linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, clipping, also called truncation or shortening, is

word formation In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term that can refer to either: * the processes through which words can change (i.e. morphology), or * the creation of new lexemes in a particular language Morphological A common method of word form ...

by removing some segments of an existing word to create a

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

word or a clipped compound. Clipping differs from

abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

, which is based on a shortening of the written, rather than the spoken, form of an existing word or phrase. Clipping is also different from

back-formation Back-formation is the process or result of creating a neologism, new word via Morphology (linguistics), morphology, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes ...

, which proceeds by (pseudo-)

morpheme A morpheme is any of the smallest meaningful constituents within a linguistic expression and particularly within a word. Many words are themselves standalone morphemes, while other words contain multiple morphemes; in linguistic terminology, this ...

rather than segment, and where the new word may differ in sense and word class from its source. In English, clipping may extend to contraction, which mostly involves the

elision In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase. However, these terms are also used to refer more narrowly to cases where two words are run to ...

of a vowel that is replaced by an

apostrophe The apostrophe (, ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one o ...

in writing.

Creation

According to Hans Marchand, clippings are not coined as words belonging to the core lexicon of a language. They typically originate as

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

s within the

jargon Jargon, or technical language, is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside ...

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

of an in-group, such as schools, army, police, and the medical profession. For example, , , and originated in school

; and = credit) in stock-exchange slang; and and in army slang. Clipped forms can pass into common usage when they are widely useful, becoming part of standard language, which most speakers would agree has happened with ''math''/''maths'', ''lab'', ''exam'', ''phone'' (from ''telephone''), ''fridge'' (from ''refrigerator''), and various others. When their usefulness is limited to narrower contexts, they remain outside the standard register. Many, such as ''mani'' and ''pedi'' for ''manicure'' and ''pedicure'' or ''mic''/''mike'' for ''microphone'', occupy a middle ground in which their appropriate register is a subjective judgment, but succeeding decades tend to see them become more widely used.

Types

According to , clipping mainly consists of the following types: * Final clipping, which may include

apocope In phonology, apocope () is the omission (elision) or loss of a sound or sounds at the end of a word. While it most commonly refers to the loss of a final vowel, it can also describe the deletion of final consonants or even entire syllables. ...

* Initial clipping, which may include apheresis, or procope * Medial clipping, or syncope * Complex clipping, creating clipped compounds Final and initial clipping may be combined into a sort of "bilateral clipping", and result in curtailed words with the middle part of the prototype retained, which usually includes the syllable with

primary stress In linguistics, and particularly phonology, stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or sentence. That emphasis is typically caused by such properties as i ...

. Examples: ''fridge'' (refrigerator), ''rizz'' (charisma), ''rona'' (

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

), ''shrink'' ( head-shrinker), ''tec'' (detective); also ''flu'' (which omits the stressed syllable of ''influenza''), ''jams'' (retaining the binary noun -s of pajamas/pyjamas) or ''jammies'' (adding diminutive ''-ie''). Another common shortening in English will clip a word and then add some sort of suffix. That suffix can be either neutral or casual in nature, as in the ''-o'' of ''combo'' (combination) and ''convo'' (conversation), or else diminutive and/or hypochoric, as in the ''-y'' or ''-ie'' of ''Sammy'' (Samantha) and ''selfie'' (self portrait), and the ''-s'' of ''babes'' (baby, as a term of endearment) and ''Barbs'' (Barbara). Sometimes, the adding of this suffix can make the word which was originally shortened from a longer form end up with the same number of syllables as the original longer form; i.e. ''choccy'' (chocolate) or ''Davy'' (David).

Final

In a final clipping, the most common type in English, the beginning of the prototype is retained. The unclipped original may be either a simple or a composite. Examples include ''ad'' and ''advert'' (advertisement), ''cable'' (cablegram), ''doc'' (doctor), ''exam'' (examination), ''fax'' (facsimile), ''gas'' (gasoline), ''gym'' (gymnastics, gymnasium), ''memo'' (memorandum), ''mutt'' (muttonhead), ''pub'' (public house), ''pop'' (popular music), and ''clit'' (clitoris). Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003), Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew.

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

. /

/ref> An example of apocope in Israeli Hebrew is the word ''lehit'', which derives from להתראות ''lehitraot'', meaning "see you, goodbye". Because final clippings are most common in English, this often leads to clipped forms from different sources which end up looking identical. For example, ''app'' can equally refer to an ''appetizer'' or an ''application'' depending on the context, while ''vet'' can be short for either ''veteran'' or ''veterinarian''.

Initial

Initial (or fore) clipping retains the final part of the word. Examples: ''bot'' (robot), ''chute'' (parachute), ''roach'' (cockroach), ''gator'' (alligator), ''phone'' (telephone), ''pike'' (turnpike), ''varsity'' (university), ''net'' (Internet).

Medial

Words with the middle part of the word left out are few. They may be further subdivided into two groups: (a) words with a final-clipped stem retaining the functional morpheme: ''maths'' (mathematics), ''specs'' (spectacles); (b) contractions due to a gradual process of elision under the influence of rhythm and context. Thus, ''fancy'' (fantasy), ''ma'am'' (madam), and

fo'c'sle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " ...

may be regarded as accelerated forms.

Complex

Clipped forms are also used in compounds. One part of the original compound most often remains intact. Examples are: Sometimes both halves of a compound are clipped as in In these cases it is difficult to know whether the resultant formation should be treated as a clipping or as a blend, for the border between the two types is not always clear. According to Bauer (1983), the easiest way to draw the distinction is to say that those forms which retain compound stress are clipped compounds, whereas those that take simple word stress are not. By this criterion ''bodbiz, Chicom, Comsymp, Intelsat, midcult, pro''-''am, photo op, sci-fi'', and ''sitcom'' are all compounds made of clippings.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite web , url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/270 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510102858/http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/270 , url-status=dead , archive-date=May 10, 2010 , title=Shortenings , work=Oxford Dictionaries Online , publisher=

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, location=

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, accessdate=23 November 2010 {{cite book, first=Hans, last=Marchand, year=1969, title=The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-formation, place=München, publisher=C.H.Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung {{cite book, first=Laurie, last=Bauer, year=1983, title=English Word-Formation, place=Cambridge, publisher=Cambridge University Press {{cite book , first=Irina , last=Arnold , year=1986 , title=The English word , url=https://www.academia.edu/6536869 , location=Moscow , publisher=Высшая школа Word coinage Linguistic morphology