 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Clipping" morphology – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Inlinguistics,clipping, also calledtruncation orshortening,[1] isword formation by removing somesegments of an existing word to create adiminutive word or aclipped compound. Clipping differs fromabbreviation, which is based on a shortening of the written, rather than the spoken, form of an existing word or phrase. Clipping is also different fromback-formation, which proceeds by (pseudo-)morpheme rather than segment, and where the new word may differ in sense andword class from its source.[2] In English, clipping may extend tocontraction, which mostly involves theelision of a vowel that is replaced by anapostrophe in writing.
According toHans Marchand, clippings are not coined as words belonging to thecore lexicon of a language.[3] They typically originate assynonyms[3] within thejargon orslang of anin-group, such as schools, army, police, and the medical profession. For example,exam(ination),math(ematics), andlab(oratory) originated in schoolslang;spec(ulation) andtick(et = credit) in stock-exchange slang; andvet(eran) andcap(tain) 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 withmath/maths,lab,exam,phone (fromtelephone),fridge (fromrefrigerator), and various others. When their usefulness is limited to narrower contexts, they remain outside thestandard register. Many, such asmani andpedi formanicure andpedicure ormic/mike formicrophone, occupy a middle ground in which their appropriate register is a subjective judgment, but succeeding decades tend to see them become more widely used.
According toIrina Arnold [ru], clipping mainly consists of the following types:[4]
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 withprimary stress. Examples:fridge (refrigerator),rizz (charisma),rona (coronavirus),shrink (head-shrinker),tec (detective); alsoflu (which omits the stressed syllable ofinfluenza),jams (retaining thebinary noun -s of pajamas/pyjamas) orjammies (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 ofcombo (combination) andconvo (conversation), or else diminutive and/or hypochoric, as in the-y or-ie ofSammy (Samantha) andselfie (self portrait), and the-s ofbabes (baby, as a term of endearment) andBarbs (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) orDavy (David).
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 includead andadvert (advertisement),cable (cablegram),doc (doctor),exam (examination),fax (facsimile),gas (gasoline),gym (gymnastics, gymnasium),memo (memorandum),mutt (muttonhead),pub (public house),pop (popular music), andclit (clitoris).[5]: 109 An example of apocope in Israeli Hebrew is the wordlehit, which derives from להתראותlehitraot, meaning "see you, goodbye".[5]: 155
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 anappetizer or anapplication depending on the context, whilevet can be short for eitherveteran orveterinarian.
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).
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), andfo'c'sle may be regarded as accelerated forms.
Clipped forms are also used incompounds. One part of the original compound most often remains intact. Examples are:cablegram (cable telegram),op art (opticalart),org-man (organizationman),linocut (linoleumcut). Sometimes both halves of a compound are clipped as innavicert (navigationcertificate). In these cases it is difficult to know whether the resultant formation should be treated as a clipping or as ablend, for the border between the two types is not always clear. According to Bauer (1983),[6] 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 criterionbodbiz, Chicom, Comsymp, Intelsat, midcult, pro-am, photo op, sci-fi, andsitcom are all compounds made of clippings.