the beginning oI the word is clipped. In such cases we have apheresis , e.g. chute (parachute),
varsity (university), copter (helicopter) , thuse (enthuse) etc. Sometimes the middle oI the word is clipped, e.g. mart
(market), Ianzine (Ian magazine) maths (mathematics). Such abbreviations are called syncope. Sometimes we have a
combination oI apocope with apheresis,when the beginning and the end oI the word are clipped, e.g. tec (detective),
van (avanguard) etc.
Sometimes shortening inIluences the spelling oI the word, e.g. c can be substituted by k beIore e to
preserve pronunciation, e.g. mike (microphone), Coke (coca-cola) etc. The same rule is observed in the Iollowing
cases: Iax( Iacsimile), teck (technical college), trank (tranquilizer) etc. The Iinal consonants in the shortened Iorms
are substituded by letters characteristic oI native English words.





f
Shortening as a word building process has become very productive in present
day English. Abbreviations in nursing have also Iound a way Ior proIessional
and quick communication. The main goals oI this article, based on actual
teaching-learning problems, is to provide some practical activities to give the
learners opportunities to get acquainted with and practice abbreviations in an
eIIective and communicative way, and to provide a glossary oI the most
Irequently used abbreviations by nurses.









. M. yoee. Kypc e a ceapcx ar
ecr arcr a
Adams V. Introduction into English WordIormation. Lnd., 1983 .
Canon G. Historical Changes and English WordIormation: New Vocabulary items. N.Y., 1986.
Ginzburg R.S. et al. A Course in Modern English Lexicology. M., 1979.
Maurer D.W. , High F.C. New Words - Where do they come Irom and where do they go. American Speech.,
1982.
Sheard, John. The Words we Use. N.Y..,1954.
Kypna E.C. P cnpana n ]ppna n apr pa. M. 1988.
Men O.. Cnpanae cnpeer arcr a. M. 1976.
Bloomsbury Dictionary oI New Words. M. 1996.
The Concise OxIord Dictionary oI Current English. OxIord 1964.
The Longman Register oI New Words. M. 1990.
Tp]na 3.C. Dictionary oI New Words and New Meanings. H. Han ,1993.
http://bvs.sld.cu/revistas/ems/vol15101/ems05101.pdI