15. Shortening as one of the main types of word-building in English.

Word-building processes involve not only qualitative but also quantitative changes. Thus, derivation and compounding represent addition, as affixes and free stems, respectively, are added to the underlying form. Shortening, on the other hand, may be represented as significant subtraction, in which part of the original word is taken away.

Shortening is the process and the result of forming a word out of the initial elements of a word combination. Shortening consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts whether this part has previously been a morpheme. Shortening may be regarded as a type of root creation because the resulting new morphemes are capable of being used as free forms and combine with bound forms. They can take functional suffixes, e.g. (sing) bike – (pl.) bikes. Most of the shortened words produce verbs, e.g. to phone, they also serve as basis for further word-formation by derivation or composition: fancy n – fanciful adj – fancifully adv – fancy-ball n – fancy-dress n, etc.

The correlation of the curtailed word with its prototype may be the following:

1. The shortened form may be regarded as a variant or a synonym differing from the full form quantitatively, stylistically and sometimes emotionally, the prototype being stylistically and emotionally neutral, e.g. doc- doctor

2. The connection between the shortened form and the prototype can be established only etymologically. The denotative or lexico-garmmatical meaning or both, may have changed so much that the clipping becomes a separate word. Consequently a pair of etymological doublets comes into being: chap – chapman, fan – fantastic, fancy – fantasy, miss – mistress. A speaker who calls himself a football fan would probably be offended at being called a fanatic. A fanatic is understood to have unreasonable and exaggerated beliefs and opinions that make him socially dangerous.

Various classifications of shortened words have been offered. The general accepted one is that based on the position of the clipped part. According to whether it is the final, initial or middle part of the word that is cut off we distinguish final clipping, initial clipping and medial clipping.

Final clipping: ad - advertisement, coke – coca-cola, ed – editor, lab – laboratory

Initial-clipped: fend – defend, story – history, tend – attend. Cases like cello – violoncello and phone – telephone

Final and initial clipping may be combined and result in shortened words with the middle part of the prototype retained, e.g. flu-influenza, frig-refrigerator, tec-detective.

Curtailed words with the middle part of the word left out are few, e.g. maths-mathematics, specs-spectacles, fancy-fantasy, ma’am-madam.

Among shortened words there is a specific group that has attracted special attention of several authors and was given several different names: blends, blendings, fusions or portmanteau words. The last term is due to Lewis Carrol, who made a special technique of using blends coined by himself, such as mimsy adj < miserable+flimsy, galumph v < gallop+triumph. The process of formation is also called telescoping because the words seem to slide into one another like sections of a telescope.

Other examples of blendings are smog < smoke+fog, brunch <breakfast+lunch, transceiver < transmitter+receiver, telecast < television broadcast, motel < motorists’ hotel, slanguage < slang+language.

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 (Sun., Tue., Feb., Oct., Dec.; USA, Mr., Mrs., Dr)

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).

Substantivation – turning into nouns, e.g. female (n) from female (adj), relative (n) from relative (adj), criminal (n) from criminal (adj), etc.